SECRETS

Donald Trump Kept Plans for Raid Against Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi From Democrats Involved in Impeachment Hearings

Neither House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff nor House Speaker Nancy Pelosi–who are leading impeachment proceedings–were told about the raid in advance.

President Trump said he withheld information about the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from some members of Congress—including senior Democrats on the committees involved in the impeachment inquiry—because he was worried about leaks. “We notified some [and] others are being notified now as I speak,” Trump said Sunday morning, approximately 12 hours after he tweeted that “something very big has just happened.” Those left out of the loop included House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump said that telling the Democratic leaders would have put U.S. forces at risk. “Washington is a leaking machine,” Trump said. “The only people that knew were the few people that I dealt with...A leak could have caused the death of all of them.”