(2017-05-15) Trump Revealed Highly Classified Information To Russians

Donald Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador

President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said that Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.

The information Trump relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, officials said.

For most anyone in government discussing such matters with an adversary would be illegal. As president, Trump has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that his disclosures broke the law.

In his meeting with Lavrov, Trump seemed to be boasting about his inside knowledge of the looming threat.

Russia and the United States both regard the Islamic State as an enemy and share limited information about terrorist threats. But the two nations have competing agendas in Syria, where Moscow has deployed military assets and personnel to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

LawFareBlog's Initial Thoughts on the Washington Post’s Game-Changing Story

First, this is not a question of “leaking classified information” or breaking a criminal law. Let’s dispense with one easy rabbit hole that a lot of people are likely to go down this evening: the President did not “leak” classified information in violation of law. He is allowed to do what he did.

Second, this is not a garden variety breach, and outrage over it is not partisan hypocrisy about protecting classified information.

Third, it is important to understand the nature of sources and methods information in order to fully understand the gravity of the breach.

Fourth, it really matters why Trump disclosed this information to Russian visitors... Did the disclosure serve a national security purpose, even in Trump’s mind?

Fifth, this may well 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.

Sixth, it matters hugely, at least from an atmospheric point of view that the people in the room were Russian and one of them was Sergey Kislyak of all people.

Seventh, Trump’s screw-up with the Russians in the oval office raises the stakes for whether he records conversations there.

Eighth, this episode raises the stakes on the nomination of the FBI Director to replace James Comey.

Finally, Trump’s alleged screw-up with the Russians reveals yet again what we have learned many times in the last four months: The successful operation of our government assumes a minimally competent Chief Executive that we now lack.