President Donald Trump's national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster stood his ground Tuesday and said the "premise" of a report that claimed the president shared classified information with Russia is untrue.
"The premise of the article is false," McMaster told the White House press corps during a tense briefing. "The real issue is our national security has been put at risk by those of violating confidentiality and those releasing information to the press that could be used in connecting with other information available to make American citizens and others more vulnerable."
McMaster insisted several times during the briefing that the information Trump shared with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office last week was "wholly appropriate to the conversation and is consistent with the routine sharing of information between the president and any leaders with whom he's engaged."
The intelligence Trump revealed is said to be related to an Islamic State (ISIS) threat to airline travel, The Washington Post reported Monday. The information allegedly came from a key U.S. ally, the name of which has not been made public.
Regarding allegations that Trump may have jeopardized intelligence-gathering methods, McMaster said that was not the case.
"I wanted to make clear to everybody that the president in no way compromised any sources or methods during the course of this conversation," he said.
McMaster noted that of all the Trump staffers and advisers in the room during the meeting between the president and the two Russian officials, "None of us felt in any way that conversation was inappropriate."
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