Donald Trump on Twitter a few moments ago…
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….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
…to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
The reason why this is so dangerous is because intelligence often comes from human sources. If this intel becomes public, spies can die. What’s worse, in order to protect their spies, previously friendly nations will be forced to avoid sharing their intelligence with the United States.
Donald Trump is harming our ability to protect ourselves from terrorism.
Worse, Sean Hannity defended President Trump all last night and accused the Washington Post and #NeverTrumpers of spreading fake news about the President. Fox News covered for President Trump with such fury that viewers were left with no doubt that the liberal media was gunning for Trump, aiming to smear him with nasty lies.
Then this morning, Trump confirms the story, making FOX News, Sean Hannity, and everyone else who mocked the Washington Post over the last 24 hours look absolutely ridiculous.
Even worse than that?
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster went before the media and swore that nothing happened (update – see below). He lied directly to the media and the American people and the National Security Adviser was hung out to dry by the President. Brutal!!!
The same thing happened last week during the Comey firing. First, the White House put all the blame on the Deputy Attorney General, arguing that FBI Director Comey was fired on Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein’s recommendation. Then, days later, after Rosenstein’s reputation had been ruined, the President of the United States admits he was thinking about the Russian Investigation when he fired Comey. Brutal!!!
It’s been a horrible week for the Trump Admin.
EDIT: CNN reporting that McMaster never actually denied that Trump shared classified information with the Russians – just that he didn’t compromise any on going military actions. So, maybe reports that McMaster was defending Trump were inaccurate.
UPDATE: Here are the facts as they have developed over the last 24 hours. The Washington Post published an article claiming that President Donald Trump communicated classified information to the Russians regarding ISIS, information received by US intelligence agencies from a foreign intelligence service. All last night, FOX News and the White House denied these claims. Then this morning, President Trump tweets that he communicated “facts” (information) to the Russians (as reported) about ISIS (as reported). Just a few minutes ago, National Security Adviser McMaster informed the media that President Donald Trump had no idea where the intelligence that he gave to the Russians came from. So, what are the facts? WaPo says Trump gave intel to Russia. Check. Trump and McMaster admit as much. The Intel was about ISIS. Check. WaPo and Trump agree on this issue. WaPo says that Trump gave classified intel from another country’s intel service, but McMaster says that Trump had no idea where that intelligence came from. FOX News has some explaining to do. THEN:
McMaster explains that,
“It is wholly appropriate for the President to share whatever information he thinks is necessary to advance the security of the American people,” McMaster told reporters.
Not that the information wasn’t classified or that another nation wasn’t harmed, just that it’s totally cool for the President to share whatever he feels like with whomever he feels like if he feels like its in our nations best interest.
