REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
While Fox News lagged behind other cable news outlets in broadcasting reports that President Donald Trump had disclosed highly classified information to Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador to the United States, the network eventually hosted a series of guests who downplayed the reports. “If [National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell] thought what Trump was doing was a really, really bad idea, they probably would have spoke up,” Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts said on air.
Guest Charles Krauthammer argued that Hillary Clinton had committed worse leaks. “The only implication here is that he’s unschooled,” Krauthammer said of Trump. “This is his first go-around with sensitive information and he might’ve slipped up. If he did, it’s not good. On the other hand, if it’s not deliberate, it’s not exactly a high crime and misdemeanor,” he said, implying that Clinton committed worse security infractions by using a private email server.