The website D.C. Leaks has published what it says are scanned pages from first lady Michelle Obama’s passport.

The site says the file came from a hacked email account belonging to Ian Mellul, whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a White House advance staffer.

An apparent scan of Michelle Obama's passport, shown with certain information blurred, was released by the website D.C. Leaks. D.C. Leaks

“The leaked files show the security level of our government,” operators of the site said in a Thursday morning email to reporters, which commanded attention with its passport file attachment two days after the hacked emails were published.

“If terrorists hack emails of White House Office staff and get such sensitive information we will see the fall of our country,” the message says. “Follow the link below for more interesting stuff. We hope you will tell the people about this criminal negligence of White House Office staffers.”

The identity of the D.C. Leaks operator or operators is not publicly known.

The leak website's operation comes, however, following embarrassing hacks of the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee by a hacker going under the name Guccifer 2.0, who at least some cybersecurity firms say may be associated with the Russian government.

D.C. Leaks earlier this month published emails hacked from former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who in his private correspondence offered sharp criticism of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and other information, including an assertion that Israel has 200 nuclear weapons in its secrecy-shrouded arsenal.

The White House press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the documents and mostly mundane correspondence attributed to Mellul are authentic.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest downplayed Mellul’s prominence during his daily press briefing, describing advance staffers as contractors who “don’t have a desk at the White House” and perform simple travel-related tasks.

“Certainly this is a serious situation and we’re going to take a close look at it,” Earnest said. “This is something that was just leaked on the internet a few hours ago, so we’re still taking a look at exactly what happened, and at this point I cannot account for the veracity or accuracy of the information that has been posted online.”

Though he would not say the files are authentic, Earnest said, “I think it should be a wake-up call for all of us. All of you have prominent names, and it’s important for all of us to be conscious of protecting our information and practicing good cyber hygiene.”

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it is canceling and reissuing the first lady’s passport.