Update at 6:33pm
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s national security adviser is denying a report that claims Trump shared highly classified intelligence about Islamic State militants with a top Russian diplomat.
H.R. McMaster told reporters in a brief statement that The Washington Post report published Monday “is false” and “at no time” were intelligence sources or methods discussed during Trump’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The Post report says Trump revealed highly classified information about Islamic State militants to Lavrov and Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, during a meeting at the White House last week.
McMaster says: “I was in the room. it didn’t happen.”
McMaster says the president did not discuss details that were not already known publicly.
Original story:
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Washington Post is reporting that President Donald Trump revealed highly classified information about Islamic State militants to Russian officials during a meeting at the White House last week.
The newspaper cites current and former U.S. officials who say Trump jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on IS in his conversations with the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. They say Trump offered details about an IS terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft.
The newspaper says the information was very sensitive and had been provided by a U.S. partner.
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster says no intelligence sources or methods were discussed and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly.
The CIA is declining to comment.
(Copyright 2017, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
