The Note: Another Trump bombshell and its fallout
Trump possibly disclosed classified information to Russian, report says.
— -- NOTABLES
--ANALYSIS - ABC’s RICK KLEIN: This would be a good time for the White House to have some credibility to draw on. Not just with the press, and not just with the American public – and not just to buck up the spirits of congressional Republicans who are showing signs of cracking in their steadfast defense of indefensible actions. The explosive report in The Washington Post that President Trump revealed secret intelligence information to the Russians figures to rock the president’s standing and image in the international community, just as he sets to leave on his first foreign trip. Trump’s top aides are issuing denials but of things that the Post didn’t say happened, marking a retreat to the expected “fake news” defense. That in itself makes this latest story part of a pattern as another shocking but hardly surprising example of the president’s inexperience combined with his rambling, freewheeling style, with hints of something possibly more sinister. (Trump fires FBI Director James Comey in the middle of the Russia investigation, then reveals information to Russia the next day – about ISIS, no less.) “Obviously they’re in a downward spiral right now,” Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, a onetime finalist to become Trump’s secretary of state, said of the White House team. It’s a telling and damaging quote, but another metaphor may be better for context. This is a fire that’s billowing smoke, and threatening to expand into a conflagration that consumes all. It can’t be put out with words, and certainly not with words that don’t mean, well, anything at all.
--WHITE HOUSE DENIES REPORT TRUMP SHARED CLASSIFIED INTELLIGENCE WITH RUSSIAN OFFICIALS: The White House denied an explosive Washington Post story Monday that President Donald Trump shared classified intelligence information during a meeting with members of the Russian government last week. According to The Washington Post, the nature of the information was related to an Islamic State terrorist threat and gathered by a United States intelligence partner. The report notes that Trump disclosed the information, despite Russia not being a member of the intelligence-sharing arrangement from which the information originated. ABC's ADAM KELSEY has more: http://abcn.ws/2pEngsV
--CAPITOL HILL REACTS TO REPORT THAT TRUMP SHARED CLASSIFIED INTELLIGENCE: Members of President Trump's administration denied details of a Monday Washington Post report that during a meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador to the United States the president shared confidential information pertaining to an Islamic State (ISIS) threat. Democrats on Capitol Hill, however, were quick to register outrage over the reported incident. ABC's ADAM KELSEY has a look at some of the reaction from lawmakers in Washington: http://abcn.ws/2rkFrB8
--FROM THE PRESIDENT'S TWITTER THIS MORNING: @realDonaldTrump: As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining....@realDonaldTrump: ...to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.
--US ACCUSES SYRIA OF KILLING THOUSANDS, BURNING BODIES IN CREMATORIUM: The U.S. is accusing Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria of killing thousands of people from 2011 to 2015 and using a crematorium to dispose of their bodies. While Assad allies Russia and Iran may not have had anything to do with the crematorium, they are complicit in the brutal dictator's many other atrocities, according to the U.S. The Trump administration says the regime has killed as many as 50 people a day at the Saydnaya prison complex in that period, reports ABC's CONOR FINNEGAN. http://abcn.ws/2riyiAD
SPEED READ with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY
NINTH CIRCUIT QUESTIONS TRUMP'S STATEMENTS ON MUSLIMS, PRESIDENT'S POWERS IN APPEAL. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle Monday pressed attorneys for the Trump administration and the State of Hawaii on whether President Donald Trump’s statements render his revised travel ban unconstitutional. Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Wall asked the appeals court to reverse U.S. District Court Judge Derrick K. Watson’s March 16 order that blocked the president’s second travel ban just hours before it was to go into effect, note ABC's LAUREN PEARLE and JAMES HILL. http://abcn.ws/2rk96Ke
FBI DIRECTOR SEARCH 'MOVING RAPIDLY,' TRUMP SAYS. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the search for a new FBI director is "moving rapidly." Asked how the process was going during a meeting with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Trump responded positively, write ABC's ALEXANDER MALLIN and ADAM KELSEY. "Very good. It's very good," he said. "Moving rapidly." A number of candidates for the position interviewed for the job with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over the weekend. http://abcn.ws/2pQQDno
CALLISTA GINGRICH LIKELY TO BE NAMED AMBASSADOR TO VATICAN. Callista Gingrich, the wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, will "likely" be named U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, according to a White House aide, notes ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and JORDYN PHELPS. Gingrich, a former congressional aide who is now an author and president of a multimedia production company, considers herself a devout Catholic. http://abcn.ws/2pOb2dl
ABORTION RESTRICTIONS EXPANDED FOR FOREIGN NON-PROFITS RECEIVING U.S. HEALTH FUNDS. The Trump administration is expanding a policy that requires foreign non-governmental organizations to neither perform nor promote abortion as a method of family planning, if they receive U.S. global health assistance funding.Specifically, Monday’s announcement widens the number of foreign programs affected by the policy, from programs totaling $600 million in funding to $8.8 billion, ABC’s CONOR FINNEGAN reports. Now, any foreign NGO that works on international health programs, such as those for HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health and malaria, cannot perform abortions, refer or counsel women to receive abortions or lobby for or conduct public information campaigns in support of abortion. http://abcn.ws/2pRVlkL
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE FBI’S RUSSIA INVESTIGATION. ABC’s MATTHEW MOSK notes the FBI investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election began last summer, after experts traced a series of hacks into the Democratic National Committee and the private email account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman to Russia. http://abcn.ws/2r9uvcq
HILLARY CLINTON ANNOUNCES NEW POLITICAL ACTION GROUP. Hillary Clinton announced today via Twitter the launch of her new political action group, Onward Together, which will "encourage people to get involved, organize, and even run for office." "This year hasn't been what I envisioned, but I know what I'm still fighting for: a kinder, big-hearted, inclusive America," the 2016 presidential candidate tweeted. ABC’s COURTNEY CONNLEY has more: http://abcn.ws/2qlUT1v
WHO’S TWEETING?
@CNNPolitics: Former acting AG Sally Yates: "I did not and I would not leak classified information" http://cnn.it/2qnksiX
@Carrasquillo: WH comms staffers just put the TVs on super loud after we could hear yelling coming from room w/ Bannon, Spicer, Sanders
@MarkWarner: If true, this is a slap in the face to the intel community. Risking sources & methods is inexcusable, particularly with the Russians.
@MKhan47: When Trump meets with Turkey's President Erdogan he will complete the press freedom violators trifecta. http://bit.ly/2rm4Vht
@HallieJackson: NEW: as aides huddle late into the night at the White House, a reporter's-journal look at how the response unfolded: http://nbcnews.to/2qMIkh3
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