After the president threatened jail time over a report that placed an American airman in greater danger, an alleged culprit defiantly danced around any responsibility.
“… anyway — I will protect my sources.”
Dubbed an Easter weekend miracle, a U.S. Air Force colonel was rescued Sunday, declaring “God is good” some 36 hours after his F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran on Good Friday, triggering a bounty hunt. Given the efforts to protect the weapons systems officer after the pilot was rescued, a tipoff from the media that an American was still behind enemy lines left Amit Segal of Israel’s Channel 12 seemingly unmoved by President Donald Trump’s warning about consequences.
Reacting to Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin noting that Iran was unaware of the second airman’s presence until corporate media reports, the New York Post’s Caitlan Doornbos relayed that Segal hedged whether he actually had the scoop after he credited a “Western source” as revealing the sensitive information.
“I’m not sure I was the first,” she went on to quote him. “And anyway — I will protect my sources.”
Israel’s Channel 12 reporter Amit Segal had an early tweet about this report, but told me he was unsure if he was the first to report it.
“I’m not sure I was the first,” he said. “And anyway — I will protect my sources.” https://t.co/apcSS7iWj5
— Caitlin Doornbos (@CaitlinDoornbos) April 6, 2026
During the Monday press conference, the commander-in-chief explained, “We didn’t talk about the first one for an hour, and then somebody leaked something, which we’ll hopefully find that leaker; we’re looking very hard to find that leaker, and talked about, there’s somebody missing.”
“They basically said that we have one, and there’s somebody missing. Well, [Iran] didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information,” continued Trump. “Whoever it is, we think we’ll be able to find it out, because we’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, national security, give it up, or go to jail.”
.@POTUS: “We have to find that leaker because that’s a sick person… They put this mission at great risk.” pic.twitter.com/TodvJmuHMC
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 6, 2026
“And we know who,” asserted the president, “and you know who we’re talking about, because some things you can’t do, because when they did that, all of a sudden, the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land, that was fighting for his life.”
While Trump referred to the leaker as a “sick person,” Segal further reacted to reporting from the Post and other outlets that “pointed the finger” at him, and said, “While I appreciate the attention, I fear it’s undeserved. I was not the first journalist to report that the pilot was missing, nor that he was injured. I suppose the accusations are a testament to my timely reporting, but the fact is that The Guardian and two Israeli channels broke the story before I did. I imagine ‘Israeli Journalist Endangers American Pilot’ makes a better headline.”
The political analyst also denied having the scoop in direct response to a screenshot of his online activity where, after quoting Trump’s warning to the unnamed leaker, Segal wrote, “As you may recall, this was first published here.”
The sentiment of many was summed up in one post that asserted, “Someone committed treason and almost got an American killed. All for clicks.”
Thanks Ryan
But it wasn’t my scoop this time. A few Israeli outlets (and the Guardian as well reported it an hour before. Attached some examples: pic.twitter.com/NlqBpwyfnE
— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) April 7, 2026
Someone committed treason and almost got an American killed. All for clicks.
— Moke (@Moke1966758) April 6, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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