Former Trump National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster claimed with a straight face that he never saw a problem with the handling of classified info in the Trump White House.
Transcript via CBS’s Face The Nation:
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right. Well, the other weapon he has is energy, of course, and tracking this potential sabotage on the gas pipeline. I want to also ask you about- when you were in office back in 2017, which is the first time that the US gave off- offensive weapons to Ukraine, I remember when you were put in that position of having to explain a conversation then-President Trump had with Russian officials in the Oval Office, where he mentioned classified information. And you- you called it wholly appropriate at the time. Given what’s going on now with this investigation into the classified material at Mar-a-Lago, were you ever uncomfortable with the former president’s handling of classified information?
LT. GENERAL H.R. MCMASTER: Well, Margaret, remember, I left in February, March of 2018. But while I was there, I did not see any problems in handling of- of classified information. And, and what you’re talking about really is a session in which the President did not disclose classified information, but somebody leaked it. And then it was published in the newspaper. So the classified information- I think it’s important is to go back to that period, and that provision of javelins of the defensive capabilities to the Ukrainians was really important and, and the argument I made to President Trump at the time, was, hey, these people who are telling you that it’s provocative to provide Ukraine with defensive capabilities, actually, what provokes Putin is weakness. And he was persuaded by that argument. And I think that argument is still relevant today.
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McMaster was rewriting history. It wasn’t a media leak. It was a Trump leak as he blabbed to the Russians while he hosted them in the Oval Office. It was a constant habit of Trump to give away US secrets while he was pretending like he was a big man.
H.R. McMaster should have been called out and corrected for such a blatantly false characterization of events.
McMaster was defending the same Trump who told the CIA to give Putin US secrets.
Trump is surrounded by enablers, and that is why it is up to the rest of the country to treat him like the national security threat that he is.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
