President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to respond to reports that he revealed classified information during a recent meeting with Russian officials.
The latest controversy came as Trump's administration reels from the fallout over his abrupt dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey and amid congressional calls for an independent investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 USA election.
While not specifically deny that sensitive information came up at Mr. Trump's meeting with Russian officials, McMaster added that "the story that came out tonight as reported is false".
H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser, denied Trump shared "intelligence sources or methods" with the Russians. "I was in the room, it didn't happen".
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of NY also called the story "disturbing", adding, "Revealing classified information at this level is extremely risky and puts at risk the lives of Americans and those who gather intelligence for our country". Some analysts, however, said the reports could undermine trust between partners. The story has been denied by Mr Trump's National Security Adviser, who said intelligence sources or methods were not discussed.
Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president of Microsoft, laid some of the blame with the US government, criticizing USA intelligence agencies for "stockpiling" software code that can be used by hackers. "It's just inexcusable that this happens and it's inexcusable for the White House National Security staff, too".
The reports came days before Trump departs on Friday for his first overseas trip as president, to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium.
Since Trump's reveal to Russian Federation, the White House has been trying to fix the situation by contacting the CIA and the National Security Agency.
Trump tweeted about the news Tuesday morning, and instead of denying the reports he said he had the "absolute right" to share information with Russian Federation.
Mr Trump received Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office last week.
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The Kremlin came to Trump's defense, calling reports that he had disclosed classified material in the White House meeting as "complete nonsense".
The standard for disclosing classified information is different for a president and what Mr. Trump is accused of doing is not illegal. The classified information had been shared with the president by an ally, violating the confidentiality of an intelligence-sharing agreement with that country, the official said.
Schiff says it is particularly "problematic" that Russian interests, in Syria and elsewhere, are "deeply antithetical to our own".
A senior German lawmaker has expressed concern about reports that President Donald Trump revealed highly classified information about the Islamic State group to Russian officials.
It was reported that United States officials took urgent measures to curb the damage by contacting the CIA and the National Security Agency.
The U.S. official said that Trump boasted about his access to classified intelligence in last week's meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak.
The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence have declined to comment.
New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee said in a statement that the report was rejected by senior US officials.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that if the story is true it would be "deeply disturbing".
Trump defended himself in a tweet Tuesday by saying he had an "absolute right" to share what he wanted.
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