President Trump pointed his finger at House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff when explaining why he didn’t inform the committee ahead of the U.S. raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Speaking with reporters Monday morning, the president blamed Schiff, whose committee is currently spearheading impeachment inquiry proceedings against him.
“Well I guess the only thing is, they were talking about why didn’t I give the information to Adam Schiff and his committee. And the answer is because I think Adam Schiff is the biggest leaker in Washington,” he said when asked if he is concerned about whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats in the chamber can be trusted.
[Also read: ISIS vows to fight on despite Baghdadi death]
Trump announced on Sunday that a raid by U.S. special operations forces in Syria resulted in the death of Baghdadi. At the time, he admitted that the White House did not inform much of Congress before pulling the trigger on the raid.
“We notified some,” the president said. “Others are being notified now as I speak. We were going to notify them last night, but we decided not to do that because Washington leaks like I’ve never seen before. There’s nothing — there’s no country in the world that leaks like we do, and Washington is a leaking machine.”
Pelosi later slammed his decision to leave her in the dark, accusing him of telling Russian President Vladimir Putin before congressional leaders.
“The House must be briefed on this raid, which the Russians but not top Congressional Leadership were notified of in advance, and on the Administration’s overall strategy in the region,” she said. “Our military and allies deserve strong, smart and strategic leadership from Washington.”
Vice President Mike Pence backed the president’s move during a Sunday morning interview with Fox News, dismissing the notion that Trump doesn’t trust Pelosi with sensitive national security information.
“I think from the time we got actionable intelligence, the president’s total focus here was on a successful mission and the safety of American troops,” he said after being grilled by host Chris Wallace, claiming the White House wanted to maintain the “tightest possible security.”
