McMaster spin on leak of Israeli intel
WASHINGTON — National security adviser H.R. McMaster essentially confirmed Tuesday that President Trump shared highly classified information about ISIS with Russia, but contended his actions were “appropriate.”
“What the President discussed with the foreign minister was wholly appropriate to that conversation and is consistent with the routine sharing of information between the President and any leaders with whom he is engaged,” McMaster said — one day after he called The Washington Post’s bombshell account of the meeting between Trump and Russian diplomats “false.”
He also acknowledged the President might have disclosed the location of where the highly classified information originated but downplayed the revelation of the location as “nothing that you would not know from open-source reporting.”
Experts said the disclosures might put at risk other countries’ willingness to share valuable, sensitive intelligence with the U.S. — including Israel, which reportedly was the source of the information that ISIS was looking into putting bombs into laptop computers.
Trump appears to have violated the confidentiality of an intelligence-sharing agreement the U.S. has with Israel, which is likely less than thrilled that its own intelligence has been passed along to Russia, a top ally of Iran, Syria and other countries that are deeply hostile to the nation. With Trump set to embark on his first foreign trip late this week to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Europe, the divulging of the information could make for some very awkward conversations.
ABC News reported that Trump’s revelation also jeopardized the safety of a spy Israel has embedded within ISIS.
While the White House and Israel haven’t publicly confirmed Israel was the source of the intelligence, Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer put out a statement that Israel “has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer pointed to Dermer’s comments when asked Tuesday afternoon whether Israel was the source, saying he was “pleased” about them.
McMaster also claimed that Trump “wasn’t aware of where the information came from” and had “made the decision in the context of the conversation” to tell top Russian officials about the intelligence, signs the President may not have known how sensitive the information was, before fleeing from his hastily scheduled press conference.
Presidents can declassify information as they see fit, but Trump’s seemingly impromptu decision to share highly classified information with top Russian diplomats alarmed many in the intelligence community as well as politicians in both parties.
The timing was especially concerning, coming just one day after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to meddle in the 2016 election.
Trump, for his part, defended his off-the-cuff decision to tell top Russian officials about highly classified information, arguing it was done to build U.S.-Russia relations.
“We had a very, very successful meeting with the foreign minister of Russia. Our fight is against ISIS,” he said during an event with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Those comments follow Trump’s morning tweets along the same lines — remarks that undercut Monday night statements by McMaster and other White House officials and essentially threw them under the bus.
And while the White House flails to get the story under control, members of Congress in both parties grew increasingly vocal about their frustrations.
“It would be helpful to have less drama emanating from the White House,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a statement that the reports of Trump’s actions were “deeply disturbing.”