As the Trump Administration dealt with an unprecedented number of national security leaks, it sought to take appropriate precautions. Public reporting indicates that the NSC began restricting access to summaries of the President's communications with foreign leaders following the leak of President Trump's conversation in May 2017 with senior Russian officials.[1] Dr. Fiona Hill, the former NSC Senior Director for Europe, testified that a summary of this meeting was not initially restricted and that details of the conversation "seemed to immediately end up in the press."[2] Following this leak, the White House began a practice of restricting access to summaries of calls and meetings with foreign leaders.[3] Current and former White House officials said that it made sense to restrict access to calls given the number of leaks.[4]
With respect to the summary of President Trump's conversation with President Zelensky on July 25, NSC Senior Director Tim Morrison testified in his closed-door deposition that although he "was not concerned that anything illegal was discussed," he was concerned about a leak of the summary of President Trump's call with President Zelensky.[5] He explained that he was "concerned about how the contents [of the call summary] would be used in Washington's political process."[6] In his public testimony, Morrison elaborated:
Q. And you were concerned about it leaking because you were worried about how it would play out in Washington's polarized political environment, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And you were also worried how that would lead to the bipartisan support here in Congress towards Ukraine, right?
A. Yes.
Q. And you were also concerned that it might affect the Ukrainians' perception negatively.
A. Yes.
Q. And, in fact, all three of those things have played out, haven't they?
A. Yes.[7]
- ↑ See, e.g., Julian E. Barnes et al., White House Classified Computer System is Used to Hold Transcripts of Sensitive Calls, N.Y. Times, Sept. 29, 2019.
- ↑ Hill deposition, supra' note 12, at 294.
- ↑ Barnes, et al., supra note 598.
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Morrison deposition, supra note 12, at 16.
- ↑ Id. at 44.
- ↑ Impeachment Inquiry: Ambassador Kurt Volker and Timothy Morrison, supra note 8.
98
