Clinton Promises 'Aggressive' Response to WikiLeaks

(Nov. 29) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton promised today that the United States would pursue those responsible for giving WikiLeaks a treasure trove of diplomatic cables, while Army investigators focus on a soldier already suspected of providing the online organization with tens of thousands of classified military documents.

"I want you to know that we are taking aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information," Clinton said in her first public remarks since WikiLeaks released more than 250,000 State Department cables.

Like other senior U.S. government leaders, she condemned the release of the diplomatic cables, which she said were meant to be private communications.

"I want to make clear that our official foreign policy is not set through these messages, but here in Washington," she said.

Attorney General Eric Holder also said that the government was launching a criminal investigation. Anyone found to have broken the law "will be held responsible," he said.

The cables, which range from mundane details related to diplomatic dealings to snarky commentary on world leaders, have reignited the controversy surrounding WikiLeaks. The website says it is dedicated to government transparency, but it has been accused by the U.S. government of placing troops and civilians in danger. WikiLeaks has already released a large number of classified U.S. military documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army Criminal Investigation Division, which is spearheading the investigation into the leaked documents, confirmed today that it is looking at the State Department exposure as part of its ongoing investigation into Bradley Manning, an Army private who is in military custody at Quantico, Va.

"The amount of information that was recently released to the public via WikiLeaks is also being considered by our CID investigators," Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Division, told AOL News.

Grey confirmed that the State Department leaks are being looked at as part of the original investigation into the Army private, though it's unclear whether the diplomatic cables are part of the charges already brought against Manning.

Grey referred questions about military charges against Manning to the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, which has jurisdiction over the court-martial proceedings against Manning. A spokesman for the Military District of Washington was not available for comment this afternoon.

Manning allegedly confided to a hacker that he had provided the State Department cables to WikiLeaks, in addition to the military documents and a video depicting a helicopter gunship attack in Iraq that killed two Reuters employees. According to a log of that chat published by Wired.com in June, Manning told hacker Adrian Lamo that he brought a homemade music CD to work, erased the music and downloaded confidential documents while appearing to sing along to Lady Gaga.

WikiLeaks has never confirmed that Manning was the source of the leaks, thought it is helping with his legal defense.