Fox's Kilmeade: Intelligence Community Leaked That Trump Revealed Classified Info “To Make The President Look Bad”

Fox & Friends Hosts Defend Revelations As “Not Illegal”

From the May 16 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

Video file

AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST):  So yesterday, the national security adviser H.R. McMaster -- who is the only person, if you read that Washington Post article -- he is the only person that's named as a source. He came out of the White House and had a press conference yesterday, and he is denying this. He sets the record straight. 

[...]

BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): So you have the secretary of state and [U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy] Dina Powell. Dina Powell came out and said, “the president only discussed the common threats, the boldface,” and [on] the secretary of state's meeting with [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov, we have “a broad range of subjects were discussed. Among them were common efforts and threats regarding counter-terrorism.” The New York Times today, they said it was a Middle East country that gave us intelligence about an ISIS plot and that the president gave away the city to that plot. And the story The Washington Post has is that White House officials picked up the phone and called the NSA and CIA and said, listen we just want to keep you up to date on what took place in the Oval Office. It looks as though that's where the message gets lost. And perhaps somebody in those intelligence agencies thought they could leak out this story to make the president look bad and look as though he gave away top secret information, where no one alleges is actually illegal information. It might be a breach of espionage etiquette.

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Well, it's certainly classified, but the president can do that. I mean, it's within his legal authority.

Previously:

Media Figures Immediately Call Out McMaster's Statement As Bullshit

Fox News Downplayed Trump Revealing Classified Info, Focused On These Other Stories Instead

Fox Rushes To Defend Trump Following Washington Post Report Trump Shared Classified Intel With Russia

Former U.S. Ambassador To Russia On Trump Revealing Classified Info: “This Is A Complete Disaster”