President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said that Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.
The information Trump relayed had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government, officials said.
The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and officials said that Trump’s decision to do so risks cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State. After Trump’s meeting, senior White House officials took steps to contain the damage, placing calls to the CIA and National Security Agency.
“This is code-word information,” said a U.S. official familiar with the matter, using terminology that refers to one of the highest classification levels used by American spy agencies. Trump “revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.”
The revelation comes as Trump faces rising legal and political pressure on multiple Russia-related fronts. Last week, he fired FBI Director James B. Comey in the midst of a bureau investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Trump’s subsequent admission that his decision was driven by “this Russia thing” was seen by critics as attempted obstruction of justice.
One day after dismissing Comey, Trump welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak — a key figure in earlier Russia controversies — into the Oval Office. It was during that meeting, officials said, that Trump went off script and began describing details about an Islamic State terrorist threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft.
For most anyone in government discussing such matters with an adversary would be illegal. As president, Trump has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that his disclosures broke the law.
“The president and the foreign minister reviewed common threats from terrorist organizations to include threats to aviation,” said H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser, who participated in the meeting. “At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly.”
The CIA declined to comment and the National Security Agency did not respond to requests for comment.
But officials expressed concern with Trump’s handling of sensitive information as well as his grasp of the potential consequences. Exposure of an intelligence stream that has provided critical insight into the Islamic State, they said, could hinder the United States’ and its allies’ ability to detect future threats.
“It is all kind of shocking,” said a former senior U.S. official close to current administration officials. “Trump seems to be very reckless, and doesn’t grasp the gravity of the things he’s dealing with, especially when it comes to intelligence and national security. And it’s all clouded because of this problem he has with Russia.”
In his meeting with Lavrov, Trump seemed to be boasting about his inside knowledge of the looming threat. “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” Trump said, according to an official with knowledge of the exchange.
Trump went on to discuss aspects of the threat that the United States only learned through the espionage capabilities of a key partner. He did not reveal the specific intelligence gathering method, but described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances. Most alarmingly, officials said, Trump revealed the city in the Islamic State’s territory where the U.S. intelligence partner detected the threat.
The Washington Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that revealing them would jeopardize important intelligence capabilities.
“Everyone knows this stream is very sensitive and the idea of sharing it at this level of granularity with the Russians is troubling,” said a former senior U.S. counterterrorism official who also worked closely with members of the Trump national security team. He and others spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the subject.
The identification of the location was seen as particularly problematic, officials said, because Russia could use that detail to help identify the U.S. ally or intelligence capability involved. Officials said that the capability could be useful for other purposes, possibly providing intelligence on Russia’s presence in Syria. Moscow and would be keenly interested in identifying that source and possibly disrupting it.
Russia and the United States both regard the Islamic State as an enemy and share limited information about terrorist threats. But the two nations have competing agendas in Syria, where Moscow has deployed military assets and personnel to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Russia could identify our sources or techniques,” the senior U.S. official said. A former intelligence official who handled high-level intelligence on Russia said that given the clues Trump provided, “I don’t think that it would be that hard [for Russian spy services] to figure this out.”
At a more fundamental level, the information wasn’t the United States’ to provide to others. Under the rules of espionage, governments — and even individual agencies — are given significant control over whether and how the information they gather is disseminated even after it has been shared. Violating that practice undercuts trust considered essential to sharing secrets.
The officials declined to identify the ally, but said it is one that has previously voiced frustration with Washington’s inability to safeguard sensitive information related to Iraq and Syria.
“If that partner learned we’d given this to Russia without their knowledge or asking first that is a blow to that relationship,” the U.S. official said.
Trump also described measures that the United States has taken or is contemplating to counter the threat, including military operations in Iraq and Syria as well as other steps to tighten security, officials said.
The officials would not discuss details of those measures, but the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed that it is considering banning laptops and other large electronic devices from carry-on bags on flights between Europe and the United States. The United States and Britain imposed a similar ban in March affecting travelers passing through airports in 10 Muslim-majority countries.
Trump cast the countermeasures in wistful terms. “Can you believe the world we live in today?” he said, according to one official. “Isn’t it crazy.”
Lavrov and Kislyak were also accompanied by aides.
A Russian photographer took photos of part of the session that were released by the Russian state-owned Tass news agency. No U.S. news organization was allowed to attend any part of the meeting.
Senior White House officials appeared to recognize quickly that Trump had overstepped and moved to contain the potential fallout.
Thomas P. Bossert, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, placed calls to the directors of the CIA and the NSA, services most directly involved in the intelligence-sharing arrangement with the partner.
One of Bossert’s subordinates also called for the problematic portion of Trump’s discussion to be stricken from internal memos and for the full transcript to be limited to a small circle of recipients, efforts to prevent sensitive details from being disseminated further or leaked.
Trump has repeatedly gone off-script in his dealings with high-ranking foreign officials, most notably in his contentious introductory conversation with the Australian Prime Minister earlier this year. He has also faced criticism for lax attention to security at his Florida retreat Mar-a-Lago, where he appeared to field preliminary reports of a North Korea missile launch in full view of casual diners.
U.S. officials said that the National Security Council continues to prepare multi-page briefings for Trump to guide him through conversations with foreign leaders but that he has insisted that the guidance be distilled to a single page of bullet points, and often ignores those.
“He seems to get in the room or on the phone and just goes with it — and that has big downsides,” the second former official said. “Does he understand what’s classified and what’s not? That’s what worries me.”
Lavrov’s reaction to the Trump disclosures was muted, officials said, calling for the United States to work more closely with Moscow on fighting terrorism.
Kislyak has figured prominently in damaging stories about the Trump administration’s ties to Russia. Trump’s initial national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was forced to resign just 24 days into the job over his contacts with Kislyak and misleading statements about them. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to recuse himself from matters related to the FBI’s Russia investigation after it was revealed that he had met and spoke with Kislyak despite denying any contact with Russian officials during his confirmation hearing.
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“I’m sure Kislyak was able to fire off a good cable back to the Kremlin with all the details” he gleaned from Trump, said the former U.S. official who handled intelligence on Russia.
The White House readout of the meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak made no mention of the discussion of a terrorist threat.
“Trump emphasized the need to work together to end the conflict in Syria,” the summary said. Trump also “raised Ukraine” and “emphasized his desire to build a better relationship between the United States and Russia.”
Julie Tate and Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.
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Полицейский пожертвовал почку ребенку by golosamerikius
Трогательная история из штата Висконсин – полицейский решил помочь попавшему в беду ребенку. Но речь идет не о поиске домашнего любимца, а о гораздо более серьезных вещах
Man enters store holding severed head, stabs worker
New York Post-6 hours ago
A blood-soaked man entered an Oregon grocery store holding a knife in one hand and what looked like a human head in the other, stabbed a ...
Estacada Store Employee Stabbed By Man Carrying Severed ...
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Deputies: Reports of man 'holding human head' at Oregon store
WJLA-49 minutes ago
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May 15, 2017 | 9:47am
A blood-soaked man entered an Oregon grocery store holding a knife in one hand and what looked like a human head in the other, stabbed a worker and was then subdued, according to reports.
A woman was later found dead in a case that authorities said was connected to the stabbing at the store, OregonLive.com reported.
Police responded to a 911 call from the Harvest Market Thriftway in Estacada at 2:14 p.m. Sunday after the man walked in and stabbed an employee.
Other employees tackled the suspect and held him down until cops arrived, officials said. The condition of the victim, who was flown to a hospital, was not known.
The suspect was taken to a hospital after being brought into custody, according to Sandy police and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
At 2:35 p.m., a 911 caller reported finding the body of a woman inside a home on Elwood Road in Colton, about 10 miles from the store, kgw.com reported.
Investigators said the woman had died at the home and that the attacker at the grocery store is suspected in her killing.
The names of the suspect and the victims have not been released.
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PORTLAND – Police say a man carrying what appeared to be a human head stabbed an employee at a grocery store in Oregon, and authorities later found a woman’s body at a home.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said the incidents east of Portland are connected.
Sgt. Nate Thompson said the stabbing suspect was arrested Sunday afternoon after he was subdued by other employees at the grocery store in Estacada.
The victim and the suspect were both taken to a hospital.
Soon after the attack, someone called 9-1-1 to report that a woman’s body was found at a home in Colton, a short drive south of Estacada. Her name has not been released.
Police did not say whether the body was headless. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
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Большая рыба для большого аллигатора by golosamerikius
Аллигатор вышел на поле для гольфа пообедать большой рыбой
Оригинальное видео: http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/fish-alligator-florida-golf-course/3851625.html
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US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says there's no question that Russia interfered in last year's US presidential election, despite the lack of any published evidence. His statement directly contradicts comments made by the Russian Foreign Minister, during his visit to Washington last week. After Sergei Lavrov met Donald Trump and Tillerson, journalists seemed only interested in asking about that issue.
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Большая рыба для большого аллигатора by golosamerikius
Аллигатор вышел на поле для гольфа пообедать большой рыбой
Оригинальное видео: http://www.golos-ameriki.ru/a/alligator-fish-golf-course-florida/3851694.html
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Russian president Vladimir Putin says Sunday's North Korean missile test was 'counter-productive and dangerous'
He was attending a summit in Beijing on China's New Silk Road trade project.
He was attending a summit in Beijing on China's New Silk Road trade project.
At the summit China's President Xi Jinping urged World leaders to reject protectionism and embrace globalisation.
His call came on the final day of a two day forum promoting his bold plan to create new trading routes across parts of the developing world.
But in a setback to that effort some EU representatives are refusing to sign a communique marking the end of the summit.
They want it to contain guarantees about allowing free tenders for all the associated infrastructure projects.
Al Jazeera's Adrian Brown reports from Beijing.
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The Battle For Western Mosul by france24english
Despite suffering heavy losses, the Iraqi army's 9th division continues its slow progression inside the old city in the quest to defeat ISIS
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North Korea's latest ballistic missile test's prompted a chorus of condemnation from around the globe. Pyongyang claims a new type of rocket was successfully fired - which can carry a large nuclear warhead. The Russian President Vladimir Putin has also addressed the latest missile launch by North Korea.
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Программа-вымогатель 12 мая заблокировала десятки тысяч компьютеров по всему миру, в том числе в государственных учреждениях и крупных компаниях.
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Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will conduct a classified briefing May 18 for the full U.S. Senate on President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday. The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said in a statement that he hoped senators would use the briefing at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT) to seek the "full truth" about Comey's dismissal, press Rosenstein "to make way"...
Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 20th week of 2017.
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WSJ What's News
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Why Congress will probably never see Trump's 'tapes' of his conversations with James Comey
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This post has been updated with comments from the White House about handing over the tapes. James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, ...
Republicans are backing Trump. And that's all that matters -- for now
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I am well aware that we have a president who, as even his supporters would surely acknowledge, is less assiduous than most in his use of the English language. I've complained about it before and will continue to do so, and I will continue to try as ...
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Cyber attack's spread slows; security stocks gain
Reuters - 1 hour ago
LONDON/WASHINGTON The global WannaCry "ransomware" cyber attack spread more slowly on Monday with no major infections reported, as attention shifted to investment and government policy implications of lax cyber security. There were 213,000 ...
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Researchers believe other attackers will start to exploit the same SMB flaw as the WannaCry ransomware. Email a friend. To. Use commas to separate multiple email addresses. From. Privacy Policy. Thank you. Your message has been sent. Sorry. There was ...
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NPR News: 05-15-2017 2PM ET
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Is Microsoft to blame for the largest ransomware attacks in internet history?
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Friday saw the largest global ransomware attack in internet history, and the world did not handle it well. We're only beginning to calculate the damage inflicted by the WannaCry program — in both dollars and lives lost from hospital downtime — but at ...
