Donald Trump meets with Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The U.S. press is barred from the meeting, but Russia’s press is not.
President Trump had decided to keep out the American media because he said they reported “fake news,” and instead invited Russian state news — in fact, the very same outlet [TASS] whose reporters, such as Yuri Shvets, often did double duty as intelligence officers spying on America…
Craig Unger, American Kompromat
Another concern with this meeting is Kislyak’s presence. He is a key figure in the Trump-Russia investigation, the same investigation that Trump fired James Comey for one day ago.
During the meeting, Trump tells Lavrov and Kislyak that there’s less to worry about now that “crazy, a real nut job” James Comey has been fired. Trump also shares highly classified intelligence from an ally in the Middle East about an Islamic State plot. According to one official, Trump “revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.”
A Middle Eastern ally that closely guards its own secrets provided the information, which was considered so sensitive that American officials did not share it widely within the United States government or pass it on to other allies.
Mr. Trump’s disclosure does not appear to have been illegal — the president has the power to declassify almost anything. But sharing the information without the express permission of the ally who provided it was a major breach of espionage etiquette, and could jeopardize a crucial intelligence-sharing relationship.
In fact, the ally has repeatedly warned American officials that it would cut off access to such sensitive information if it were shared too widely, the former official said. In this case, the fear is that Russia will be able to determine exactly how the information was collected and could disrupt the ally’s espionage efforts.
New York Times
Sources
New York Times – Classified Intel (Archived)
New York Times – Blocking Reporters (Archived)
New York Times – Nut Job Comey (Archived)
Washington Post (Archived)
Washington Post – Classified Intel (Archived)
Craig Unger, American Kompromat, p. 19
Photo: Public Domain
