Ex-CIA agent: US allies fear Trump will leak classified intel to Putin

[KelleyKramer]

Ex-CIA agent: US allies fear Trump will leak classified intel to Putin

'Trump's actions are making us all less safe,' according to a 30-year veteran of the CIA.

https://shareblue.com/ex-cia-agent-us-allies-fear-trump-will-leak-classified-intel-to-putin/




In an alarming new op-ed published in the Washington Post, former CIA agent Steven Hall warns that Trump’s attacks on his own intelligence agencies have gotten so bad that his actions are threatening national security and “making us all less safe.” Hall, a CIA veteran who ran and managed Russian operations for more than 30 years, expressed his concern that Trump’s constant public attacks and hostility toward the intelligence community will not only harm morale among the workforce but will also damage America’s relationships with allied intelligence agencies.

“Many have already taken note of Trump’s cavalier attitude toward sensitive information, as well as his apparent failure to understand the basic rules of intelligence sharing,” he wrote. “Recall when our president shared sensitive intelligence obtained from one of our foreign partners with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for example.” Trump’s carelessness and lack of regard for the sensitive nature of classified intelligence “will have a chilling effect” on intelligence sharing, Hall warned, noting that our allies likely fear he will leak sensitive information to Putin.

“I would be deeply surprised if many of our best intelligence allies were not already holding back information they would normally pass to their U.S. counterparts, for fear Trump might not be able to keep a secret,” Hall wrote. “Their concerns might even be darker when they consider the possibility that our president has reportedly discussed sensitive matters with Russian President Vladimir Putin behind closed doors with no record of the conversation,” he added.


Hall was referring to recent reports that Trump has withheld details of his previous talks with Putin from top officials in his administration, including confiscating notes from an interpreter who was present during one of the meetings.


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[FreepFryer]

1. That's what all those SCIF irregularities were about.

In late November 2016, a member of Donald Trump’s transition team approached national security officials in the Obama White House with a curious request: Could the incoming team get a copy of the classified CIA profile on Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States?

Marshall Billingslea, a former Pentagon and NATO official, wanted the information for his boss, Michael Flynn, who had been tapped by Trump to serve as White House national security adviser. Billingslea knew Flynn would be speaking to Kislyak, according to two former Obama administration officials, and seemed concerned Flynn did not fully understand he was dealing with a man rumored to have ties to Russian intelligence agencies.

... The outgoing White House also became concerned about the Trump team’s handling of classified information. After learning that highly sensitive documents from a secure room at the transition’s Washington headquarters were being copied and removed from the facility, Obama’s national security team decided to only allow the transition officials to view some information at the White House, including documents on the government’s contingency plans for crises.

Some White House advisers now privately concede that the administration moved too slowly during the election to publicly blame Russia for the hack and explore possible ties to the Trump campaign. Others say it was only after the election, once Obama ordered a comprehensive review of the election interference, that the full scope of Russia’s interference and potential Trump ties become clearer.

https://apnews.com/b109774705594ae887a86b337c444e6b

[DURHAM D]

10. Uh "In late November 2017"

wrong year

[FreepFryer]

11. Uh thanks for pointing out the uh, the typo! Fixed (n/t)

[RT Atlanta]

2. And I believe they are absolutely correct...

With that concern. You hate to consider throwing away any intel and especially sources, but wonder if any of those agencies could plant something knowingly false in the info briefing when it is shared to help confirm their concerns?

[Iliyah]

3. He has already told him secrets . . .

[CatMor]

4. Never thought a day would come ..

when we had to fear the president leaking info to Russia, yet he's still in office. Strange times we now live in.

[CottonBear]

5. Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5d43190394fc

Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador
By Greg Miller and
Greg Jaffe
May 15, 2017


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 Trump’s disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State.

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.

The partner had not given the United States permission to share the material with Russia, and officials said Trump’s decision to do so endangers 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 the 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.”

See the rest of the article at this link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-revealed-highly-classified-information-to-russian-foreign-minister-and-ambassador/2017/05/15/530c172a-3960-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5d43190394fc

[UpInArms]

7. A caption for your photo:

President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.

“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

Mr. Trump added, “I’m not under investigation.”

The conversation, during a May 10 meeting — the day after he fired Mr. Comey — reinforces the notion that the president dismissed him primarily because of the bureau’s investigation into possible collusion between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives. Mr. Trump said as much in one televised interview, but the White House has offered changing justifications for the firing.

[democratisphere]

6. The American President cannot be trusted with Intel.

So why is this traitor still in the oval office?!

[Achilleaze]

8. d'oh

republicans have imposed a freaking traitor on America, and then blocked Americans from bringing him to justice.

No wonder no other nation trusts America. republicans have pissed all over our honor and integrity.

[UpInArms]

9. American journalists were barred from the meeting

President Trump met with Russian officials at the White House last week. American journalists were barred, but Russia released photographs. Credit: Russian Foreign Ministry

[Firestorm49]

12. This is what you get when you vote an idiot into office. God help us all.

[UTUSN]

13. K&R

[bluestarone]

14. Nothing but a FUCKING STOOGE!!!!!

HOW the fuck can people NOT SEE this shit!!!!