Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Mike Pompeo said  Saturday that the rate of intelligence leaks has “accelerated,” attributing the rise to “Edward Snowden” and WikiLeaks, Politico reports.

Talking to MSNBC host Hugh Hewitt about intelligence disclosures, he said: “In some ways, I do think it’s accelerated”.

In 2013, Snowden leaked thousands of government documents that exposed the extent of the U.S. government’s surveillance apparatus. WikiLeaks also recently published nearly 8,000 documents that it claims reveals secrets about the CIA’s cyber espionage tools for breaking into computers.

Pompeo said Trump’s administration is focused on “stopping leaks of any kind, from any agency, and when they happen, pursuing them with incredible vigor”.

“It’s tough. You now have not only nation-states trying to steal our stuff, but non-state, hostile intelligence services, well-funded folks like WikiLeaks, out there trying to steal American secrets for the sole purpose of undermining the United States and democracy,” Pompeo said.

Reality Leigh Winner is the first alleged leaker to be arrested on charges of turning over a secret document to a news organization during President Trump’s  administration.

Itunuoluwa