McCain: 'Highest Levels of the White House' Responsible for Recent National Security Leaks

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday accused the "highest levels of the White House" of leaking a recent spate of stories about classified intelligence operations.

“This is the most highly classified information and has now been leaked by the administration at the highest levels of the White House. That's not acceptable,” McCain said on CBS' "This Morning."

On the Senate floor Tuesday, McCain called the leaks "an intentional breach" meant as a "broader administration effort to paint a portrait of the president of the United States as a strong leader on national security issues." He said the Senate Armed Services Committee would hold hearings on the matter.

McCain said the reports in question -- two high-profile articles in the New York Times detailed the Obama administration's terrorist "kill list" and its efforts to use cyberattacks against Iran -- represent "a breach of national security."

“Look, this puts American lives in danger, revealing our most highly classified operations, both in cyberwar and in drones --that's just a fact," McCain said on CBS.

He said the administration should not have confirmed facts for reporters: “All they had to do was say, this is classified information and we won't discuss it.”

"What we're hearing from the administration now, 'well it was really OK,' if it was OK then make it public, don't do it in your dealings with a reporter for the New York Times," McCain said. "Of course it makes the president look very decisive."

Watch below, via CBS: