The covert meeting that the House Intelligence Committee chairman held with a source on the White House grounds last week has not raised suspicions of an inappropriate leak within the executive branch, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday.
“We’re not concerned about that,” Spicer told reporters at his daily press briefing.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) confirmed Monday that he spoke with and viewed confidential information with a source the day before he went public with allegations that communications involving Donald Trump and his transition team were incidentally captured by the U.S. intelligence community.
Though Nunes said his source was an intelligence official and that he did not actually enter the White House, the location and timing of the meeting raised suspicions of coordination between Nunes, who was a member of the Trump transition team’s executive committee, and the White House.
Spicer repeatedly said that the White House had no prior knowledge of Nunes’ visit, and that the only information it had about the meeting came from “public reports.”
He declined to rule out that the information Nunes obtained originated with the White House, however.
“I can’t say 100 percent that I know anything that he briefed them on,” Spicer said, adding “anything is possible.”
Both Nunes and Trump have expressed deep concern about leaks that have come out in the press as both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees probe Russia’s interference into the U.S. election.
Asked by MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson if the White House would try to determine who was providing Nunes with such classified information, Spicer demurred.
“We’re letting this review proceed and we can address this after he decides to be clear about that,” he said of Nunes’ investigation.
Spicer also disputed that Nunes obtaining information about the incidental collection of Trump staffers’ communications qualified as a leak, since he said both Nunes and the source had national security clearances.
“Someone who is cleared to share information with someone else who is cleared is not a leak,” he said.
Shorter SpiceBunny: We’re not concerned. We’re scared shitless…
Shorter Spicer: We have always approved of Leaks that help us. Just ask Gucifer, WikiLeaks or Kremlin. They strengthen our agenda. We dont like Fake Media printing true Leaks.
It is not a leak if it was orchestrated!
Spicey is not concerned about links in this case, because the leaker was Trump, the declassifier in chief.
In all the hullabaloo, few noticed angry, nutty Trump friend Roger Stone on Sunday’s ABC ThisWeek saying “full of Schiff” however regarding Nunes or not the WH is full of SCIF…