Once the press has enough information that government employees know a story is coming, they can decide whether and how they want to talk about it.

So the above ambiguity about whether the timing resulted from OSINT and journalism running its course or a leak still stands.

No. Information that is public can still be classified. It's strange. Years ago, I had a clearance, and I know people got in trouble for saying in public things that were in the press. A newspaper clipping could contain information that would get me in trouble for having in an unsecured location.

Unless it's authorised

There are tons of examples of just that happening. The most prominent one might be Aldrich Ames, but there's a lot more.

LEOs at all levels have been getting sentenced left and right lately for using government spying systems to stalk people. Your confidence in the integrity and rationality of people given access to power and information is baffling to me.