Trump defends sharing intelligence with Russia

President Donald Trump this morning defended the legality of his disclosure of intelligence information to Russia as his critics asserted that, legal or not, the move was unwise. The Washington Post, relying on anonymous sources, reported Monday that Trump shared sensitive information about an Islamic State (ISIS) threat with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak in a meeting at the White House last Wednesday. Though the president has the authority to disclose such information, the intelligence in question came from a U.S. ally and not America’s own sources, potentially jeopardizing the United States’ relationship with its international partners in the fight against terrorism. German lawmaker Burkhard Lischka, a member of his parliament’s intelligence oversight committee, said if the U.S. president “passes this information to other governments at will, then Trump becomes a security risk for the entire western world.” The Post’s story also illustrates the persistent problem the White House faces containing internal leaks about the work of intelligence agencies. Trump tweeted this morning, “I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community.”