Rep. Lee Zeldin said Tuesday that "it's important to know what was said" by President Donald Trump to Russian officials in the Oval Office last week — "and then, make a judgment on that."
"It would be helpful to know what it is to determine whether it's in America's best interests and those of our allies and for our service members overseas," Zeldin, a New York Republican, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Brooke Baldwin on CNN.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump revealed classified information about an Islamic State terrorist plot involving laptop computers in his meeting last week with Russian officials.
Trump had met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office.
The president said on Twitter Tuesday that "I have the absolute right" to share the data with Moscow.
National security adviser H.R. McMaster later told reporters that the information shared 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."
Zeldin told Baldwin Russia's presence in the White House was appropriate "as it relates to ISIS.
"ISIS targeted a Russian plane. They are using this technology. They are not happy. They are at war with ISIS.
"So far as our strategic goals for protecting America's security and for service members abroad, what Russia brings to the fight to defeat ISIS is an important element that shouldn't be dismissed."
He reiterated the importance of knowing what President Trump actually told the Russians before determining whether it jeopardized national security.
"We need to know what the information is, and then I can tell you what I think about that information being divulged in the best interest of America's security."
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