Quote:

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

The information Trump 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 that Trump’s decision to do so risks 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 National Security Agency.

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Quote:

Trump went on to discuss aspects of the threat that the United States learned only through the espionage capabilities of a key partner.

“If that partner learned we’d given this to Russia without their knowledge or asking first, that is a blow to that relationship,” the U.S. official said.

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Guess what?  Thanks to that official leaking this story to the Washington Post, that partner now knows about it. 

It seems to be the leaker of this story, not Trump, who just endangered national security.

koods said:

How stupid is this man? Can we please get a special prosecutor now?

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

Quote:

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

The information Trump 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 that Trump’s decision to do so risks 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 National Security Agency.

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Falcon91Wolvrn03 said:

So Trump is working with Russia to fight terrorism?  That doesn't sound terribly stupid to me.

What does concern me is the person who leaked this story to the Washington Post.  From your article:

Quote:

Trump went on to discuss aspects of the threat that the United States learned only through the espionage capabilities of a key partner.

“If that partner learned we’d given this to Russia without their knowledge or asking first, that is a blow to that relationship,” the U.S. official said.

---

Guess what?  Thanks to that official leaking this story to the Washington Post, that partner now knows about it. 

It seems to be the leaker of this story, not Trump, who just endangered national security.

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Quote:

There are several federal laws prohibiting the leaking of classified information. Here we will focus on one specific statute, Title 18 of the U.S. Code, Section 798. This law prohibits the knowing and willful transmittal of specified classified information to an unauthorized person, but it pertains only to information relating to the communications intelligence systems and activities of the United States.

This means that any person who knowingly and willfully

    communicates;
    furnishes;
    transmits, or
    otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person:
    or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of    the United States any classified information

is in violation of the law. The type of classified information is any information either:

    concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code, cipher, or cryptographic system of the United States or any foreign government; or
    concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or repair of any device, apparatus, or appliance used or prepared or planned for use by the United States or any foreign government for cryptographic or communication intelligence purposes; or
    concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government; or
    obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes
The penalty for this crime is up to 10 years in prison, a large fine, or both.

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demiu5 said:

that would be a criminal code, making it a criminal act

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Quote:

As president, Trump has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that his disclosures broke the law.

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Falcon91Wolvrn03 said:

demiu5 said:

that would be a criminal code, making it a criminal act

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According to Koods' article:

Quote:

As president, Trump has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that his disclosures broke the law.

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unless he officially declassified it beforehand, it would be classified.  so we will probably never know.


however, this still doesn't explain how Petraeus got off with 2 years of probation other than by being a 4-5 star general, which apparently puts him above federal law.

Quote:

Also, the story is now being reported as fake news.

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gotta love it!


is Trump reporting it as fake news?





edit:  i wonder if the president can retroactively declassify classified information AFTER committing a criminal violation. 

Falcon91Wolvrn03 said:

The classified information Trump leaked was where he got certain information on ISIS.  The reason that was classified is because if that source knew he was compromised, he might not disclose any more information to the US.  The leaker of the story is the one who likely made the source aware he was compromised.

I agree, Trump shouldn't have said anything, but the leaker decided it was more important to make Trump look bad than to keep this a secret.  The leaker should be in a lot more trouble than Trump. 

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koods said:

Falcon91Wolvrn03 said:

The classified information Trump leaked was where he got certain information on ISIS.  The reason that was classified is because if that source knew he was compromised, he might not disclose any more information to the US.  The leaker of the story is the one who likely made the source aware he was compromised.

I agree, Trump shouldn't have said anything, but the leaker decided it was more important to make Trump look bad than to keep this a secret.  The leaker should be in a lot more trouble than Trump. 

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The information was compromised when trump revealed it to a Russian spy.

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koods said:

The president can do whatever he wants with classified info. That's a problem when the president is an idiot

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koods said:

The president has the authority to do whatever he wants with classified information. We are supposed to trust his jusgement in these matters. Does anyone actually trust trump with anything?

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