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Wikileaks posts alleged CIA director's emails

October 22, 2015

The online platform Wikileaks has published documents from the private email of CIA chief John Brennan, the anti-secrecy group claims. The AOL account was reportedly hacked by a teenager.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GsN8
CIA Direktor John O. Brennan
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Lane

The six files released on Wednesday are only the first segment of obtained data, and more will follow "in the coming days," Wikileaks said on their website.

The documents include a roadmap for the US administration to "come to terms" with Iran, presumably written by Brennan in 2007.

"Iran will be a major player on the world stage in the decades ahead," the memo says, urging the US administration to "tone down the rhetoric" and establish a dialogue with Tehran.

Wikileaks also published a 47-page questionnaire providing details on Brennan's carrier within the intelligence community and on his personal life.

The current CIA director allegedly filed the document in 2008 while applying for the job of the White House counterterrorism adviser.

All of the material is dated before Brennan joined the White House staff in 2009.

Attack 'could happen to anyone'

On Wednesday, the CIA said there was no indication that any of the released documents were classified.

"The Brennan family is the victim," CIA said in a statement. "This attack is something that could happen to anyone and should be condemned, not promoted."

FBI and the Secret Service were investigating the incident.

Teenager boasts of attack

The leak comes days after reports that an American high school student hacked Brennan's AOL account. AOL.inc, previously America Online, peaked in popularity during the era of dial-up internet.

The teenage hacker claims he posed as a Verizon employee and tricked an actual employee of the company to reveal Brennan's personal information, according to a report by the US mass-circulation newspaper The New York Post.

It is only the latest in the series of scandals involving high-profile US officials and private data.

Ex-CIA head David Petraeus pleaded guilty earlier this year in a data handling scandal. The former US general loaned his Afghan war diaries to his mistress.

Suspected Chinese hackers breached US government databases in June, and stole the personal information on some 21.5 million people.

In addition, the US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton faces scrutiny for using a private email server during her time as Secretary of State.

dj/bw (AFP, AP)