Trump and the Russians: Why the ‘leak of the leak’ is so damaging

Posted on May 25, 2017

This was originally published on 18 May 2017 by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Australia’s leading think tank.

As more details emerge about Donald Trump’s meeting with a Russian delegation last week, it appears that the worst fears of Israel’s intelligence agencies have been realised. While discussing the ISIS threat to aviation, Trump reportedly shared information identifying the source of recent reporting – an Israeli human intelligence asset.

Media reporting suggests that this intelligence had previously been tightly held within US Government circles. And that the full extent of the reporting had been withheld, even from the rest of the Five Eyes partnership.

On the face of it then, blurting out critical details in an attempt to impress Russia, a close ally of Iran, is about as bad as it gets. A former head of the Mossad has already suggested that Israel would think twice before sharing sensitive intelligence with the US in future.

As with all things Trump-related, it can be difficult to cut through the hyperbole. So just how big an issue is this? Read the rest of this entry »