Skwim
Veteran Member
"I have the absolute right to share [highly classified] information with Russia."
That he does, but why lie and try to cover it up?
Trump admits sharing information with Russia about terror threat. In tweets Tuesday morning, President Trump said he had shared "facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety" with Russian diplomats in an Oval Office meeting last week, confirming a key part of a news report his aides had denied the night before.
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The White House lurched into a new crisis Monday over reports that President Trump had shared highly classified intelligence last week with visiting Russian officials in the Oval Office.
The revelation touched off widespread dismay among members of Congress, including Republicans, who seemed to credit the published reports even as the White House disputed them.
“The White House has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and in order,” said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Obviously they’re in a downward spiral right now, and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening.”
The White House issued carefully worded denials. In a brief and hastily scheduled appearance before reporters outside the West Wing, national security advisor H.R. McMaster said that “at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed” in the meeting. "I was in the room. It did not happen," he said before leaving without answering shouted questions.
Although it is not illegal for a president to reveal classified information, administration officials were reportedly so concerned that Trump’s disclosure would antagonize the foreign ally that provided the intelligence that White House aides quickly notified the CIA and the National Security Agency.
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The revelation touched off widespread dismay among members of Congress, including Republicans, who seemed to credit the published reports even as the White House disputed them.
“The White House has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and in order,” said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Obviously they’re in a downward spiral right now, and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening.”
The White House issued carefully worded denials. In a brief and hastily scheduled appearance before reporters outside the West Wing, national security advisor H.R. McMaster said that “at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed” in the meeting. "I was in the room. It did not happen," he said before leaving without answering shouted questions.
Although it is not illegal for a president to reveal classified information, administration officials were reportedly so concerned that Trump’s disclosure would antagonize the foreign ally that provided the intelligence that White House aides quickly notified the CIA and the National Security Agency.
source
Trump's information sharing risks damaging US alliances — and America's ability to gather intelligence
WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, US allies have anxiously wondered if President Donald Trump could be trusted with some of the world's most sensitive national security secrets.
Now, just a few days before Trump's debut on the international stage, he's giving allies new reasons to worry. A US official said Trump revealed highly classified information about an Islamic State plot to senior Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week. The information had been obtained by a US partner and shared with Washington, according to the official.
"If it proves to be true that the American president passed on internal intelligence matters, that would be highly worrying," Burkhard Lischka, a senior German lawmaker, said in a statement to The Associated Press.
A second European official told the AP that their country might stop sharing intelligence with the United States as a result of Trump's disclosure to Russia.
The revelations — which Trump appeared to verify in a pair of tweets Tuesday morning — are sure to shadow the president as he embarks Friday on his first overseas trip as president. After high-stakes visits to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican, he'll meet some of Washington's strongest European partners at a NATO summit in Brussels and the Group of 7 meeting in Sicily. Some of the leaders he'll meet come from countries the US has intelligence-sharing agreements with.
Trump has a contentious relationship with American spy agencies. He's questioned the competence of intelligence officials, challenged their assessment that Russia meddled in last year's election to help him win, and accused them of leaking information about him and his associates.
The leaks have only continued to flow.
According to the US official, Trump shared details with top Russian officials about an Islamic State terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft. The Washington Post first reported the disclosure.
White House officials disputed the report, saying Trump did not disclose intelligence sources or methods with the Russians, though they did not deny that classified information was disclosed in the May 10 meeting. And by Tuesday morning, Trump was justifying his actions, writing on Twitter that he had an "absolute right" to share the information about "terrorism and airline flight safety" with Russia."
The US and Western officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive information.
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