This Trump Presidency has been a rollercoaster! It seems as if a week can’t go by without a scandal attached to his name. However, this latest report could be the most important to date as The Washington Post reports that Trump leaked classified information to Russian officials Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States on last week. The information he leaked was about an Islamic State terrorist plot using related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft and was so classified that it wasn’t formally disclosed to other government officials. The information comes from a Foreign Ally that has even threatened to cut access to the confidential information if it wsa to leak.
Response to the report from the Trump administration has been denial. National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, who attended the meeting, said of the report, “The president and the foreign minister reviewed common threats from terrorist organizations to include threats to aviation, At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed, and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly.” Because Trump holds position as the President, he has the power to legally declassify information. However, this news comes at a odd time for his administration. Just last week he fired FBI director James Comey, who was leading the investigation on Trump’s ties to Russia. At the end of the week, he met with the aforementioned Russian officials .
Trump continues to lose support from government officials as he moves deeper into the first year of his presidency. A former senior U.S. offical with close ties to the administation told Washington Post, “It is all kind of shocking. 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.” The former official’s words appear to be right, as it was also reported that Trump boasted about his knowledge of private intel in the meeting with the Russians. “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day.”
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