Donald Trump revelation of classified information to Russia

President Trump meets with Lavrov (pictured) and Kislayak on May 10, 2017

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President Donald Trump discussed highly classified intelligence in a May 10, 2017, Oval Office meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, providing details that exposed the source of the information and the manner in which it was collected, according to current and former government officials. The disclosure was described as "shocking" and "horrifying" by some commentators and officials. After his White House staff initially denied the report, the following day, Donald Trump defended the disclosure, stating that he has the "absolute right" to give classified information to any countries that he chooses.

It was reported Israel was the source of the intelligence. Israel did not confirm or deny the report but released a statement stating full confidence in the intelligence sharing relationships with the United States. However, several Israeli intelligence officials confirmed privately that Trump's disclosure of the intel to Russia "confirmed their worst fears" about Trump (Israeli officials have previously been warned about the dangers of sharing intelligence information with Trump), that the revelation jeopardizes Israel's "unique" intelligence-sharing arrangement with United States and that Israeli officials were "boiling mad".

According to current and former U.S. officials interviewed by ABC News, Trump's disclosure endangered the life of a spy placed by Israel in ISIL-held territory in Syria.

Multiple sources, including conservative commentator Erick Erickson, have stated that the leaks were far worse than the current reports, and that similar incidents have happened in the past.

Revelations and reporting

According to The Washington Post's sources, the intelligence was about an Islamic State plot to stealthily use laptops as weapons that can then explode in Western countries. A Middle Eastern ally provided the intelligence, which was codeword-classified, meaning that its distribution was restricted only to those who were explicitly cleared to read it, and was not intended to be shared beyond the United States and certain allies. The incident was first reported by the Post on May 15 and later by The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and Reuters. The officials talking to BuzzFeed said, "it's far worse than what has already been reported.”

Immediately after Trump's disclosure, "which one of the officials described as spontaneous," "senior White House officials appeared to recognize quickly that Trump had overstepped and moved to contain the potential fallout." Immediately after the meeting, Thomas P. Bossert, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, telephoned the directors of the CIA and the NSA to inform them what had occurred.

After his White House team initially denied the veracity the report during the evening of May 15, Trump appeared to confirm during the early morning of May 16 the allegations that he shared classified intelligence, saying that Russia is an important ally of the United States—including on terrorism. The move was widely seen as a pivot away from traditional American allies, and towards closer relations with Russia. The move raised questions on whether the United States would remain in Five Eyes (an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) and its relevance to the FBI investigation concerning Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

The day after the revelation, The New York Times reported that the relevant American ally and source of the intelligence was Israel. As a consequence, Trump's boasts to the Russian envoys could damage America's relationship with Israel and endanger its security if Russia passes the intel onto its ally, and Israel's main threat in the Middle East, Iran. The intel was so sensitive that it wouldn't even be shared among top U.S. allies.

Several commentators stated that by releasing highly classified information to Russia, Trump jeopardized American and allied intelligence sources, breached the trust relationship with America's foreign partners, threatened the long term national security of the country and violated his oath of office through "gross negligence". All of these actions are possible legal grounds towards efforts to impeach Donald Trump. Aides privately defended the President, stating that he did not have sufficient grasp upon what his job entails to purposely leak information.

Domestic and foreign reaction was overwhelmingly negative, with Israeli officials stating that it is Israel's "worst fears confirmed" about Donald Trump. The officials also stated that Israeli intelligence officers were "boiling mad and demanding answers" on its current intelligence-sharing agreement with the US.

A top European intelligence official stated that sharing of intelligence with the United States would cease if the country confirms that Trump did indeed share classified information with Russia, because sharing intel with Americans while Trump is president could put their sources at risk.

Initial White House response

In a press briefing, national security advisor H. R. McMaster strongly denied the Washington Post report. He 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. Two other senior officials who were present, including the secretary of state, remember the meeting the same way and have said so. And their on the record accounts should outweigh those of anonymous sources." He concluded by saying, "I was in the room, it didn't happen." McMaster said that "it was wholly appropriate to share" the information because of a similar ISIL plot two years earlier.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated that "common efforts and threats regarding counter-terrorism" were discussed in the meeting with Lavrov, but not "sources, methods or military operations". Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Habib Powell flatly rejected the Post article, saying: "This story is false. The president only discussed the common threats that both countries faced."

Opinions of scholars

A number of professors of law, political science and international relations, as well as experts on intelligence, were alarmed by Trump's revelation.

Intelligence expert Amy Zegart of Stanford University noted that Trump revealed code word intelligence, which is the highest layer of classification, even higher than the "top secret" classification. Such information, if revealed could reasonably be expected to cause "exceptionally grave damage" to the national security of the United States. She wrote, "so just how bad is the damage? On a scale of 1 to 10—and I'm just ball parking here—it's about a billion."

Counterterrorism expert Daniel Byman of Georgetown University noted that revelations such as Trump's could jeopardize intelligence sharing relationships, which "perhaps more than any other policy instrument ... play a vital role in counterterrorism against global terrorist groups like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda." The effects could be "disastrous".

Professor Jack Goldsmith and other contributors to the Lawfare Blog argued that Trump's leaking of classified information could be a violation of the President's oath of office: "There's thus no reason why Congress couldn't consider a grotesque violation of the President's oath as a standalone basis for impeachment—a high crime and misdemeanor in and of itself. This is particularly plausible in a case like this, where the oath violation involves giving sensitive information to an adversary foreign power. That's getting relatively close to the "treason" language in the impeachment clauses; it's pretty easy to imagine a hybrid impeachment article alleging a violation of the oath in service of a hostile foreign power. So legally speaking, the matter could be very grave for Trump even though there is no criminal exposure." While Goldsmith argued Trump "did not violate any criminal law concerning the disclosure of classified information" because of the president's broad authority to declassify information, another legal scholar, Professor Stephen Vladeck, disagreed, arguing that the president's "constitutional power over national security information" is not unfettered and that Trump's disclosures "may actually have been illegal under federal law."

Harvard Law emeritus professor Alan Dershowitz called the incident "the most serious charge ever made against a sitting president" and said that it was "devastating", with "very serious political, diplomatic, and international implications".

Congressional reactions

Among Republicans, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said through a spokesman that he "hopes for a full explanation of the facts from the administration". Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the allegations were "very, very troubling" if true. Senator John McCain called the report "deeply disturbing" and said that "Reports that this information was provided by a U.S. ally and shared without its knowledge 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." McCain stated: "Regrettably, the time President Trump spent sharing sensitive information with the Russians was time he did not spend focusing on Russia's aggressive behavior, including its interference in American and European elections, its illegal invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, its other destabilizing activities across Europe, and the slaughter of innocent civilians and targeting of hospitals in Syria."

Among Democrats, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer stated "The president owes the intelligence community, the American people and Congress a full explanation" and Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate Democratic Whip, said that Trump's conduct was "dangerous" and "reckless". Senator Jack Reed, the ranking Democratic member of the Armed Services Committee, stated that "President Trump's recklessness with sensitive information is deeply disturbing and clearly problematic." The Democratic National Committee issued a statement reading: "If Trump weren’t president, his dangerous disclosure to Russia could end with him in handcuffs."

Foreign reactions

The Russian Foreign Ministry instructed its followers to avoid reading U.S. newspapers, stating that it was "dangerous" to do so.

See also

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• Comey memos
• Cyberwarfare by Russia
• Dismissal of James Comey
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• Foreign electoral intervention
• Kompromat
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• Russian espionage in the United States
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

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