Republicans are struggling to navigate through the latest Trump-Russia scandal, with several demanding that the White House provide more information about the highly sensitive intelligence that Donald Trump divulged during a meeting with Russians.
Senators on Tuesday continued to be bombarded with questions by the press over the Washington Post’s report – which was quickly confirmed by other news outlets – that Mr Trump had revealed classified information about an Isis terrorist plot to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, who has been mostly quiet on Mr Trump’s increasing number of scandals involving Russia, told Bloomberg Television: “I think we could do with a little less drama from the White House on a lot of things so that we can focus on our agenda.”
Later, during a news conference, when asked if he had concerns about Mr Trump’s ability to handle classified information, Mr McConnell only replied: “No”.
The revelation that Mr Trump revealed classified details to the Russians has drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.
“Once again we are faced with inexplicable stories coming from the White House that are highly troubling,” said Republican congresswoman Barbara Comstock in a statement.
“We need to have immediate classified briefings on what occurred at this meeting so that Congress can at least know as much as Russian leaders and know the impact on our national security, our allies, and our men and women protecting our country.”
Other Republican senators said they wanted to wait for more information from the White House before commenting further on the press reports.
“The dust is still settling,” Republican senator Jeff Flake told reporters.
“We’re still waiting to make sure the reporting is accurate, and we’ll wait for more statements,” Mr Flake said.
Republican senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would not discuss Mr Trump’s conduct until Congress is briefed by the CIA and the intelligence committee.
Democrats are also calling for more information, with many pushing for access to transcripts of Mr Trump’s meeting with the Russians.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said Congress should issue subpoenas for the transcripts if the White House won't provide them.
“The only way to know reliably whether there are such transcripts or tapes is to issue a subpoena,” Mr Blumenthal told the Today show.
