[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7833-7834]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   PRESIDENT'S BREACH OF INTELLIGENCE

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I too rise to honor this week of 
celebrating our police officers and hope to be able to speak about 
their bravery throughout the week.
  But I am overwhelmed and shocked at the actions of the President of 
the United States to have yielded classified information into code-word 
intelligence inside a room with the Foreign Minister of Russia and the 
Ambassador.
  It is well known that Ambassador Kislyak is reportedly considered by 
the U.S. intelligence community to be one of Russia's top spies and a 
central figure in the FBI investigation into Russia's collusion with 
Trump campaign officials during the 2016 Presidential election, along 
with the downfall of

[[Page 7834]]

General Flynn. This is an absolutely unacceptable way for a President 
to act.
  Mr. President, you have jeopardized the lives of the American people; 
you have jeopardized the lives of intelligence assets around the world; 
and you have breached the liaison relationship that we have had with 
many of our allies.
  This needs to have a full investigation, besides a number of tools of 
the commission, a special prosecutor. This Judiciary Committee on the 
House side needs to stand up and have full hearings regarding the 
investigation of these horrific actions, violations that may breach on 
high crimes and misdemeanors.
  It is shocking that the day after the President fired FBI Director 
Comey to impede the Bureau's investigation of the Trump campaign's ties 
to the Russian agents and entities that interfered in the 2016 
presidential election, we learn that the President recklessly disclosed 
classified and highly sensitive information to Russian Foreign Minister 
Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak at a 
meeting held at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
  Ambassador Kislyak is reportedly considered by the U.S. intelligence 
community to be one of Russia's top spies and a central figure in the 
FBI investigation into Russia's collusion with Trump campaign officials 
during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
  And yet, the President thought it appropriate to disclose to him 
classified information that had not even been shared with some of our 
allies.
  The President's disclosure of classified and highly sensitive 
information may have severely compromised a U.S. intelligence partner.
  But rather than provide a more thorough explanation for the 
President's actions, his surrogates are engaged in a bait and switch, 
feigning outrage over leaks when the President's loose lips are 
responsible for the crisis he has created for our nation and for 
himself.
  Every day the President gives the nation another reason to question 
his judgment, doubt his word, mistrust his motives, or question his 
capacity and competence to manage the national security and foreign 
policy of the United States.
  The American people deserve better.
  Beginning with the creation of an independent bipartisan commission 
to investigate President Trump's ties to Russia and the appointment of 
an independent special counsel to investigate the Trump campaign's ties 
to the Russian agents and entities that interfered in the 2016 
presidential election.
  And Congress must take seriously its oversight responsibilities, and 
its oath to uphold the Constitution, and be a check on the excesses of 
the Executive Branch.

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