Dershowitz: Russia Leaks ‘The Most Serious Charge’ Against Sitting President

Alan Dershowitz Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon May 16, 2017

Alan Dershowitz sounded a somber note on accusations that President Trump gave Russia highly classified intelligence in a meeting last week, declaring it “the most serious charge ever made against a sitting president.”

“Let’s not underestimate it,” the retired Harvard Law professor said in a Monday night appearance on CNN, adding that Trump “revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.”

Dershowitz’s comments came after the Washington Post reported that Trump bragged to the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak about top-secret intel the United States received from a Middle East ally on Islamic State operations.

While not illegal – the president can flout normal procedures on classification – the accusations raised hackles among those already suspicious of Trump’s ties with Russia.

The move could also endanger intelligence sharing with the unnamed Middle Eastern country, which gave American officials the information under strict conditions about circulating it.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter [@DanielJSolomon)

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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