A brief history of Trump’s tweets on the ‘scandal’ of classified intelligence leaks

President Donald Trump reportedly shared classified information with the Russian officials during a meeting at the White House last week, prompting condemnation across the political spectrum – including a look at his past public statements on others’ disclosure of classified intelligence.

Both current and former anonymous US officials claimed that Trump had disclosed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak sensitive intelligence regarding the Islamic State, according to a report from The Washington Post.

The information was originally provided by a US partner who had not given permission to share the material with Russia. The administration deflected any reason for alarm by maintaining that Trump discussed “a broad range of subjects” with the Russian officials. However, “they did not discuss source, methods, or military operations,” US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

Trump’s critics, including several lawmakers, were quick to rebuke the president. Many of them noted that one of the more prominent critics who scorned the sharing of classified intelligence in the past has been none other than Trump himself.

Here are seven tweets from Trump that criticize the leaking of classified information:

One of the talking points of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign hinged on the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.

In a series of tweets spanning several months, Trump made the public aware of his thoughts on the potential of disclosing classified information.

Trump also relied on WikiLeaks, an organization that published Clinton campaign-related emails, for campaign talking points.

Trump alleged in a January tweet that classified information pertaining to Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election was leaked to NBC News earlier this year. NBC’s source, a senior US intelligence official, claimed that the Russian government was attempting to “undermine the integrity of the American political system.”

Source: NBC News

Trump launched a tirade of tweets against the intelligence community after The New York Times cited intelligence sources that alleged Trump’s campaign officials had contact with Russian intelligence officers before his inauguration.

Source: The New York Times

He also attempted to discredit the sources the leaks and the medium on which their message spread, including The New York Times.

By late March, Trump continued to deny allegations of links between his campaign and Russian officials, calling it “fake news.” He also homed in on leakers of classified information.

Source: ABC News