Alan Dershowitz Image by Getty Images

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.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

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)

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount