US Justice Department to probe leak of intelligence on Venezuelan gang, official says

By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is investigating a leak of what it called classified information collected by U.S. intelligence agencies about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a senior official said on Friday.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the disclosure "a selective leak of inaccurate, but nevertheless classified, information."

"We will not tolerate politically motivated efforts by the Deep State to undercut President (Donald) Trump’s agenda by leaking false information onto the pages of their allies at the New York Times," Blanche said, referring to a term embraced by Trump and his allies to describe government officials opposed to him.

It was not entirely clear what reporting Blanche was referencing. The New York Times reported on Thursday that U.S. intelligence agencies circulated findings that Tren de Aragua was not acting at the direction of the Venezuelan government.

The conclusion appeared to contradict President Donald Trump's basis for invoking an 18th-century wartime law to deport members of the gang.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; editing by Diane Craft and Cynthia Osterman)