Trump Gave Russians Secrets News Orgs Are Being Asked To Withhold

[DonViejo]

Source: NBC News


MAY 17 2017, 11:20 AM ET

by KEN DILANIAN, COURTNEY KUBE and DAFNA LINZER
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Some of the intelligence President Trump provided to Russian officials is so secret that American news organizations are still being asked not to report it, two U.S. officials told NBC News. The requests by U.S. intelligence officials cast doubt on the assertion by the president's aides that the sharing was appropriate.

Trump told the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador in the Oval Office that the Islamic State had used stolen airport security equipment to test a bomb that could be hidden in electronic devices and slipped undetected into an airplane cabin, the officials said. And he named the city in ISIS-held Syria in which the intelligence was gathered, the officials added.

U.S. intelligence officials have asked NBC News and other media organizations not to report the type of equipment, where it was stolen, and the name of the city where the intelligence was gathered, because doing so could harm U.S. national security, they say. But Trump told the Russians those things, the U.S. officials said, as he described intelligence that led to the new rules banning electronic devices in the cabins of certain flights.

The sharing of classified information with other governments is not uncommon, but in this case Trump went beyond what Bossert believed had been authorized, two U.S. officials said.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-uncovered/trump-gave-russians-secrets-news-orgs-are-being-asked-withhold-n760811

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Report: McMaster Didn’t Realize Import Of Classified Intel Trump Gave Russians

By ESME CRIBB Published MAY 17, 2017 1:31 PM

When President Donald Trump casually shared highly classified intel with top Russian diplomats last week, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who was in the room, did not immediately realize the significance of what Trump divulged, according to an NBC News report out Wednesday.

Citing an unnamed U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter, NBC reported that McMaster “is not steeped in counterterrorism” and thus was not immediately aware of the importance of the information Trump gave to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The Washington Post first reported on Monday that Trump had shared with the top diplomats information regarding an Islamic State threat, which had been provided by an ally who did not authorize the United States to disclose it. White House counterterrorism adviser Tom Bossert contacted officials at the CIA and NSA after the meeting to try to prevent further damage, according to the report.

NBC News reported that Bossert wasn’t even in the meeting, and only learned of Trump’s remarks from notes that he read immediately after it concluded.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/nbc-mcmaster-did-not-realize-significance-of-trump-classified-info-russia

[Phoenix61]

1. Bet it's in all the Russian papers.

I knew it was a bad thing when Twitler got elected, but this is so much worse than I ever dreamed. He's not just a danger to the US, he's a danger to the entire planet.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. Front page!

[BumRushDaShow]

3. For the 2nd story

I was figuring that. He really didn't have that much of an "intelligence" background in the broad sense. He did some strategizing for counter-terrorism but was really an army officer, and that type was only need-to-know when it comes to CIA/NSA stuff.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. If FF45 can just declassify whatever he wants and has done so by sharing it.....

with the Russians, why is the media being asked to hold back?

Did he have some kind of written agreement or even a hand shake on how the Russians would handle the info? If not, why isn't that info now public.....you gave it to a foreign country in front of their press.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[underpants]

6. His boss's people were visiting his field office and he wanted to make a good show

[turbinetree]

7. This dip sh*t placed a human being(s) life in danger

and he has no f***ing clue, none, and then he has the NSA dude come trotting out, and say nothing happened, but BS

[TomVilmer]

8. In a year this will have been surpassed...

... by other even worse sh*t done by Trump. I doubt this will have consequences.

[harun]

9. They will just call us snowflakes for being upset about this.

[grantcart]

10. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[wiggs]

11. Good point. Also, perhaps the fact that some news orgs know exactly what was said should

help keep Putin honest if he ever does submit some kind of transcript.

If Putin releases a transcript, like anything Trump ever submits, we can be sure it's done only in his own interests and accuracy is not the top priority.