“The reports that the President shared sensitive intelligence with Russian officials are deeply disturbing,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said. | Getty Hill Republicans alarmed by Trump disclosure to Russians Sen. John McCain calls reports that the president disclosed highly classified information 'deeply disturbing.'

Capitol Hill Republicans expressed alarm Tuesday at reports that Donald Trump shared highly classified information with Russian officials and demanded a full accounting from the administration of what the president said.

The House Intelligence Committee is expected to be briefed by CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Tuesday night, two sources said. The meeting with Pompeo, a former member of the panel, was previously scheduled. But he is expected to be grilled about the latest revelation. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which gets regular classified briefings on Tuesday and Thursdays, is also likely to be briefed on the matter eventually, according to Sen. Mark Warner, the panel's top Democrat.


"My major concern right now is that I don’t know what the president said. I know what I’ve read," said Warner's counterpart, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who said he tried to reach the White House all Tuesday morning for more information on the matter. "Any time I read about an intelligence [matter] in the paper, it’s a great concern because that’s what the oversight committee is supposed to be concerned with."

While congressional Republicans have typically been quick to look past Trump’s controversies, they shuddered at the notion that Trump’s apparent disclosure of an Islamic State plot may have undercut U.S. intelligence-gathering methods, and potentially jeopardized the source of information to an adversary nation. The news was first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by other outlets.

“The reports that the president shared sensitive intelligence with Russian officials are deeply disturbing,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a statement Tuesday morning. “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.”

Numerous Republicans demanded more information from the White House. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, asked to see the transcript of Trump’s conversation with the Russian officials.

“For the purpose of transparency, the White House should share a transcript of the meeting with the House and Senate intelligence committees,” Gallagher wrote in a series of tweets. “As an intelligence officer by training, I know firsthand the life and death implications of safeguarding classified information…Our allies and partners must have the utmost confidence that sensitive information they hare with us will not be disclosed.”

Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), a moderate Republican representing a swing district in the D.C. suburbs, called the reports "highly troubling" and demanded classified briefings on the conversation between Trump and two top Russian officials in the Oval Office last week.

"We need to have immediate classified briefings on what occurred at this meeting so that Congress can at least know as much as Russian leaders and know the impact on our national security, our allies, and our men and women protecting our country," Comstock said.

The critical reaction from Capitol Hill comes less than a week after Trump set off a similar firestorm with his sudden dismissal of FBI director James Comey. Now, GOP lawmakers are again having to deal with another Russia-related drama out of the White House.

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Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in a statement that the release of information that Trump apparently disclosed “has the potential to jeopardize sources and to discourage our allies from sharing future information vital to our security.” She asked for clarity from the administration, noting that there are “conflicting reports about whether or not President Trump disclosed sensitive information to the Russians.”

“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 said. “The Senate Intelligence Committee should be briefed on this important issue immediately."

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) echoed that sentiment: "My understanding and my hope is that [National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster] is going to come out and answer questions from the public and the press."

But McMaster, in a briefing with reporters later Tuesday, provided few clarifications, instead focusing on whomever leaked details from private Oval Office meetings to journalists. On that matter, the Trump administration had some backing from conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

“If the anonymous source in the White House believes that happened, then he or she has an obligation to the American people to stand up in front of God and country and make the allegation and give us the basis for it,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). “If it came out of the White House, and someone in the White House is leaking information anonymously to try to hurt his or her boss, whether you like his or her boss or not, then that person in the White House needs to examine his or her conscience and quit.”

But other Republicans were concerned about the president's underlying action and the nonstop controversy emanating from the White House. In an interview with Bloomberg Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said congressional Republicans could “could do with a little less drama from the White House on a lot of things so we can focus on our agenda, which is: Deregulation, tax reform and repealing and replacing Obamacare.”

McConnell declined to elaborate much in his weekly news conference with reporters, saying he did not have concerns with Trump's ability to handle classified information and stressing again that he had confidence in Burr and Warner to handle the Russia matter.

Added Tennessee GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander, a close McConnell ally: "Those working in the White House would do well to remember that just a little tilt there can create earthquakes out in the country and around the world."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a brief interview that the White House reached out to him after the news broke, “but we haven’t had a chance to discuss, which I think will happen later” on Tuesday. “Obviously, I have some important questions to ask, and they seem willing to answer them.”

Asked if he hopes to see similar level of outreach to other senators, Rubio added, “I imagine that it is" — although Burr, the lead GOP investigator into the Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, had struggled to talk directly to a White House official all day Tuesday.

"Maybe they're busy," Burr quipped about why he hadn't heard from the White House.

Some Republicans declined to weigh in on the news. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said he could not discuss the allegations until Congress is briefed by the CIA and the intelligence committee.

The Iowa Republican noted, however, that Trump can declassify whatever information he wishes.

"That's what the law says," Grassley said.

But West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat who is close with Trump, said the president's alleged behavior flies in the face of how he and other Intelligence Committee members have been trained to treat classified information.

"I know the severity of what happens and people's lives are out on jeopardy," Manchin said in an interview. "This is not the way we conduct business. This is not the way you do things."

John Bresnahan and Elana Schor contributed to this report.