Trump's Sharing of Classified Info Is Not Illegal, But He Can Be Impeached

Caption: Maria Houser Conzemius at the Sag Wagon Bar in Cedar Rapids prior to the Ididaride Ride 2/4/17.

According to Lawfare, Trump did nothing illegal by revealing classified intelligence to the Russian foreign minister, information that came from the Mossad, the Israeli CIA, because the president can declassify intelligence whenever he wants. However, revealing Israeli intelligence without telling the Israelis first or asking their permission was downright stupid because the Mossad will think twice about endangering their spies again by telling American intelligence agents anything that might cross Trump’s desk.

My husband thinks the Mossad will talk to the CIA and the FBI and tell them not to talk to Trump. With Trump’s penchant for firing people (he should consider firing himself first, if he wants to fire the real agent of the chaos he finds himself in), that would be a risky business. But it could be done. Or maybe the Mossad will just wash their hands of the Trump administration, intelligence agents and all, and talk to other countries that can be trusted as long as they don’t talk to the Trump administration.

What could happen is that Trump could be impeached for violating his oath of office, according to Lawfare:

"President Trump swore to 'faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States' and to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States' to the best of his ability. It’s very hard to argue that carelessly giving away highly sensitive material to an adversary foreign power constitutes a faithful execution of the office of President."

I’d like to see Trump impeached, but the Republican majority in the House would have to turn against Trump in order for them to them to bring up articles of impeachment and make them stick. For that to happen, Republican representatives' own seats would have to be in jeopardy if they don’t impeach the president. That means constituents need to ring their representatives' phones off the wall and let them know that incompetent, reckless, treasonous Trump’s got to go. And their corporate lobbyists can’t save representatives by dumping millions into their campaigns if their constituents, the actual constituents who vote for or against them, are against them and intend to vote against them. Money doesn't always talk more loudly than treason.

When did giving classified intelligence to the Russians become something that Republicans could support? When did our enemy, Russia, become our "ally" in the fight against ISIS, when the Russians are clearly supporting Bashar al-Assad, the genocidal dictator of Syria, not fighting ISIS. When did it become forgivable to betray one of our closest and most valuable allies, especially in terms of intelligence, without telling them first or asking their permission?