Multimedia and Communications Minister Salleh Said Keruak has issued a warning against the leaks in government information spotlighted by Sarawak Report's revelations on the auditor-general's report on 1MDB.
"It is alarming that not only have confidential information been sold but that some of it have been altered or doctored in the effort to sensationalise the issue," claimed Salleh in a statement on his blog last night.
"The main question would be what else and even more damaging information have also been sold that we are not aware of.
"And this puts the security of the nation at risk and this is nothing short of an act of treason," he said.
He said this lent credence to rumours of an alleged entity called the 'Anti-Najib Campaign' (ANC), purportedly armed with "RM2 billion funding" to attack Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Last week, London-based whistleblower website Sarawak Report began publishing what it claims are damaging contents of the audit report on 1MDB, which the government had classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
The government was heavily criticised for hiding the report behind the OSA, with one law professor stating that according to the federal constitution, it was wrong to do so as the report must be tabled in Parliament.
Critics have urged the government to declassify the report in light of the Sarawak Report leaks.
Media war 'funded by ANC'
Salleh said claims regarding the purported ANC and its "RM600 million set aside to finance the media and online war" have never been denied.
"The 20-month onslaught against Prime Minister Najib Razak using both foreign plus local blogs and news agencies to play up the 1MDB issue as the catalyst to try to oust Najib without a doubt costs a lot of money," he said.
Training his guns on Najib's biggest critic, his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Salleh said, "Dr Mahathir Mohamad should accept that his campaign to discredit Najib has failed, and that all he has achieved is the ruin of the political career of all those around him.
"Mahathir has only himself to blame for what happened to his son Mukhriz."
Mukhriz was sacked from the party last month along with deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin, while Umno vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal was suspended.
Shafie then quit the party, last Monday.
Meanwhile, Salleh said Mahathir had failed to oust Najib despite his use of the 1MDB issue.
"Mahathir underestimated Najib and thought that by attacking him using the 1MDB issue that would bring about his ouster.
"What Mahathir overlooked, or maybe he thought he can be exempted from, is that Umno has a certain culture and tradition and there is no fast-track rise to power, not even for the son of a prime minister or ex-prime minister.
"Mahathir thought he was bigger than Umno but now he probably realises that the party is always bigger than the individual.
"And that has resulted in Mahathir ruining Mukhriz’s political career," said Salleh.
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