The U.S. extracted a high-level covert source close to the Kremlin from Russia in 2017, in part over concerns that President Trump’s handling of classified information might put the asset at risk, per a new report.
But the Trump administration promptly pushed back against the claim that the Russian source was pulled out of the country over fears that Trump might be putting him at risk.
CNN cited sources Monday alleging that the decision to exfiltrate the Russian informant, amid worries that the source might be exposed, happened after Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office. During that May 2017 meeting, Trump disclosed some classified information about an anti-ISIS operation in Syria to the Russians. The intelligence had been provided to the U.S. by Israel.
Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said “CNN’s reporting is not only incorrect, it has the potential to put lives in danger.”
“CNN’s narrative that the Central Intelligence Agency makes life-or-death decisions based on anything other than objective analysis and sound collection is simply false,” said CIA public affairs director Brittany Bramell. “Misguided speculation that the President’s handling of our nation’s most sensitive intelligence — which he has access to each and every day — drove an alleged exfiltration operation is inaccurate.”
An article from the Washington Post in June 2017 revealed the existence of a Kremlin source close to Russian President Vladimir Putin who reportedly claimed that Russia’s election interference was directed by Putin himself. CIA Director John Brennan allegedly fed this sensitive material to President Barack Obama and a small circle of aides.
One day after Trump granted Attorney General William Barr broad declassification authority in his review of the Trump-Russia investigation in May 2019, the New York Times hinted at fears that Barr’s investigation of the investigators might put the United State’s Kremlin sources at risk, but CNN says at least one informant left Russia two years prior.
“I am confident that the attorney general will work with the intelligence community in accordance with the long-established standards to protect highly sensitive classified information that, if publicly released, would put our national security at risk,” then-Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said at the time.
