USA TODAY US Edition

Trump defends sharing ‘facts’

Report says Israel was source of intel on ISIS terror threat

- David Jackson @djusatoday Contributi­ng: Jessica Estepa

Reports: Israel source of intelllige­nce on ISIS threat,

As President WASHINGTON Trump defended his right to share “facts” about terrorism and airline safety with Russian diplomats, reports surfaced Tuesday that Israel supplied the secret informatio­n at the heart of the latest furor to engulf the White House.

“We had a very, very successful meeting with the foreign minister of Russia; our fight is against ISIS,” Trump said a day after The

Washington Post reported that he revealed highly classified intelligen­ce to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in an Oval Office session last week.

Already under fire over last week’s abrupt firing of the FBI director, James Comey, Trump faces criticism over claims he discussed counterter­rorism in a way that would allow his Russian guests to trace secret intelligen­ce sources and methods and potentiall­y compromise critical sources of informatio­n on the Islamic State terror group.

The New York Times reported that Israel was the source of the intelligen­ce in question, which had to do with plans by the Islamic State to use laptop computers as weapons and was so sensitive it had been withheld from allies and held close even within the U.S. government.

Trump, who will head to Israel as part of his first foreign trip as president this week, explained his rationale early Tuesday. “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,” Trump said in a pair of tweets. “Humanitari­an reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.”

National security adviser H.R. McMaster said Tuesday that Trump’s discussion with Russian officials did not compromise any sources or methods. The exchange, he said, was “wholly appropriat­e to that conversati­on and is consistent with the routine sharing of informatio­n between the president and any leaders with whom he’s engaged.”

Though McMaster described the Post story as “false” Monday, he clarified Tuesday that “the premise of that article is false, that in any way the president had a conversati­on that was inappropri­ate or that resulted in any kind of lapse in national security.”

American presidents have the power to unilateral­ly disclose any material — even the most secret intelligen­ce — without going through any formal process or worrying about prosecutio­n. Though Trump is correct to say he has an “absolute right” to share any informatio­n he wants, experts say, it could risk allies’ trust in the U.S. ability to keep se- crets and might stop sharing valuable intelligen­ce with their American counterpar­ts.

Israeli officials had little public response. Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, said, “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.”

Though White House spokesman Sean Spicer would not com- ment on the Israel story, he did cite Dermer’s statement: “We appreciate the strong relationsh­ip that we have with Israel when it comes to intelligen­ce sharing.”

Some lawmakers, including Republican­s, said Trump’s purported talk about secret counterter­rorism operations could have exposed sources trying to help the United States. It “sends a troubling signal to America’s allies and partners around the world and may impair their willingnes­s to share intelligen­ce with us in the future,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Intelligen­ce Committee, said Trump misses the point when he cites the right to discuss sensitive informatio­n.

“Mr. President,” Schiff tweeted, “this isn’t about your ‘rights,’ but your responsibi­lities. You could jeopardize our sources, relationsh­ips and security.”

In a tweet, Trump protested news leaks about his administra­tion. Trump said, “I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administra­tion, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligen­ce community.”

Lawmakers were disturbed that Trump would discuss any intelligen­ce with officials from Russia, a country under investigat­ion by U.S. authoritie­s over allegation­s it interfered with last year’s presidenti­al election by hacking Democratic organizati­ons.

As Trump prepares for his trip to the Middle East and Europe, lawmakers from both parties demanded a full accounting of the conversati­on with the Russian diplomats.

“If the report is true, it is very disturbing,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoma­n Maria Zakharova denounced the Post story as “fake.” Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said, “We do not want to have anything to do with this nonsense.”

Republican­s were frustrated by the onslaught of news about the White House.

“Obviously, they’re in a downward spiral right now,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening.”

“We had a very, very successful meeting with the foreign minister of Russia; our fight is against ISIS.” President Trump

 ?? POOL PHOTO BY MICHAEL REYNOLDS ??
POOL PHOTO BY MICHAEL REYNOLDS

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