The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and multiple Senate Democrats aired concerns Monday night over a report that President Trump revealed “highly classified information” to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador during their meeting last week.
“I want to know more about it,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. “But obviously the allegations are true, that would be very, very troubling.”
The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump disclosed classified information that could jeopardize a “critical source” of intelligence regarding the fight against ISIS obtained through a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing agreement. The information was even being withheld from U.S. allies, while the partner did not give permission for the information to be shared with the Russians.
“To compromise a source is something that you just don’t do,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Corker continued. “That’s why we keep the information that we get from intelligence sources so close is to prevent that from happening.”
The story broke just before senators arrived at the Capitol to vote on Jeffrey Rosen’s nomination to become deputy secretary of transportation. Some members had just read the report while others hadn’t done so yet.
Three separate Trump administration officials — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell — declared the report to be false.
Democrats who read the report raised concerns that were similar to Corker’s and expressed bewilderment that this was even a possibility by a commander in chief.
“If the report is true, it is very disturbing. Revealing classified information at this level is extremely dangerous and puts at risk the lives of Americans and those who gather intelligence for our country,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a statement. “The President owes the intelligence community, the American people, and Congress a full explanation.”
“If news reports are true, President Trump has compromised a key source of intelligence collection against ISIS and jeopardized the security of the American people,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a statement.
“Even if President Trump unwittingly blew a highly classified code-word source to the Russians, that would be dangerous enough,” she added. “If the President outed a highly classified code-word source intentionally, that would be even more dangerous. Congress must be given a full briefing on the extent of the damage President Trump has done in compromising highly classified code-word intelligence to the Russians.” “It’s another in a very disturbing trend of careless behavior by this administration,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“I don’t know when it will be enough for Republicans to understand that we need to get to the bottom of the connection between the president of the United States and the Russian government — but if this story is true, it’s another brick in the wall of a really troubling connection between Trump and the Russian government,” he added.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said that the report is “pretty terrifying” if it is true. A consistent critic of the administration, the senior senator from Connecticut said that while he hasn’t heard anything directly about the claim, he finds the allegation “astonishing.”
“I have no independent knowledge, but the report is pretty terrifying. If true, it is astonishing and appalling and should be investigated,” Blumenthal said. “Absolutely surprising. I would never have imagined the chief executive of our great nation undertaking that kind of disclosure.”
“I think it was President Trump who not that long ago tweeted that we need to track down every leaker. Now we find out that the leaker is the commander in chief,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. also told reporters. “Look — it’s dangerous because it reveals important information to our enemies. Very disturbing.”
The Trump administration has already been rocked by the fallout over FBI Director James Comey’s firing. Trump has linked the dismissal to the Russia probe despite his subordinates offering different rationales. The president also suggested on Twitter that he might have tapes of his conversations with the former FBI head, a claim the White House has refused to comment on since.
While many Republicans declined to speak specifically about the latest report, claiming they needed to see more details, some said that the continued issues within the White House are harming the ability to get work done in Congress.
“Whenever the attention of the country and the Congress is devoted to other issues rather than the issues that we want…it’s not helpful, obviously,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said. He added that there are “about 20 different items” he’d like to get done, including a Defense Authorization bill and tax reform.
