Mitch McConnell calls for a "little less drama from the White House"
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday weighed in on the reports from the previous night about President Trump's sharing of classified information with Russian officials at the White House last week.
In an interview with Bloomberg, the Kentucky Republican said that he read The Washington Post's story, and he read the comments made by National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster refuting the story.
"I think we could do with a little less drama from the White House on a lot of things," McConnell said, "So that we could focus on our agenda, which is deregulations, tax reform, repealing and replacing Obamacare."
After the reports spread Monday night, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, released a statement through his spokesman, Doug Andres.
"We have no way to know what was said, but protecting our nation's secrets is paramount," he said. "The speaker hopes for a full explanation of the facts from the administration."
The president revealed "highly classified" intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak during a White House meeting last week, the Post reported, and The New York Times confirmed Monday evening. The disclosures may have endangered a key intelligence source involved with the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), U.S. officials told the Post. A former intelligence official told CBS News Mr. Trump discussed "something inappropriate" in the meeting with Russian officials last week.
Few Republicans have commented on the revelations, though two top Republicans expressed concern.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters, "[O]bviously they're in a downward spiral right now, they've got to figure out a way to come to grips with all the that's happening." Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tweeted that it would be "disturbing" if it's true.
If true, deeply disturbing... https://t.co/gHc10i1pWv
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) May 15, 2017
While McMaster pushed back at the story Monday, Mr. Trump tweeted Tuesday morning defending his actions.
As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
...to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017
CBS News' Alan He contributed to this report.