Trump accused of divulging top secret intelligence to Russians

Battled U.S. President Donald Trump faced explosive allegations that he divulged top secret intelligence to Russian diplomats in the Oval Office, a charge the White House scrambled to rebut on May 15.

The Washington Post reported that Trump revealed highly classified information on the Islamic State of Iraq andthe Leavnt (ISIL) during a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moscow's man in Washington Sergey Kislyak.

In a shock twist, the intelligence reportedly came from a U.S. ally who did not authorize Washington to share it with Moscow. That development that could shatter trust that is essential to intelligence and counterterrorism cooperation.

National Security Advisor HR McMaster denied the president had revealed "intelligence sources or methods," but acknowledged that Trump and Lavrov "reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries, including threats to civil aviation."

The Post, citing unnamed officials, said that Trump went off script during the meeting, describing details about an ISIL terror threat related to the use of laptop computers on airplanes, revealing the city where the information was gathered.

The Trump administration recently barred the use of laptops in the passenger cabin from Turkey and several countries in the Middle East and is mulling the expansion of that ban to cover jets originating in Europe.

"There's nothing that the president takes more seriously than the security of the American people. The story that came out tonight as reported is false," McMaster said without elaborating on which elements were wrong.

"Two other senior officials who were present, including the secretary of state, remember the meeting the same way and have said so....