President Obama demanded a criminal investigation into leaks to the New York Times just a month into his first term, a new book by his former defense secretary claims.
The Times got a sneak peek at the forthcoming memoir by Robert Gates. In it, the paper reports, Gates "reveals the depth of Mr. Obama’s concerns over leaks of classified information to news outlets, noting that within his first month in office, the new president said he wanted a criminal investigation into disclosures on Iran policy published by The New York Times."
It wasn't clear which exact piece from the Times triggered Obama's anger. The paper has famously been a subject of a Justice Department investigation into the leaking of detailed information of a classified program against Iran in 2012. But the claim highlights the zeal that has caused many to accuse Obama of being the most hostile president towards the press since Richard Nixon.