White House denies report that Trump shared classified info with Russia

A report by the Washington Post on Monday stated that classified information was shared with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the last weeks citing current and former US officials.

However, the report which also claimed that President Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian officials during a meeting last week, potentially jeopardising a source of intelligence about ISIL, was denied by White House.

The information relayed by Trump to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak according to the newspaper had been provided by a US ally through a highly sensitive intelligence-sharing arrangement.

Read also: More Americans disapprove Trump’s sacking of Comey –Poll

When asked about the disclosures, Trump’s national security adviser, HR McMaster, who participated in the meeting, said; “No intelligence sources or methods were discussed that were not already known publicly.

“This story is false. The president only discussed the common threats that both countries faced,” said Dina Powell, deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy,” he added.

A probe into Trump campaign and Russia ties has witnessed the sacking of FBI director James Comey on the recommendation of top US justice officials, with Trump describing Comey as a “showboat” and a “grandstander”.

He said Comey who had been leading an FBI investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election was no longer able to effectively lead the law-enforcement agency.

Comey had been embroiled in a controversy surrounding his investigation into whether Clinton’s use of a private email server while US secretary of state during Barack Obama’s first term as president compromised national security.

 

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