Who shared what with whom?
Washington is entangled in another row over Russians
Q&A on Trump’s disclosure of classified material,
President Trump disclosed highly classified information when he met with top Russian diplomats last week, according to The Washington Post.
Q: Who are the Russian diplomats?
A: Last week, Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office. It was the only public event listed on Trump’s schedule one day after he fired James Comey, the FBI director who was running the agency’s ongoing investigation into possible collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russians allegedly seeking to influence the American presidential election. Though U.S. media were barred from taking photos of the meeting, the Russianowned TASS news agency circulated photos of their meeting.
Q: What did Trump tell the Russians?
A: According to The Washing
ton Post, Trump described highly classified details of an Islamic State threat related to using laptop computers on aircraft. He reportedly revealed a city in the Islamic State’s territory where a U.S. partner detected the threat, which could damage a critical source of intelligence on the terrorist group.
Q: Who provided the classified intelligence?
A: The New York Times reported Tuesday that the classified intelligence came from Israel, a major intelligence collector in the Middle East. Israeli officials did not confirm whether they were the source of the intel.
Q: Has Trump responded?
A: The president wrote on Twitter that he has a right to share facts about terrorism.
“As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety,” he wrote Tuesday. “Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.”
Q: What did other members of the administration say?
A: National security adviser H.R. McMaster denied the Post report Monday.
“The story that came out tonight, as reported, is false,” McMaster said. “There is nothing that the president takes more seriously than the security of the American people. The president and the foreign minister reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries, including threats to civil aviation. 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 continued: “Two other sen- ior officials who were present, including the secretary of State, remember the meeting the same way and have said so. Their onthe-record accounts should outweigh those of anonymous sources. I was in the room — it didn’t happen.”
Q: Can the president disclose classified info?
A: Yes. As commander in chief, he has the authority to unilaterally disclose classified information.
Every other government employee with a clearance could face criminal charges for disclosing classified information without permission. The commander in chief has the power to disclose any material — even the most secret intelligence — without going through any kind of formal process.
Q: How do members of Congress feel about this?
A: Several lawmakers, including those running intelligence and foreign affairs committees, called the alleged disclosures “inexcusable” and “deeply disturbing.”
“To compromise a source is something that you just don’t do,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, RTenn., said. “That’s why we keep the information that we get from intelligence sources so close ... to prevent that from happening.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the administration “immediately” needed to brief the Senate Intelligence Committee, on which she sits.