Trump leaks classified information to Russia

[billvon 2,384]

Russia once again cashes in on their favor to Trump.

Let's all imagine what the GOP would do if Obama had done this.
========================
Trump revealed highly classified intel in Oval Office meeting with Russians

By Greg Miller and Greg Jaffe May 15 at 5:01 PM
WaPo

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.”

The revelation comes as the president faces rising legal and political pressure on multiple Russia-related fronts. Last week, he fired FBI Director James B. Comey in the midst of a bureau investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Trump’s subsequent admission that his decision was driven by “this Russia thing” was seen by critics as attempted obstruction of justice.
========================

[quade 3]

Let's not invoke Obama. This would be a major scandal with ANY previous President.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Phil1111 908]

There are reasons why US media was excluded and RT was allowed to attend.

The information revealed by the president, was said to have been provided to the US by an American ally through a highly sensitive intelligence sharing arrangement.

The Washington Post said that the partner had not provided permission for the information to be shared with Russia. After the meeting, senior White House officials took steps to contain the damage, placing calls to the CIA and National Security Agency.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-classified-information-russia-intel-white-house-minister-ambassador-lavrov-kislyak-isis-a7737706.html

Trump revealed the information to Lavrov while boasting about his own sources of knowledge, according to an official familiar with it.

“I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” Trump reportedly said.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4508898/Did-Trump-leak-classified-info-Russians.html

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Crooked Hillary Clinton and her team "were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information." Not fit!
5:12 AM - 6 Jul 2016

Paul Ryan
✔
@SpeakerRyan
It's simple: Individuals who are ‘extremely careless’ w/ classified info should be denied further access to it. http://spkrryan.us/29Cz47v
5:36 PM - 7 Jul 2016

[jclalor 12]

Let's not be hasty drawing premature conclusions, let's be patient and wait for Rush to come and sort it all out for us.

[jclalor 12]

It's really fun watching FOX right now.

[gowlerk 1,903]

jclalor

Let's not be hasty drawing premature conclusions, let's be patient and wait for Rush to come and sort it all out for us.

One again Putin removed his cock from Trump's mouth for a few minutes.

Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

[DJL 232]

Lol, just another Trump gaff, not even worthy of it's own thread. You should just delete the thread.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[JerryBaumchen 1,046]

Hi Bill,

Quote

as the president faces rising legal and political pressure on multiple Russia-related fronts

I remember how Watergate slowly unfolded & I kept thinking, 'It can't get any worse than this.'

Little did I know,

Jerry Baumchen

[Phil1111 908]

DJL

Lol, just another Trump gaff, not even worthy of it's own thread. You should just delete the thread.

It should really be blended into "A New week thread" surely the DZ doesn't own its own cloud or server farm. To keep up with trump f*#kups.

IMO the picture of trump, the FSB spy and the Russian ambassador laughing it up in the oval office. All when US media...er "Fake Media" is excluded while RT is in the oval office.After firing Comey, after disclosing classified info. Says it all.

Meanwhile in the field there are CIA officers with their lives at risk. Troops on the DMZ with their lives at risk. All to protect this idiot.

[aphid 0]

As I understand it, your President is empowered to talk about anything to anybody. By openly speaking to an individual without an appropriate security clearance, the topic just became officially unclassified, which technically means he didn't leak anything classified at all.

Playing the devil's advocate, what check/balance is there to prevent a bragadocious (sic) Commander-in-Chief from giving a foreign power your nation's nuclear launch codes?

[rushmc 18]

billvon

Russia once again cashes in on their favor to Trump.

Let's all imagine what the GOP would do if Obama had done this.
========================
Trump revealed highly classified intel in Oval Office meeting with Russians

By Greg Miller and Greg Jaffe May 15 at 5:01 PM
WaPo

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.”

The revelation comes as the president faces rising legal and political pressure on multiple Russia-related fronts. Last week, he fired FBI Director James B. Comey in the midst of a bureau investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Trump’s subsequent admission that his decision was driven by “this Russia thing” was seen by critics as attempted obstruction of justice.
========================

Another shark jumped based on none other than a Washington com-Post "report". Way to go Bill

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

aphid

As I understand it, your President is empowered to talk about anything to anybody. By openly speaking to an individual without an appropriate security clearance, the topic just became officially unclassified, which technically means he didn't leak anything classified at all.

Playing the devil's advocate, what check/balance is there to prevent a bragadocious (sic) Commander-in-Chief from giving a foreign power your nation's nuclear launch codes?

Nothing. As President, he can pretty much do what he wants with information like that.

The general idea has always been that we wouldn't elect someone dumb enough to think he could impress people by telling them stuff he shouldn't.

Well, so much for that idea.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[aphid 0]

When was the president granted this authority? Was it written in your Constitution? Or can it be repealed?

[Phil1111 908]

The Terrible Cost of Trump's Disclosures

The consequences of the president’s reported divulgence of top-secret codeword information to the Russians are only beginning...

Russia is antagonistic to the United States, although Trump has repeatedly indicated his desire to be chummy with the Russians—after all, as he notoriously said during the presidential campaign, we are both killers, and so on the same moral plane. He apparently divulged the information to show off, which not only shows a lack of self-discipline: It shows, yet again, how easy this man is to play, particularly by veteran manipulators like his two experienced, talented, and thuggish guests. The crisis is made worse by virtue of Trump having just fired the FBI director, apparently for having pushed that Russia investigation too far.

Quite apart from making himself and the country a laughingstock around the world, the president has now practically begged Vladimir Putin to toy with him, tantalize him, tease him, flatter him, manipulate him. He has shown the Russians (and others, who are watching just as closely) just how easy that is to do, and he has shown the rest of us that his vanity and impulsiveness have not been tempered by the highest responsibilities....

He then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you’re talking about thousands of years … and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China. And after listening for 10 minutes I realized that not—it’s not so easy. You know I felt pretty strongly that they have—that they had a tremendous power over China. I actually do think they do have an economic power, and they have certainly a border power to an extent, but they also—a lot of goods come in. But it’s not what you would think...

The explanation was remarkable not only for Trump’s frank admission that he knew little about the background of the Korean Peninsula, but for his equally frank admission that the leader of a foreign country—and not just any foreign country, but a major American rival that Trump had repeatedly savaged rhetorically—could reverse his understanding of a key issue with just 10 minutes of persuasion.

It is no wonder that the Russians were eager to get in a room with Trump, but Russia and China were not the only foreign countries to recognize how easily swayed Trump could be.

The pattern began even before he was inaugurated, with a December phone call between Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Not only was the conversation a major breach of protocol, Trump seemed to be flirting with abandoning American recognition that Beijing considers Taiwan a part of a unified China. He was eventually talked down from this by advisers—and his vacillation is one reason Xi was so eager to meet—but his impressionability had been established.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/trump-foreign-leaders-negotiate/526815/

[billvon 2,384]

>Another shark jumped based on none other than a Washington com-Post "report".
>Way to go Bill

And, of course, the GOP. Republican Senator Bob Corker said that "they are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that's happening. You know the shame of it is there's a really good national security team in place, there's good productive things that are underway through them, and through others. But the chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline is creating an environment that I think — it creates a worrisome environment."

But fear not. In a few days when Trump starts proclaiming that he had every right to leak that information, I am sure you will engage in a little "revisionist history" and claim that you never said the report was false.

[evilivan 0]

billvon

>Another shark jumped based on none other than a Washington com-Post "report".
>Way to go Bill

But fear not. In a few days when Trump starts proclaiming that he had every right to leak that information, I am sure you will engage in a little "revisionist history" and claim that you never said the report was false.

..didn't even take days:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39937258

"If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation."
David Brent

[SkyDekker 1,121]

Stolen from Reddit:

This news in 1997: Holy shit!

This news in 2002: World War is coming.

This news in 2012: POTUS is killing America.

This news in 2017: I guess it's Monday.

[TriGirl 268]

aphid

As I understand it, your President is empowered to talk about anything to anybody. By openly speaking to an individual without an appropriate security clearance, the topic just became officially unclassified, which technically means he didn't leak anything classified at all.

For the most part, that is true for information the US has gathered on its own. This was foreign intelligence -- information that was not his to share. Mishandling of someone else's intel is much more serious than being careless with our own.

The first questionable action, though, was that POTUS met with a foreign minister and ambassador. About the only reason the president should be meeting with an ambassador is in the event of a time-sensitive emergency, or of course upon accepting the ambassador's credentials. Otherwise, that's like a commanding general of a large military command (think Gen Mattis when he was at CENTCOM) taking a run-of-the-mill meeting with a liaison officer to talk about everyday coordination issues. It is just inappropriate and counter productive within the structure of an organization.

This is just the latest example added to the long list supporting the assertion that Mr. Trump is wholly unqualified for this position.

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

aphid

When was the president granted this authority? Was it written in your Constitution? Or can it be repealed?

I don't know exactly.

My understanding (could certainly be wrong, and I welcome correction if so) is that it comes with the title of "Commander In Chief."

He has final authority on a lot of stuff. Including what is and isn't classified.

And I'll disagree with TriGirl just a bit. He does have the authority to release anything. Even stuff given to us by others (as was the case here).

But the intel world is largely based on trust and 'history'.

We were apparently given that info with certain restrictions on it.

We could chose to follow those or not (and it was "not" in this case).

While the folks that provided us with that info could scream and yell that we violated their trust, what is more likely to happen is that they will simply learn the lesson that Trump cannot be trusted in any way, shape or form.
As will the rest of the world.

I would expect that the info sharing that was happening before will, to a large degree, simply dry up.

Either the foreign intel people won't be willing to share with us, or the sources that they have will stop providing anything for fear it would get to the US, Trump would spill it and then they would likely be exposed and killed.

This is really bad.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[rehmwa 2]

wolfriverjoe

And I'll disagree with TriGirl just a bit. He does have the authority to release anything. Even stuff given to us by others (as was the case here).

even if legal, there's still the issue that it's incredibly irresponsible to do so - anyone who's ever held a security clearance at a workers level knows how serious this is and should be upset and want the facts (whether they worship a D OR an R)

perhaps if he put it on a private server and let it leak in a more organic way.....(no, that's also wrong, and an entirely different scenario which should, in no way, be treated as a discussion point or comparison in cases of different ways secure information is mishandled. I mean, stop it, one should read a dictionary on the terms analogy, comparison, equivalency, etc etc etc......)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[SkyDekker 1,121]

Do you have proof classified information made it to foreign governments through Clinton's email server?

[rehmwa 2]

SkyDekker

Do you have proof classified information made it to foreign governments through Clinton's email server?

what on earth are you talking about - this is a Trump thread. The idiot may have blabbed out info. I don't believe he did it through Clinton's server. I thought that thing was taken down.

How dare you minimize what Trump may have done by making false equivalencies to the Clinton scandal. Those are two independent scenarios and it's a really facile argument you are making to even compare the two. They are nothing alike - she was a Dem. He's a ..... He's a ....well, I don't know what the hell he is, but he's NOT a Dem (at least this week). She's female, he's male. She did what she did in order to serve her job better. He was just trying to impress some stranger he just met. She wears pantsuits, he wears gold thread laced slacks made from the tears of oppressed minimum wage sweatshot workers.

totally different.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[yoink 321]

billvon

But fear not. In a few days when Trump starts proclaiming that he had every right to leak that information

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39937258

Didn't even take that long...

'Trump defends absolute right to share facts with Russia'.

The thing about diplomats is that they're professional orators. They excel at saying nothing that they haven't precisely thought through beforehand. They're also specifically taught how to encourage other people to talk more openly so they can try and gather information, just like professional intelligence officers are.

That's not a problem when all the players are of a relatively equal skill. They all know what's going on and how to avoid it. I'm sure it's a bit of a game to them.
But when a neophyte enters the game who has access to every piece of sensitive information on the table, then all bets are off.

Even if the Russia-gate stuff had never happened you can bet that the Russians would still be telling any of their diplomats who got access to Trump to flatter and empathize with him just to get him to talk - because he's bad at a game they're very good at... I'm sure every other country is doing the same. I would.


Someone in the Whitehouse needs to get Trump on a crash course on manipulation. He's a natural at if for everyday stuff, but he's out of his league when dealing with professionals.

[SkyDekker 1,121]

Quote

what on earth are you talking about - this is a Trump thread.

Then why did you bring up Clinton?

[billvon 2,384]

>Then why did you bring up Clinton?

To justify the claim that Trump is no worse than Clinton.

The whole "Clinton would be just as bad as Trump is" is a campaign many on the right have been engaged in over the past few months. Because as bad as Trump is, as long as Clinton would be just as bad, then the decision to support Trump over Clinton is defensible, or at least not a mistake.

The alternative for Trump supporters is to admit they made a terrible mistake - and that's just not an option for many of them.

(Not saying Rehmwa is one of them, but the approach is similar.)