Trump disclosed intel on IS plot to Russians
TOP SECRETS REVEALED US President brags about being briefed every day
After complaining about leaks and calling for prosecuting those responsible, US President Donald Trump has been found to have himself disclosed classified information about a planned Islamic State operation to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador.
The Washington Post, which first reported this alleged breach when the three met at the White House last week, said it was not revealing details at the request of US officials who feared such disclosure could jeopardise the intelligence gathering operation being run by a US ally who had not authorised its sharing.
In his meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak, the president said, “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” reported the Post, citing an official with knowledge of the conversation.
And then he discussed it in some detail. He went on to describe, the Post said, “how Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances.”
Most alarmingly, the report said, “Trump revealed the city in the Islamic State’s territory where the US intelligence partner detected the threat.”
The White House went into damage control mode as soon as it realised the misstep, calling the CIA and the NSA, and rolled out national security adviser HR McMaster to deal with the blowback that had taken epic proportions on media within hours.
“At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed, and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly,” McMaster said, calling the Post story “false”.
The optics were troubling enough of the US president meeting the Russians just the day after he had fired FBI director James Comey who was overseeing an investigation on the reported meddling by Moscow in US elections with alleged collusion of Trump campaign aides.
Kislyak’s interactions — meetings and phone conversations — with Trump’s first NSA Michael Flynn and attorney general Jeff Sessions have already cost them their job and role in the Russia investigation respectively.