Diplomatic Trump: What do we know about UK emails that have been leaked?

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

Confidential e-mails from the UK ambbadador to Washington criticizing President Donald Trump were leaked over the weekend.

Sir Kim Darroch's correspondence contained a series of criticisms directed at Mr. Trump and his administration, calling the White House "clumsy and inept".

The Foreign Office has opened an official investigation and calls for a police investigation were launched in the House of Commons amid widespread anger at the diplomatic spillover.

But what do we know about the conflict up to now and what are the possible consequences?

Was it a leak or a piracy?

The Foreign Office repeatedly referred to the incident as "leaked" rather than "hacking." Originally, the incident was described as "mischievous", but an official investigation had been opened on Sunday.

The Foreign Office Minister, Sir Alan Duncan, rejected the idea that the disclosure was part of a conspiracy or "Brexit plan" and described it as "an ignoble escape. ", adding that" the first postulate is that it is an escape from the inside ".

A Whitehall source told the Times: "The involvement of hostile state actors has not been ruled out" – but Downing Street said there was no evidence suggesting the involvement of foreign powers.

Copyright of the image
Getty Images

How many people have access to emails?

When asked if ministers, deputies and special advisers would be the subject of an investigation, the Foreign Ministry said that it would belong to the investigation to decide who would be examined.

On the question of how many people in the government would generally see ambbadadors, Sir Alan said that even if he guessed, there could be about 100 people depending on the clbadification.

A former British ambbadador to the United States and a close friend of Sir Kim's said that there was a "possible range of bad guys" who could potentially have published the emails.

Sir Christopher Meyer told BBC Radio 4's Today program: "It's clearly someone who deliberately decided to sabotage Sir Kim's ambbadador, make him indefensible and replace him with someone else." One more friendly to the leak manager. "

How to investigate a leak?

In the Commons, the police have been called to investigate despite widespread anger over diplomatic spillovers.

Tom Tugendhat, chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told MPs that he had written to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, to "request that a criminal investigation be also opened" .

Sir Alan said the police could be involved if evidence of wrongdoing related to the leak were discovered, telling the House of Commons: "If evidence of crime is discovered, then yes, the police could be involved . "

In April, following the escape of Huawei, Lord O Donnell, former head of the civil service, revealed that officials in this type of situation could decide to search the archives of mobile phones and e-mails people with access to information. to find who was responsible.

Copyright of the image
Pennsylvania

What are the penalties?

The person or persons who leaked e-mails to the Mail on Sunday could possibly be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act.

Prosecution under the law is rare but not unheard of. The maximum penalty for leaking documents is two years in prison or an unlimited fine.