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Democrats and Former Obama Officials Agree: Leaks Are Damaging

May 25, 2017

Democratic lawmakers and former Obama officials agree with President Donald Trump that leaks of classified information are damaging to national security.

The Trump administration has had to deal with a flurry of leaks of classified information. The latest of these leaks pertain to the active investigation into Monday's Manchester terrorist attack, when the name of the attacker and photographs reported to be images of the crime scene were leaked to the media.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she was going talk to Trump directly about keeping shared intelligence secure.

"I will be making clear to President Trump that intelligence that is shared between our law enforcement agencies must remain secure," May said.

Trump has vowed to prosecute those responsible for disclosing the intelligence.

Democrats and former Obama administration officials share Trump's desire to stop damaging leaks.

"These leaks are appalling. They need to stop," former CIA Director John Brennan said in an interview with BBC.

"Leaks endanger national security," former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a congressional hearing.

"If in fact people disclose classified information and leaked that out to the press, they should be prosecuted," Rep. Terri Sewell (D., Ala.) said.

Critics of the president have blamed Trump for creating an environment where officials feel the need to leak information to the media. Trump himself was accused of disclosing details of intelligence gathered by Israel when he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.