国防部正试图通过将历史上一直是非机密的命令和每日简报进行保密，来消除泄密，限制媒体对美墨边境军事行动的报道。新闻周刊已经学会了。
上周，军方官员发布了2020年的作战命令，这形成了国土安全部对五角大楼在西南边境继续提供支持的新的援助请求。尽管自2018年10月美国军队首次部署到美墨边境以来，此前的请求一直未被保密，但最新的一系列命令是通过一个名为SIPR的秘密网络发布的。
根据五角大楼三位对此事有直接了解的消息人士透露，对边境文件进行分类的政策转变来自美国陆军中将·劳拉·理查森，这是对负面新闻报道和美国陆军北部前任指挥官中将·杰弗里·布坎南领导下的边境文件泄露的回应。消息来源称，口头命令——相对于书面命令——在理查森执政时期比布坎南执政时期更为常见。
一位匿名的美国海关和边境保护局官员告诉记者新闻周刊布坎南为了透明的目的想让美国公众对边界任务保密，但是理查森说，“把任务转移到SIPR。”
联系人新闻周刊布坎南表示，自7月份离开司令部以来，他无法就美国北方军目前做出的决定发表意见，但他表示，文件分类是有正当理由的，例如有关执法和情报简报的信息。
他补充道:“我的默认设置是保持事情的非机密，因为这让机构间的沟通更容易。”
得克萨斯州佩尼塔斯——9月10日:2019年9月10日，得克萨斯州佩尼塔斯，一名现役美国陆军士兵在美国-墨西哥边境围栏附近操作高分辨率监控摄像机时，用双筒望远镜扫描棉田，寻找无证移民。部署在边境的美国军事人员协助美国边境巡逻队进行监视，尽管这些士兵无权拘留移民。
自从特朗普政府在2018年10月首次命令数千名美国士兵前往西南边境以来，新闻周刊已经获得并报告情报简报，操作订单，多个援助请求在国土安全部和国防部之间，唐纳德·特朗普总统签署了一份备忘录使用致命武力和决策前文档其中载有关于边境需要的各种类型的飞机和部队人数的信息。除了白宫备忘录之外，所有文件都是未分类的，但包含了分类警告，如“仅供官方使用”或“执法敏感”
国防部证实新闻周刊他们正在采取额外的预防措施来阻止美国在西南边境军事行动的泄露。
“由于我们的使命，国防部必须采取适当措施，确保敏感信息——电子或其他信息——得到妥善保护和妥善处理。美国北方司令部公共事务副主任约翰·科尔内利奥说，这包括被认为“仅供官方使用”或“执法敏感”的机密和非机密信息。
他补充道:“在过去的一年里，20多份带有这些警告的文件在没有适当授权的情况下被不当发布。未经授权的披露会危及我们协调运营和获取属于执法机构的敏感或受限信息的能力。因此，我们正在采取必要和谨慎的措施，最大限度地减少未经授权发布非机密但敏感的信息。”
国土安全部和美国海关及边境保护局没有回复新闻周刊出版前征求意见。
代表乌克兰告密者的同一家律师事务所马克·扎伊德(Mark S. Zaid)的国家安全律师布拉德·莫斯(Brad Moss)表示:“尽管这并非完全是史无前例的，特朗普政府的机构一再需要将非机密信息存储在机密系统中，这反映了这些机构过去三年在向公众隐瞒有争议的细节方面所面临的困难。”。(告密者在投诉中表示，白宫官员将唐纳德·特朗普总统和乌克兰总统沃洛迪米尔·泽兰斯基之间的通话记录隐藏在绝密网络上，“完全是为了保护政治敏感信息，而不是国家安全敏感信息。”)
特朗普政府和美国军方长期以来一直试图严格控制美国和墨西哥边境使用现役部队和国民警卫队支持国土安全行动的公开言论。官员们限制或不允许新闻嵌入，军事单位公共事务官员被指示不要回答记者的询问，而是将他们转到更高层的传播战略办公室。
一名美国海军官员不愿意透露姓名，因为他们无权公开谈论此事新闻周刊政策的转变和边境的严密封锁是为了阻止泄密，而不是国家安全。
“最秘密的军事行动之一是在美国发生的，这使得监视更加困难，”这位海军官员补充说。
EXCLUSIVE: MILITARY DOCUMENTS ABOUT US-MEXICO BORDER ARE NOW CLASSIFIED TO PREVENT LEAKS, LIMIT MEDIA COVERAGE
The Defense Department is seeking to stamp out leaks and limit media coverage of military operations at the U.S.-Mexico border by making what historically have been unclassified orders and daily briefings classified, Newsweek has learned.
Last week, military officials released operation orders for 2020 which form a new request for assistance, or RFA, from the Department of Homeland Security for continued Pentagon support on the southwest border. While previous requests have been unclassified since U.S. forces first deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border in October 2018, the latest set of orders was disseminated over a secret network called SIPR.
The policy shift to classify border documents came from Lieutenant General Laura J. Richardson of the U.S. Army in response to negative news coverage and leaks of border documents under U.S. Army North's previous commander, Lieutenant General Jeffrey S. Buchanan, who retired back in July, according to three Pentagon sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The sources said that verbal commands—versus orders with a paper trail—are more commonplace under Richardson than under Buchanan's tenure.
An official with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Newsweek that Buchanan wanted to keep as much of the border mission unclassified for transparency purposes with the American public but that Richardson said, "Move the mission to SIPR."
Contacted by Newsweek, Buchanan said he could not speak to current decisions made by U.S. Army North since leaving the command back in July, but said there are legitimate reasons for document classification such as information concerning law enforcement and intelligence briefs.
He added: "My default setting was to keep things unclassified as it just made it easier for communication between agencies."
PENITAS, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 10: An active duty U.S. Army soldier scans a cotton field for undocumented immigrants with binoculars while manning a high-res surveillance camera near the U.S.-Mexico border fence (reflected), on September 10, 2019 in Penitas, Texas. U.S. military personnel deployed to the border assist U.S. Border Patrol agents with surveillance, although the soldiers are not authorized to detain immigrants themselves.
Since thousands of U.S. troops were first ordered to the southwest border by the Trump administration in October 2018, Newsweek has obtained and reported on intelligence briefs, operational orders, multiple requests for assistance between the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department, a memo signed by President Donald Trump about the use of deadly force and pre-decisional documents which contained information about various types of aircraft and troop numbers needed at the border. All of the documents except for the White House memo were unclassified but contained classification caveats such as "For Official Use Only" or "Law Enforcement Sensitive."
The Defense Department confirmed to Newsweek they were taking additional precautions to stem leaks about U.S. military operations on the southwest border.
"Because of our mission, the Department of Defense has to take appropriate measures to ensure sensitive information—electronic or otherwise—is properly safeguarded and appropriately handled. This includes classified and unclassified information considered "For Official Use Only" or "Law Enforcement Sensitive," said John Cornelio, the deputy director of public affairs for U.S. Northern Command.
He added: "Over the last year more than 20 documents with these caveats were inappropriately released without proper authorization. Unauthorized disclosure puts at risk our ability to coordinate operations and have access to sensitive or restricted information belonging to law enforcement agencies. As such, we are taking necessary and prudent steps to minimize the unauthorized release of unclassified, though sensitive information."
The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not reply to Newsweek's requests for comment prior to publication.
"Although it is not entirely unprecedented, the repeated need by agencies in the Trump administration to store unclassified information on classified systems is reflective of the difficulty the agencies have faced over the last three years in concealing controversial details from the public," said Brad Moss, a national security attorney at Mark S. Zaid, P.C., the same law firm that represents the Ukrainian whistleblower. (In his complaint, the whistleblower said White House officials were hiding call transcripts between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on top-secret networks "solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive—rather than national security sensitive— information.")
The Trump administration and the U.S. military have long sought to keep a tight grip around the public narrative of active-duty troops and National Guardsman being utilized at the U.S.-Mexico border to support Homeland Security operations. Officials have limited or not allowed for journalism embeds, and military unit public affair officers have been instructed not to answer inquiries from journalists but instead to refer them to a higher-tiered communications strategy office.
A U.S. Marine official granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter told Newsweek the policy shift and the tight lid on the border is about stopping leaks, not national security.
"One of the most secretive military operations is the one happening in the United States and this just made it more difficult to keep tabs on," added the Marine official said.
