In case you missed it, word got out yesterday that Donald Trump revealed classified information about a key American ally to Russia’s foreign minister and the Kremlin’s ambassador to Washington. Well, more details came out on Tuesday night–and it turns out this leak is far, far worse than anyone could have feared. According to several American officials, that disclosure means that an Israeli agent who has been embedded within ISIS is now in mortal danger.
ABC’s Brian Ross detailed the extent of the potential damage Trump’s disclosure did on Tuesday’s edition of “ABC World News Tonight.” Watch here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FHZudgoUd0
It turns out that this spy revealed information about an ISIS plot to slip a bomb into a laptop and bring it onto an American-bound plane. This information was shared with American intelligence on condition that the source remain confidential. American officials considered this information credible enough that they are seriously considering a ban on the use of laptops on flights originating in Europe.
When Matt Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center for most of Obama’s second term, heard this, he minced no words. Trump’s decision to reveal this information not only puts this source in danger, but also endangers “future sources of information about plots against us.”
The White House justified revealing the information with the Kremlin because ISIS claims to have brought down a Russian jet with a bomb hidden in a soft drink can. But most counterterrorism experts aren’t buying it. Olsen, for one, points out that Russia is “not our partner.”
Dan Shapiro, the American ambassador to Israel during Obama’s second term, was remarkably guarded when he called Trump’s move “careless.” He suggested that Jerusalem may “demonstrate more caution” in sharing information with Washington.
Ross told anchor David Muir another reason why this disclosure is incredibly dangerous. He said that Russia has a history of trading information with countries who are “hardly friends of the United States”–including Iran, a “sworn enemy of Israel.”
That prospect apparently motivated an epic tweetstorm by Ilan Goldberg, a senior Middle East expert in the Obama White House who now heads the Middle East Security Program at the Center for New American Security.
1. As someone who worked Iran at the Pentagon for a number of years & worked closely with Israelis cannot express how damaging Intel leak is
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
2. Obama & Bibi may have had political disagreements
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
3. But US-Israel relationship on Intel sharing is about as good as it gets
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
4. The Israelis have unique capabilities that no other partner has
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
5. But more than that, it's about trust between American & Israeli Intel & military professionals
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
6. That trust would yield direct and honest conversations & would force all involved to question their assumptions
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
7. Both Israelis & Americans would walk out of those meetings smarter & more informed
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
8. The result was better Intel and better policy to keep Israelis & Americans safe
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
9. We didn't always see eye to eye but what made these exchanges so good was trust. The ability to be totally candid
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
10. And at the professional level this continued even as Obama-Netanyahu relations hit rough spots
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
11. Now trust is gone. Isr Security pros will still trust US colleagues, but also know that any info they share may get to POTUS
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
12. So they will have no choice but to cutback on sharing & honesty doing real damage to these exchanges
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
13. It will mean less effective cooperation on Iran, ISIS, Hezbollah, Syria, Sinai, harming both sides
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
14. Americans & Israelis will be less secure as a result
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
15. Obama may have been unpopular in Israel for speaking harsh truths, but it was clear he cared deeply about Israel's security
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
16. Trump may pay lip service to Israel's security. But it's clear that's all it is
— Ilan Goldenberg (@ilangoldenberg) May 16, 2017
It now appears that another one of our worst fears about Trump has come to pass. If you’ll recall, American intelligence officials were so concerned about the possibility that Trump had been compromised by Russia that they warned their Israeli counterparts not to share information with Trump until they were sure he wasn’t compromised. Specifically, they were concerned that Israeli secrets could eventually make their way to the Kremlin, and from there to Tehran.
Trump reportedly had a hard time finding anyone to serve on his national security team because virtually every Republican national security professional worth getting is a never-Trumper. Now their fears, as well as ours, may have been realized. He may have gotten an Israeli agent marked for death. Knowing what we know about ISIS, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if he were dead already. Even if it isn’t enough to get Trump racked up on criminal charges, he will have a lot to answer for in heaven.
This could potentially be many, many times worse than Hillary Clinton’s supposed sins with Benghazi and her email server. After this, I don’t want to hear anything about Benghazi or emails again.
(featured image courtesy Mike Maguire, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)
