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Intelligence Officials May Be Keeping Sensitive Information From Trump

According to The Wall Street Journal, officials are withholding certain intelligence from the president over concerns that it could be leaked.
Posted at 10:52 AM, Feb 16, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-16 10:52:00-05

Intelligence agencies might be intentionally keeping sensitive information from President Donald Trump.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, officials are withholding certain intelligence over concerns that it could be "leaked or compromised."

To be clear, the sources told the outlet that, as far as they know, the president has been fully informed of all crucial security threats. But officials reportedly withheld some details about how the intelligence information was gathered.

The Wall Street Journal reports that keeping intelligence gathering details from the president is not exclusive to Trump, noting that sometimes "secrecy is essential for protecting a source."

A White House official denied the allegations, telling the Journal, "There is nothing that leads us to believe that this is an accurate account of what is actually happening."

And a spokesperson for the Office of Director of National Intelligence told the outlet, "Any suggestion that the U.S. intelligence community is withholding information and not providing the best possible intelligence to the president and his national security team is not true."

But the report adds fuel to the idea that there's an ongoing feud between Trump and the intelligence community.

Just hours before the report was published, Trump blamed intelligence leaks and the media for national security adviser Michael Flynn's resignation.

"From intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked; it's criminal action. It's a criminal act, and it's been going on for a long time before me, but now it's really going on," Trump said.