News / Politics

US will 'use the full force of the law' on WikiLeaks: Pence

Friday, 10 March 2017 3:35 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 10 March 2017 3:45 PM ]

US Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the Latino Coalition 2017 Policy Summit March 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

US Vice President Pence has said the Trump administration will "use the full force of the law" to go after those involved in WikiLeaks' latest episode after the whistleblower website released thousands of documents that reveal the CIA’s hacking and spying secrets.

"Trafficking in national security information, as is alleged WikiLeaks has done here, is a very serious offense," Pence said during an interview on Thursday. "It represents a compromise of the security of the American people.”

“This president and this administration will take that very seriously and use the full force of the law and resources of the United States to hold all of those to account that were involved," he added.

"If proven to be true and confirmed publicly, I can assure you that no resource will be spared in holding those [to] account that have leaked information that could well constitute a compromise of methods and a compromise of national security,” he added.

Meanwhile, the White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump believes that the CIA's systems are outdated.

"He believes that the systems at the CIA are outdated and need to be updated," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

In addition, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denounced the CIA over its "devastating incompetence" for failing to protect its hacking secrets.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gesturing during a press conference inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. (AFP file photo)

On Tuesday, WikiLeaks published nearly 9,000 documents it said were part of a huge trove leaked from the CIA.

The explosive documents exposed by WikiLeaks showed that hackers of the US intelligence apparatus can turn a TV into a listening device, bypass popular encryption apps, and possibly control one's car.

They also revealed that the agency has routinely used techniques that enable its hackers to disguise themselves as hacking groups based in Russia and other countries.

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