--Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State
Daily Press Briefing, Washington, DC, November 24, 2010

The relevant excerpt:

QUESTION: WikiLeaks.
MR. CROWLEY: Last question. One more, then I got to go.

QUESTION: WikiLeaks.

QUESTION: Is it coming down this week? Are you expecting it this weekend? Do you have any idea of what you can on the record, off on background, or off the record --

MR. CROWLEY: Last question on WikiLeaks. We – no, no. I literally got to go. All right. On WikiLeaks --

QUESTION: This is on the record?

MR. CROWLEY: Yeah, sure. We are very mindful of the announcement that WikiLeaks made earlier this week, that there is a release of documents pending at some point in the future. If the past is prologue, that would mean that certain news organizations may well already be in possession of specific documents. So we continue to work through, as we have throughout this process, evaluating both the material that we think was previously leaked from government sources to WikiLeaks, and we continue to make clear that this is harmful to our national security. It does put lives at risk. It does put national interests at risk.

It’s hard for us to give you any kind of assessment of what the potential impact is, because we actually don’t know what is going to be released. It is our expectation – we’ve known all along that WikiLeaks has in its possession State Department cables. We are prepared if this upcoming tranche of documents includes State Department cables. We are in touch with our posts around the world. They have begun the process of notifying governments that release of documents is possible in the near future. Many of you are aware, we have had similar conversations with members of the Hill to let them know what we are prepared for. This is going to be unhelpful.

This is – without getting into any discussion of any specific cables, the kinds of cables that posts send to Washington are – they’re classified. They involve discussions that we’ve had with government officials, with private citizens. They contain analysis. They contain a record of the day-to-day diplomatic activity that our personnel undertake. And this back and forth between government, the government of the United States and governments around the world, it is diplomacy in action. It is part of the system through which we collaborate and cooperate with other countries. Inherent in this day-to-day action is trust that we can convey our perspective to other governments in confidence and that they can convey their perspective on events to us. It helps inform us of what’s happening around the world. It informs our – the policies that we undertake on behalf of the American people.

And when this confidence is betrayed and ends up on the front pages of newspapers or lead stories on television and radio it has an impact. We decry what has happened. These revelations are harmful to the United States and our interests. They are going to create tension in our relationships between our diplomats and our friends around the world. We wish that this would not happen. But we are, obviously, prepared for the possibility that it will.

QUESTION: And you’ve notified Congress this week?

MR. CROWLEY: Yes. 

Also see:

is the very good question that Dan Murphy is asking.