President
Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russia's foreign
minister about a planned Islamic State operation, two U.S. officials said on
Monday,
plunging the White House into another controversy just months into
Trump's short tenure in office.
The
intelligence, shared at a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, was supplied by a U.S.
ally in the fight against the militant group, both officials with knowledge of
the situation said.
The White
House declared the allegations, first reported by the Washington Post,
incorrect.
"The
story that came out tonight as reported is false," H.R. McMaster, Trump's
national security adviser, told reporters at the White House, adding that the
leaders reviewed a range of common threats including to civil aviation.
"At no
time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. The president did not
disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known...I was
in the room. It didn't happen," he said.
The White
House also released a statement from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who said
the Oval Office meeting focused on counterterrorism, and from Deputy National
Security Adviser Dina Powell, who called the Washington Post story false.
Still, the
news triggered concern in Congress.
The Senate's
No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, called Trump's conduct "dangerous" and
"reckless".
Bob Corker,
the Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the
allegations "very, very troubling" if true.
“Obviously,
they’re in a downward spiral right now and they’ve got to come to grips with
all that’s happening," he said of the White House.
SECRET
COMPARTMENT
The latest
controversy came as Trump's administration reels from the fallout over his
abrupt dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey and amid congressional
calls for an independent investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in
the 2016 U.S. election.
One of the
officials said the intelligence discussed by Trump in his meeting with Lavrov
was classified "Top Secret" and held in a secure “compartment” to
which only a handful of intelligence officials have access.
After Trump
disclosed the information, which one of the officials described as spontaneous,
officials immediately called the CIA and the National Security Agency, both of
which have agreements with a number of allied intelligence services around the
world, and informed them what had happened.
While the
president has the authority to disclose even the most highly classified
information at will, in this case he did so without consulting the ally that
provided it, which threatens to jeopardize a long-standing intelligence-sharing
agreement, the U.S. officials said.
Since taking
office in January, Trump has careened from controversy to controversy,
complaining on the first day about news coverage of his inauguration crowds;
charging his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, with wiretapping; and
just last week firing the FBI director who was overseeing an investigation into
potential ties between Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian
government.
Trump, a
Republican who has called allegations of links between his campaign team and
Russia a "total scam," sharply criticized his 2016 election rival,
Democrat Hillary Clinton, for her handling of classified information as
secretary of state, when she used a private email server.
The FBI
concluded that no criminal charges against Clinton were warranted, but Comey
said she and her colleagues had been "careless" with classified
information.
'NO FILTER'
In his
conversations with the Russian officials, Trump appeared to be boasting about
his knowledge of the looming threats, telling them he was briefed on
"great intel every day," an official with knowledge of the exchange
said, according to the Post.
Some U.S.
officials have told Reuters they have been concerned about disclosing highly
classified intelligence to Trump.
One
official, who requested anonymity to discuss dealing with the president, said
last month: “He has no filter; it’s in one ear and out the mouth.”
One of the
officials with knowledge of Trump's meeting with the Russian called the timing
of the disclosure “particularly unfortunate,” as the President prepares for a
White House meeting on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, an ally
in the fight against Islamic State.
Trump's
first foreign trip also begins later this week and includes a stop in Saudi
Arabia, another Islamic State foe, and a May 25 NATO meeting in Brussels
attended by other important U.S. allies. He also has stops planned in Israel
and the Vatican.
The
president's trip and latest uproar over his meeting with Russian officials come
amid rumors that he might shake-up his senior staff in a bid to refocus his
administration.
REUTERS*
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