Report: Trump shared secrets with Russians
White House says no intelligence sources or methods were discussed
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump revealed highly classified information about Islamic State militants to Russian officials during a meeting last week, the Washington Post reported Monday, prompting strong condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans.
Three White House officials who were in the May 10 meeting strongly denounced the story, saying no intelligence sources and methods were discussed — but they didn’t deny that classified information was disclosed.
Citing current and former U.S. officials, the Post said Trump shared details about an Islamic State terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.
The anonymous officials told the Post that the information Trump relayed during the Oval Office meeting had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement. They said it was considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government.
“I was in the room, it didn’t happen,” H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, told reporters outside the White House late Monday.
“The president and the foreign minister reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries including threats to civil aviation,” McMaster said. “At no time, at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed and the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known.”
He said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Dina Powell, deputy national security adviser for strategy, remember the meeting the same way. “Their on-the-record accounts should outweigh those of anonymous sources” in the news report, he said.
Tillerson said Trump discussed a range of subjects, including “common efforts and threats regarding counter-terrorism.” He said that during that exchange the nature of specific threats were discussed, but they did not discuss sources, methods or military operations.
Powell said: “This story is false. The president only discussed the common threats that both countries faced.”
The Post story does not claim that Trump revealed any specific information about how the intelligence was gathered.
Still, it will only heighten Trump’s strained relations with intelligence workers and former officials, who view Russia as an adversary.
The Post said the intelligence partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russian officials. By doing so, Trump would have jeopardized co-operation from an ally familiar with the inner workings of the Islamic State group, and make other allies — or even U.S. intelligence officials — wary about sharing future top secret details with the president.
Afterward, White House officials took steps to contain the damage, placing calls to the CIA and the National Security Agency, the newspaper said.
The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
Congressional Republicans and Democrats expressed concern about the report.
Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters the Trump White House “has got to do something soon to bring itself under control and order.”
“The shame of it is there’s a really good national security team in place and there are good, productive things that are under way through them and through others,” Corker said. “But the chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline — it’s creating an environment that I think makes — it creates a worrisome environment.”