Trump revealed highly classified information to Russ. foreign minister and ambassador

[SteelCurtain]

So, in what is now becoming the norm, he sends his staff out to deny deny deny, then admits it in tweets at 3am the next morning.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/stat...2567471104

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/stat...9472049152

[Minimalist]

A conservatard columnist writes today:

http://theresurgent.com/i-know-one-of-the-sources/

I Know One of the Sources

It wasn't the Intel community....it was the WLB's own staff and he gives the reason they did so.

What sets this story apart for me, at least, is that I know one of the sources. And the source is solidly supportive of President Trump, or at least has been and was during Campaign 2016. But the President will not take any internal criticism, no matter how politely it is given. He does not want advice, cannot be corrected, and is too insecure to see any constructive feedback as anything other than an attack.

So some of the sources are left with no other option but to go to the media, leak the story, and hope that the intense blowback gives the President a swift kick in the butt. Perhaps then he will recognize he screwed up. The President cares vastly more about what the press says than what his advisers say. That is a real problem and one his advisers are having to recognize and use, even if it causes messy stories to get outside the White House perimeter.

I am told that what the President did is actually far worse than what is being reported. The President does not seem to realize or appreciate that his bragging can undermine relationships with our allies and with human intelligence sources. He also does not seem to appreciate that his loose lips can get valuable assets in the field killed.

We have a mental midget in the White House.  An insecure little man-baby whose staff feels the only way to manage him is to embarrass him.  The Russkis succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

[Seraphina]

It seems like Trump and his staff are turning on each other, no big surprise there. A Republican Congress won't impeach him but if and when he pisses off enough movers and shakers, Trump's "presidency" won't end well.

The scary part is that in one or two days, we'll have more jaw-dropping news out of the White House. It's never ending. Who's running the country? Certainly not him. He's put an indelible stain on the office of POTUS.

-Teresa

[Pat Mustard]

Is it really because this was discussed with Russia?

YES YOU DUMB FUCK!

Do you have enough brain cells left to remember when republicunts thought Russia was the EVIL EMPIRE?

Keel haul him from San Fran to Inverness, and then keel haul the corpse on the way home.

---

More than this, apparently. It seems that the President can de-classify something simply by saying it. Thus, what he's done here doesn't rise to the level of 'high crimes and misdemeanors' and is not an impeachable offense. Stupid, careless, dangerous, boneheaded and incompetent - but not illegal.

Boru

Actually, as the information came from a foreign actor, he cannot declassify it without the prior express permission of the originating nation. I'm certain he didn't get prior permission before blabbing how bigly US intelligence is now that he's in charge.

[A Theist]

You fucking libtarded hypocrites. Where was the left wing outrage when crooked ass hillary mishandled classified information on her email server? Goofy leftarded mother fuckers.

The president shared information with the Russians that ISIS was planning to blow up airliners using laptops as bombing devices​. The Russians, not long ago, lost over 200 people when terrorists blew up one of their airliners. Trump has been trying to get Russia to help out more in the fight against ISIS. You dipshits don't like Trump and that's the only reason you fucktards try to find scandal in anything​ he does.

Israel, evidently​, was the source of Intel. A statement from them indicated that they were okay with Trump sharing that info with the Russians.

[Aegon]

Israel, evidently​, was the source of Intel. A statement from them indicated that they were okay with Trump sharing that info with the Russians.

What?

Israeli Official: Trump Sharing Intelligence With Russia Is "Worst Fears Confirmed"

SAN FRANCISCO — Two Israeli intelligence officials confirmed to BuzzFeed News Tuesday that Israel had shared specific intelligence with the US regarding ISIS plots to smuggle explosive laptops onto planes, and that it appeared that that intelligence had been shared with Russia without prior coordination.

The revelation that Trump had shared that intelligence with Russian officials was Israel's "worst fears confirmed," said one of the intelligence officers.

"We have an arrangement with America which is unique to the world of intelligence sharing. We do not have this relationship with any other country," said the officer, who spoke to BuzzFeed News on condition of anonymity as he was not granted permission to speak to the press.

"There is a special understanding of security cooperation between our countries," he said. "To know that this intelligence is shared with others, without our prior knowledge? That is, for us, our worst fears confirmed."

The officer previously spoke to BuzzFeed News in January, when he said that Israeli officials had specific concerns about what Trump would share with Russian officials. Israel, he added, routinely shared intelligence that included sources of information and asset names, he said — the type of information that could endanger the lives of those providing the raw intelligence.

Israel's role in obtaining the intelligence passed on to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was first reported by the New York Times on Monday. Lavrov and Trump's discussion last week has been the subject of rapid pushback from an embattled White House, which has said that the president's disclosure was "wholly appropriate."

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended the right of the president to share intelligence as he sees fit, telling reporters, "the president can always discuss common threats or common issues with host nations -- excuse me -- with other heads of government or other government officials as he deems appropriate to tackle the threats our country faces."

Without confirming that the source of the intelligence shared by Trump came from Israel, Spicer said, "We appreciate the relationship that we have with Israel and appreciate the exchange of information that we have with them."

Israeli officials, however, said it was "highly unusual" and "highly inappropriate" to share information without prior coordination.

"There has to be trust for this sort of arrangement. I cannot speak for Israel's entire security apparatus, but I would not trust a partner who shared intelligence without coordinating it with us first," said the intelligence officer who spoke to BuzzFeed News.

An official in Israel's Ministry of Defense said that while the US has passed on Israel's intelligence to other friendly nations in the past, it has always done so in a coordinated manner.

"There are situations where this is necessary. But there is always coordination... that is just good practice and manners," said the official.

A second intelligence officer, who spoke to BuzzFeed News via encrypted app and also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Israel had shared specific intelligence with the US regarding an active threat to US-bound planes. Speaking to BuzzFeed News via a military base in northern Israel, he said Israeli intelligence officers were "boiling mad and demanding answers" as to whether Israel's military would continue its current intelligence-sharing agreement with the US.

Israel still maintains a large network of human assets, also known as HUMINT, who work in gathering intelligence on the ground in countries across the world. Unlike other western countries, who have given up costly HUMINT operations in recent years in favor of signals intelligence — or SIGINT, intelligence gathered through online systems, phone lines, and other communications — Israel still invests heavily in sending its own spies abroad and in cultivating a network of locals interested in selling or trading intelligence.

The Ministry of Defense official who spoke to BuzzFeed News said the network of resources Israel maintained made their intelligence both, "incredibly valuable and precarious," adding that real human lives were put in danger if that intelligence leaked out to the wrong parties.

The White House has suggested that Trump did not reveal the source of the intelligence during his meeting with Lavrov. On Tuesday, Spicer told reporters, "it would be impossible for the President to reveal the source of the information because, as General McMaster made very clear as he was leaving this podium, the President wasn’t briefed on the information and wasn’t aware of the source. So the President wasn’t aware of this. This wasn’t part of his briefing. So, therefore, to suggest that, therefore, he revealed it, is impossible."

The Israeli officials who spoke to BuzzFeed News said there has already been a push to stop sharing Israel's most sensitive intelligence with Trump's White House. It was Israel's political echelons, they added, who insisted the intelligence-sharing continue, and who were hoping to use Trump's mistakes as a way to gain leverage.

"We are concerned about our long-term intelligence gathering operations," said the Ministry of Defense official. "But politically [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] Bibi sees a way to get what he wants out of Trump. He can say to Trump, you screwed us, now give us this or that."

Privately, US national security officials said they had no way to know for that the leak would effect US-Israeli military relations or intelligence sharing between the two countries. For many, that was not the biggest issue of the leak. Rather, it was Trump’s push to normalize relations with Russia during the meeting where the leak happened, even going so far as to push for coordination on protecting the homeland.

That, two US officials explained to BuzzFeed News, would change US national security in a way the leak would not.

[Aroura]

And also:

[The Grand Nudger]

You fucking libtarded hypocrites. Where was the left wing outrage when crooked ass hillary mishandled classified information on her email server?  Goofy leftarded mother fuckers.

Was it real super bad when she did it, or.....-only- real super bad because she was the one who did it, whatever it is you think she did?  

The president shared information with the Russians that ISIS was planning to blow up airliners using laptops as bombing devices. The Russians, not long ago, lost over 200 people when terrorists blew up one of their airliners. Trump has been trying to get Russia to help out more in the fight against ISIS. You dipshits don't like Trump and that's the only reason you fucktards try to find scandal in anything he does.

Russia, Russia, Russia!   

Israel, evidently, was the source of Intel. A statement from them indicated that they were okay with Trump sharing that info with the Russians.

Fake news.

[Amarok]

Aretatds  logic

if Hilary does anything shady Trump gets a blank check

[Thumpalumpacus]

The information the president 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.

“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.”

Trump went on to discuss aspects of the threat that the United States learned only through the espionage capabilities of a key partner. He did not reveal the specific intelligence-gathering method, but he 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 the 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 the capability could be useful for other purposes, possibly providing intelligence on Russia’s presence in Syria. Moscow would be keenly interested in identifying that source and perhaps disrupting it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nat...4f0ed88b80

This is a big deal.

Jesus Christ, this is shit they teach every airman recruit. Do not reveal information, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Of course, the Shitgibbon had to have/should have known how sensitive it was.

I learnt on the way home from work tonight that the President can reveal classified information at his own discretion. How fucked up is that?

---

Let's say the next time there is an intelligence windfall like this, we don't get this information, and it results in a terrorist attack, because we didn't have the information necessary to take preventative steps, like banning laptops on flights.

This. What will happen when the next insight comes about? The source will remember that the last guy got his head sawed off because the goddamned POTUS ran his mouth.

In the Game, protecting one's sources is everything.

---

Then the National Security Advisor goes in front of the White House and does publicist 101 shit and denies something that no one even claimed to have happened.

McMaster says that "at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed." But The Post's reporting doesn't say that they were.

Instead, the report states clearly only that Trump discussed an Islamic State plot and the city where the plot was detected by an intelligence-gathering partner. Officials worried that this information could lead to the discovery of the methods and sources involved, but it didn't say Trump discussed them.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotr...y,amp.html

And this too is disingenuous, because oftentimes, the simple possession of a particular bit of information can give clues to sources and/or methods.

Damage control, and shoddy, at that.