According to Lt. Col. Sean Gibson (spokesman at Marine Corps Central Command in Florida) such information "is part of an ongoing investigation, and as such is neither releasable nor would it be appropriate for me to comment on it."
A "senior defense official" told the Associated Press that his previous leaks were correct,A leaker identified as "someone involved in the case who declined to be identified because the documents are not public", A "Marine official and a lawyer involved in the case",and unnamed "Pentagon sources" are described as sources of the unauthorized disclosures.
A breach of trust has taken place, perhaps even undue command influence considering those named as "senior defense official" and "Pentagon source."
The right to a fair and impartial hearing has been seriously compromised, perhaps beyond repair.
If Lt. Gen. Mattis is a man who truly understands honor and duty, he must protect the Marines in his charge. It is imperative that the leakers are publicly exposed and they are dealt with severely, this too is Mattis' responsibility. Until he has accomplished this, no hearings should proceed. In his judgement, he may even decide to drop all charges because of the taint and damage these leaks have caused.
The senior Pentagon official said that no other marines would face charges in the case. “The only people who will be charged with an offense will be those individuals who did the shootings,” the official said last week.
But the Marine officer, interviewed on Tuesday, said that he expected charges to be brought against one or two additional marines, including one officer.
“I don’t see just five of them being charged,” the official said. “I see six or seven. One of them, I see, is an officer.”
Elsewhere in the article…
Aides to committee members said that Marine officials promised a confidential briefing before any charges were announced.
That was the “confidential briefing” that Congressmen babbled all about to reporters.
Then there was the list of names...
According to the Marine official and the defense lawyer representing one of the marines under investigation, criminal charges will be filed against Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, of Meriden, Conn., the squad’s leader; Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, 25, of Edmund, Okla.; Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 21, of Carbondale, Penn.; Cpl. Sanick Dela Cruz, 24, of Chicago; and Cpl. Hector Salinas, 22, of Houston.
The Times issued a correction for LCpl. Sharratt’s hometown (for the benefit of all the loonies in the world) but no explanation or correction or apology for including Cpl. Salinas on the list.