No One Was Disciplined After The White House Leaked A CIA Official's Name To The Press

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A White House lawyer is recommending several new procedures after the name of a CIA official was accidentally leaked to the press during President Barack Obama's trip to Afghanistan late last month. However, no one was disciplined or fired as a result of the leak.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest announced the results of an investigation into the incident conducted by White House Counsel Neil Eggleston ahead of a fundraiser attended by the president in Massachusetts Wednesday evening. Earnest said Eggleston briefed White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on the results of the investigation Tuesday. The president was also informed of the investigation's findings Tuesday. Eggleston made three recommendations to prevent similar security breaches from occurring in the future.

The leak occurred when the name of the CIA's station chief in Kabul was including on a list of officials who participated in a military briefing with Obama during his Afghanistan visit that was subsequently emailed to thousands of reporters on the White House press pool list. Business Insider has withheld the name of the station chief, which has not been widely reported in spite of the leak.

According to a press pool report from the fundraiser, Earnest said the leak of the CIA station chief's name was "inadvertent." He also said no officials were disciplined or fired "in this context." The pool report also included the three recommendations Eggleston made after his investigation:

1. "On an international trip, before the president arrives, a member of the scheduling and advance staff will conduct a briefing to notify participants of a meeting open to the press that their names and titles will be released to reporters. Participants will be given an opportunity to raise concerns. This will also apply to events where people are on stage with the president."
2. "On international trips with the president the White House press lead will clear the names and titles of meeting participants with National Security Staff prior to the distribution of those names and titles to the press."
3. "The White House scheduling and advance staff and the White House communications staff will receive additional training to enhance awareness and improve handling of sensitive information."

Earnest said the practices recommended by Eggleston sometimes were used in the past, but did not "occur every time." The pool report did not specify whether the recommendations would be implemented going forward and Earnest did not immediately respond to a request from Business Insider asking if the recommendations would be adopted.