White House effectively using data on Russia's intentions as deterrent - CNN

For months, President Joe Biden's administration has officially disclosed previously classified intelligence about Russia's actions around Ukraine, using them as a deterrent to Moscow, according to an article published by CNN on Friday.

Administration officials said the disclosures have been carefully coordinated among the National Security Council, the intelligence community and other national security agencies in an effort to disrupt Russian planning, blunt the effectiveness of any "false flag" operations and, ultimately, deter military action.

According to sources, there are signs the strategy is working. The Biden administration believes Russian President Vladimir Putin has been caught off guard by some of the releases, and intelligence intercepts have picked up Russian military and intelligence officials grumbling about the exposure of their plans.

Much of the information could not have been learned from satellite images alone -- which are often duplicated in public channels -- instead signaling clear U.S. access to Russian military and intelligence channels.

The Biden administration's strategy of repeated disclosures offers one of the first sustained examples of a relatively new and untested doctrine. "The new doctrine is the potential to use intelligence as an information operations weapon," said former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who noted that the Obama administration had made similar disclosures after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

According to the report, the strategy has led to clashes with the U.S. media over the administration's unwillingness to show proof of its claims. The disclosures have largely come in the form of statements from agency spokesmen and officials have provided little by way of evidence -- in effect, asking reporters to report the material without confirmation.

op