Foreign Policy Analyst: Trump Did Not Violate Law By Revealing Secret Intelligence To Russia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Foreign policy analyst Ed Turzanski discussed a report from the Washington Post that President Donald Trump revealed top secret information with Russian officials during a meeting last week on the Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, saying that while he can make that decision, it may ultimately prove to be unwise.
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"Under the law, he's allowed to do it. As a practical matter, whether he should, is debatable because you can reverse engineer and find out, or take a good, reasonable guess, as to which foreign nation's intelligence service gave the information to us. We also know from the Post's reporting and other reports that this country was already upset with us because, on too many occasions, they had provided information and we just can't keep our mouths shut. That points to a real problem."
Turzanski, the John Templeton Fellow and co-chair for the Study of Terrorism at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, also defended National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster's efforts to explain how and why the information was conveyed to the Russia, pointing to his integrity and exemplary record of service.
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"I think what is a very key consideration, The Washington Post has unnamed sources that are said to be currently in government, but also some who are out of government, on other side you have H.R. McMaster and his deputies. McMaster is someone who has built a reputation having written a dissertation about dereliction of duty in which he spoke truth to power alleging that the Pentagon had abdicated its responsibility to act properly in key points throughout the Vietnam War. He wound up paying a political price for it. So, this is a man who has built a reputation that is impeccable."
