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President Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russia's foreign minister about a planned Islamic State operation, two U.S. officials said on Monday, plunging the White House into another controversy just months into Trump's short tenure in office.
The intelligence, shared at a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, was supplied by a U.S. ally in the fight against the militant group, both officials with knowledge of the situation said.
The White House declared the allegations, first reported by the Washington Post, incorrect.
[...] One of the officials said the intelligence discussed by Trump in his meeting with Lavrov was classified "Top Secret" and held in a secure "compartment" to which only a handful of intelligence officials have access.
After Trump's disclosure of the information, which one of the officials described as spontaneous, officials immediately called the CIA and the National Security Agency, both of which have agreements with a number of allied intelligence services around the world, and informed them what had happened.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKCN18B2MX
Also at The Washington Post and The New York Times.
[Update.] According to Ars Technica, President Trump then proceeded to Tweet information about this meeting:
Statements from President Trump on Twitter and from White House National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster did not directly contradict details initially reported by the Washington Post late on Monday. McMaster said that no sources or methods were exposed in the conversation. However, the unnamed officials cited in the Post report were concerned that Trump's citing of the exact location "in the Islamic State’s territory where the US intelligence partner detected the threat" could expose the source. Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted:
As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
...to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
Trump also lashed out at the intelligence community for leaking about his actions:
I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 18 2017, @03:50AM
> The actual family has not denied anything
SETH RICH'S BROTHER HAS DENIED EVERYTHING
Aaron Rich, Mr. Rich’s brother, said in an email Wednesday that Mr. Wheeler had “discredited himself as an objective investigator” and had lost the confidence of the family. He said that the politicization of his brother’s death had been “painful” and “debilitating.”
“Why everyone feels the need to use his death for their own motives is beyond us,” he wrote. “We simply want to find his killers and grieve. Instead, we are stuck having to constantly fight against non-facts, baseless allegations, and general stupidity to defend my brother’s name and legacy.”
He continued, “This only prevents us from moving forward in our grieving and distracts from answering the only question that matters — Who murdered my brother and my parents’ son, Seth?”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/us/seth-rich-dnc-wikileaks.html [nytimes.com]
> FBI grabs his laptop within hours
THE FBI DID NOT TAKE HIS LAPTOP AND WAS NEVER INVOLVED
Speaking with Newsweek on Wednesday, Braud Bauman, the family’s representative, says he also has knowledge that the FBI is not investigating Rich’s murder. “We have said all along that the fundamental facts that underline yesterday’s story were false, including the FBI’s investigation, which does not exist, and their role in ever having, seeing or otherwise possessing computer equipment or other equipment that belonged to Seth Rich, either in a personal or professional capacity,”
http://www.newsweek.com/seth-rich-dnc-staffer-wikileaks-leaked-emails-fbi-610383 [newsweek.com]
> the DC police are told to stand down from the investigation,
THE DC POLICE WERE NOT TOLD TO STAND DOWN AND ARE STILL INVESTIGATING
an investigation by Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department remains active, according to the department. “We continue to work with the family to bring closure to this case, as we do with all homicide investigations,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.
http://www.newsweek.com/seth-rich-dnc-staffer-wikileaks-leaked-emails-fbi-610383 [newsweek.com]
> having leaked DNC email to wikileaks
HE DID NOT LEAK ANYTHING TO WIKILEAKS
WikiLeaks backed off the claim, saying his statement "should not be taken to imply that Seth Rich was a source for WikiLeaks," nor that his death was connected to the leaked emails.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexcampbell/seth-rich-family-refutes-report [buzzfeed.com]
> here is a particularly relevant email from Podesta, Hillary's campaign manager:
THAT EMAIL SAYS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT SETH RICH