Pentagon Revokes Former Air Force Secretary’s Access to Classified Data After Alleged Leak

The Pentagon also barred Frank Kendall from holding ‘any sensitive position.’

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall speaks during a Senate Armed Services budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 2, 2023. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

The Pentagon on Aug. 7 revoked former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s eligibility for access to classified information after he allegedly disclosed sensitive information to a news outlet.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the revocation took effect immediately and that Kendall is also barred from holding “any sensitive position.”

Parnell said the action followed Kendall’s “unauthorized disclosure” of classified information about Air Force One’s capabilities to a news outlet. He did not specify which outlet Kendall shared the information with.

“Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty. Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it,” Parnell said in a post on X.

Responding to the Pentagon’s action, Kendall said he was “completely mystified” by it and denied making any such disclosure.

“I’ve always been extremely careful to not say anything classified, and as far as I know I have not,” he said. “No one has said anything to me about what I’m asserted to have revealed and I can’t imagine what it could be.”

Kendall was Air Force secretary from July 2021 to January 2025 under the Biden administration. He is a trained attorney and previously held numerous government positions related to defense acquisition and national security affairs.

The Pentagon provided no further details about Kendall’s alleged disclosure of sensitive information to the media.

Last month, the Department of War subpoenaed New York Times journalists after the outlet published reports about security concerns related to the Qatari-gifted jet used as Air Force One.

The New York Times published a report on July 8 stating that the Secret Service had urged President Donald Trump to use an older Air Force One jet, instead of the new Qatari-gifted jet, to leave Turkey after the NATO summit as a security precaution.

The outlet published a second report on July 9, citing anonymous sources, alleging that the new Air Force One aircraft lacked some defensive features, including anti-missile capabilities. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton later issued subpoenas to the reporters to find out the sources who provided information to the newspaper’s journalists.

On July 15, The New York Times asked a court to dismiss subpoenas requiring its journalists to appear before a grand jury. In a motion unsealed on July 20, the outlet said the Justice Department also issued subpoenas to obtain phone records of the journalists and some of their family members.

The Justice Department ultimately withdrew the subpoenas on July 23.

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian indicated on July 23 that he would have granted the request from the newspaper to reject the subpoenas if the Justice Department had not withdrawn them.

A Justice Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email on July 23 that Subramanian threatened the government attorneys with sanctions unless the subpoenas were withdrawn. The spokesperson said the judge also blocked the government from “presenting the meticulous process of this investigation.”

“The grand jury has a right to hear testimony from all material witnesses in a federal criminal investigation,” the spokesperson said.

Despite withdrawing the subpoenas, the spokesperson confirmed that the investigation remained ongoing.

Timothy Frudd and The Associated Press contributed to this report.