Story highlights Rep. Adam Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee

He accused President Donald Trump of declassifying information in a cavalier way

(CNN) Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Thursday that President Donald Trump may have declassified sensitive intelligence about a potential hack of the Central Intelligence Agency.

"It's one thing if the President has a detailed and thoughtful conversation with the intelligence community about what to declassify, what to release to the public," Schiff told CNN. "But if, on the other hand, this was simply the President looking for an opportunity to attack his predecessor, and giving little thought to the consequences of what he might be disclosing, that is a big problem."

"This is not something that should be done off-the-cuff by the President of the United States just looking for a cheap shot at his predecessor," he said.

Trump told Fox News Wednesday, "I just want people to know: the CIA was hacked and a lot of things taken. That was during the Obama years."

Trump was apparently referring to WikiLeaks' release of documents last week that founder Julian Assange said it obtained through a hack of the CIA.

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