Mitch McConnell publicly fine with Donald Trump, just not privately

By
Shanka Cheryl
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might have publicly downplayed the jaw-dropping reports that President Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to a pair of Russian diplomats in the Oval Office on Tuesday, but privately he is pleading with the administration to stop impeding the Republican agenda. But a number of GOP lawmakers expressed concerns, as Democrats demanded that Republicans finally stand up to their president.

A growing number of GOP lawmakers are now expressing concerns as Democrats demand that Republicans finally stand up to their president.

Democrats are preparing to use their limited powers in Congress to press sure the White House to give more details to Trump’s meeting with Russian officials.

McConnell, R-Ky., on Tuesday responded mildly when asked about the leak story in an interview on Bloomberg Business TV. McConnell said he’d read the story first reported in The Washington Post, and also said he’d read a statement from H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, “which tends to rebut the story.”

“I think we could do with a little less drama from the White House on a lot of things so that we can focus on our agenda,” Mr. McConnell said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Tuesday morning, reflecting an increasingly frustrated Republican majority over the near standstill of any policy agenda in the wake of Mr. Trump’s many contentious statements. As if to emphasize that point, when he took the Senate floor on Tuesday, Mr. McConnell again criticized the Affordable Care Act.

The inscrutable Mr. McConnell did not go as far as Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who on Tuesday suggested in a statement that the information discussed by Mr. Trump with the Russians might have endangered allies.

“The disclosure of highly classified information has the potential to jeopardize sources and to discourage our allies from sharing future information vital to our security,” Ms. Collins said in her statement.

“Although the president has the legal authority to disclose classified information, it would be very troubling if he did share such sensitive reporting with the Russians,” she added. “The Senate Intelligence Committee should be briefed on this important issue immediately.”

Her comments followed remarks made to reporters Monday night by Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who said that the White House was in “a downward spiral right now and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening.”

mitch mcconnell publicly fine with donald trumps antics just not privately 2017 images

The events detailed in the explosive Post story occurred days after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in the midst of the bureau’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. That event was already unsettling Republicans on Capitol Hill, but McConnell’s reaction appeared designed to mute any notion that GOP lawmakers might begin abandoning Trump.

Asked if he had concerns about Trump’s ability to handle classified information, McConnell responded with a simple “no.” Reporters at the Capitol pressed the top Republican, who repeated his desire for less drama from the White House.

At least one Republican, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, strongly defended the president.

“There isn’t anybody who can run the White House without criticism,” Hatch told reporters. “This man has been subject to more criticism than any predecessor that I know of. They hate him; they didn’t like the fact that he won, he beat their favorite, it was a remarkable election.”

Other GOP lawmakers, however, were not ready to move on so quickly.

In a statement Tuesday, Armed Services Chairman John McCain called the reports that Trump shared sensitive intelligence with Russian officials “deeply disturbing.”

“Reports that this information was provided by a U.S. ally and shared without its knowledge sends a troubling signal to America’s allies and partners around the world and may impair their willingness to share intelligence with us in the future,” said McCain, R-Ariz.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called for an immediate briefing for the Senate Intelligence Committee, of which she is a member.

“Although the president has the legal authority to disclose classified information, it would be very troubling if he did share such sensitive reporting with the Russians,” Collins said.

Another prominent Republican, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters as the news broke Monday evening that the Trump White House is “in a downward spiral” and has “got to do something soon to bring itself under control and order.”

The House has not yet come back into session for the week, but a spokesman for Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Monday that, “We have no way to know what was said, but protecting our nation’s secrets is paramount. The speaker hopes for a full explanation of the facts from the administration.”

Numerous Democrats pointed out that Ryan had called for Democrat Hillary Clinton to be denied classified briefings after Comey concluded last year that she was careless in how she handled classified information over her email accounts and private email server. “If you’ve ever wondered what you’d do if forced to decide between party and country, this is that moment,” No. 2 Senate Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois said in a tweet directed at Ryan.

Ryan’s aides countered by pointing out that in the same July 2016 opinion piece where he called for Clinton to be denied classified briefings because of her email practices, Ryan also said those briefings could resume if she were actually elected.

One House Republican considered vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections called the “inexplicable stories” from the White House “highly troubling.”

Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia said in a statement that Congress should get immediate classified briefings on what occurred “so that Congress can at least know as much as Russian leaders” and the impact on national security.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the Intelligence Committee should have access to transcripts from last week’s Oval Office meeting where Trump reportedly shared details about an Islamic State terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on aircraft with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

“We rely on our intelligence from our allies to keep us safe,” Mr. Schumer said. “If our allies abroad can’t trust us to keep sensitive information close to the vest, they may no longer share it with us.”

“Given the gravity of the matter, we need to be able to quickly assess whether or not this report is true and what exactly was said,” Mr. Schumer said, calling on the White House to “make the transcript of the meeting available to congressional intelligence committees as soon as possible.”

Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called reports of Mr. Trump discussing highly classified information with Russian officials “deeply disturbing.”

“The administration and intelligence community must immediately and fully brief the House Intelligence Committee on what, if anything, was shared with Russian officials, and whether it could impact either our sensitive sources and methods, or our intelligence-sharing relationships,” he said in a statement.

Mike Pompeo, director of the C.I.A., is expected to brief members of the House committee Tuesday evening. Emily Hytha, a spokeswoman for Representative K. Michael Conaway of Texas, the Republican who is heading the investigation on the committee, said the meeting had been scheduled “several weeks ago.”

The classified information had been shared with the president by an ally, violating the confidentiality of an intelligence-sharing agreement with that country.

Other Republicans seemed to give the White House the benefit of the doubt as they called for more information. “I suspect the administration will brief the Congress more fully on exactly what transpired,” Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and a former Army captain, said on Tuesday during an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. “But I have much greater confidence in the word of H. R. McMaster on the record, in front of cameras, than I do anonymous sources in the media.”