Top Intel Democrat: Trump might have divulged classified info

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee is accusing President Donald Trump of being careless with classified information after Trump said “the CIA was hacked.”

Rep. Adam Schiff said in a statement Thursday that “the president appears to have discussed something that, if true and accurate, would otherwise be considered classified information.”


“The president has the power to declassify whatever he wants, but this should be done as the product of thoughtful consideration and with intense input from any agency affected,” the California congressman said. “For anyone else to do what the president may have done, would constitute what he deplores as ‘leaks.’”

Trump made his remarks during an interview Wednesday with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson in which the president sought to defend his claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Morning Defense A daily briefing about national security — weekday mornings, in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

“By the way, with the CIA, I just want people to know, the CIA was hacked, and a lot of things taken — that was during the Obama years,” Trump said. “That was not during us.”

Earlier this month, WikiLeaks began publishing what it says is the CIA’s “hacking arsenal,” a massive cache of information detailing how the intelligence agency hacks smartphones and other devices.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Republicans often blasted Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified information, including through the use of a private email server at her home in New York.