May 16, 2017

Whitehouse Statement on Reported Disclosure of “Highly Classified” Information to Russian Officials

Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement on news from the Washington Post that President Donald Trump disclosed “highly classified” information to Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, and Ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, during a meeting last week:

“President Trump has long been careless with the truth, but now he appears to have gone further:  he’s been reckless with highly classified information.  That not only threatens to expose intelligence sources and methods, but it undermines the relationships we need to keep America safe.  If our allies and partners don’t trust us with critical information because our President can’t protect their secrets, it can be a matter of life and death.  Betraying those secrets to an adversary like Russia – which waged an information war against us as part of a campaign to disrupt our democracy and does not share our interests in Syria or the broader Middle East – is wildly irresponsible.”

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