Former CIA head John Brennan on Tuesday criticized President Trump’s decision to expose highly classified information to two senior Russian officials, calling the president’s actions “a problem.”

If Trump “spontaneously” disclosed intelligence, he violated two protocols, Brennan said. The first is that such sensitive information would typically be shared between two partner intelligence agencies, not with visiting officials or ambassadors.

“He didn’t do that,” Brennan said.

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Secondly, Brendan said, before sharing any classified intelligence with foreign partners, it should be cleared with the originating agency to ensure that the language does not inadvertently expose the sources and methods used to acquire it.

But Brennan also offered a stinging criticism of the leaks to the media that exposed Trump’s conversation with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

“These leaks continue to be very, very damaging leaks and I find them appalling and they need to be tracked down,” Brennan said.

According to reporting from The Washington Post, Trump disclosed sensitive intelligence to Kislyak and Lavrov that intelligence officials were concerned could be reconstructed to expose the source of an important intelligence partner in the fight against ISIS.

Israel has since been reported to be the source of the intelligence. President Trump appeared to obliquely confirm the reports in remarks on Monday, insisting that he did not mention Israel directly.

"Folks, folks, just so you understand, just so you understand, I never mentioned the word or the name Israel during that conversation,” Trump said during a joint appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.