President Trump endangered the country’s ability to collect classified information from top secret sources when he allegedly revealed classified intelligence to Russian diplomats last week, a Democratic congressman said Tuesday.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said on CNN Tuesday that Trump’s apparent decision to reveal classified information to two top Russian diplomats at a White House meeting last week may not be illegal, but said, “that’s completely beside the point.”
“We rely on cooperation and tips from intelligence services and sources all over the world and what has now happened … people are saying to themselves ‘I might give a tip that the next day might be discussed on CNN ‘New Day’ because the president discussed it with someone, in this case Russia, who doesn’t have an interest in keeping it a secret,'” Himes said.
The White House has issued statements saying Trump didn’t reveal sources, locations or other identifying information about an intelligence source in his meetings with the Russians. But Trump said Tuesday that he was allowed to share the information he shared in the meeting, and said that information dealt with “facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety.”
But Himes said it’s another example of Trump derailing the nation’s business by making haphazard decisions.
“The president appears to just go off-script to do something that has profound implications and then the White House spends the next few days getting their story straight,” he said, adding Trump’s impromptu announcement of a tax reform package and the firing of FBI Director James Comey as other examples.
“The president is sitting in the Oval Office and making snap decisions that are not based on the advice of his people, who are trying to work out what happened in the days that follow,” he said.
