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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov leaves following a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC, May 10, 2017. (Getty)

Supporters of President Donald Trump are hitting back at the Washington Post report that he shared highly classified information on ISIS with top Russian officials by arguing that President Obama basically did the same thing.

Is it true? Did President Obama share ISIS-related intelligence with Russia? There are differences between what the Washington Post alleges Trump said and what Obama offered. However, its true that President Obama offered to share more intelligence on the Islamic State and other terrorist groups with Russia because both Russia and the United States consider ISIS a common foe.

The White House and top Trump officials most notably National Security Adviser Henry McMaster adamantly deny the latest Washington Post report, with McMaster pointblank calling it false. More on that back-and-forth in a minute. First the Obama report.

The claim stems mostly from a Washington Post article by Karen DeYoung that ran on June 30, 2016.

The article was headlined, U.S. offers to share Syria intelligence on terrorists with Russia. Trump supporters ricocheted that old story around social media after the latest allegations broke:

The newspaper reported that the Obama administration had offered Russia what it was calling enhanced information sharing that does not include joint military planning, targeting or coordination with U.S. airstrikes or other operations in Syria.

According to The Post, the Obama offer came with conditions: The Obama administration has offered to help Russia improve its targeting of terrorist groups in Syria if Moscow will stop bombing civilians and opposition fighters who have signed on to a cease-fire and use its influence to force Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to do the same, the story reported.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said at the time, according to The Post: Weve made no bones about the fact that if the Russians, with their military presence in Syria, proved to be willing to focus those efforts against Daesh, then thats a conversation we would be willing to have.

Obama during his Farewell Address. (Getty)

In July 2016, the Post wrote another story titled, Obamas Syria plan teams up American and Russian forces. The story, by Josh Rogin, reported, The Obama administrations new proposal to Russia on Syria is more extensive than previously known. It would open the way for deep cooperation between U.S. and Russian military and intelligence agencies and coordinated air attacks by American and Russian planes on Syrian rebels deemed to be terrorists.

Its not hard to find articles about the Obama administration contemplating more coordination with Russia in the fight against terrorism.

In 2015, Defense News reported that the head of the CIA was determined to keep conversations open between the intelligence communities of the United States and Russia and wants to see relations between the two nations enhanced to prevent future terrorist attacks, particularly from the Islamic State group, commonly known as ISIS or ISIL.

John Brennan, Obamas CIA director, said in that article that he was having ongoing conversations with my Russian counterpart over the previous year. According to Defense News, those conversations have largely centered on the flow of potential terrorists between Russia and ISIS-controlled territory, a very real concern for the Russians, Brennan said.

Brennan was CIA director from 2013 through Trumps inauguration.

Defense News quoted Brennan as saying, So weve been exchanging information. I think it needs to be enhanced. But I am determined to continue to work with my Russian counterparts, because of the importance that I think we each can bring to this issue, in terms of our insights, our information, our data and sharing.

How does that compare to the current report? There are key differences between the allegations; the Post alleges that Trump basically spoke out of school, off the cuff (not as a planned-out strategy) and shared classified information with the Russians that an ally had provided to the U.S. about terrorists using laptop computers as bombs.

The Washington Post is reporting that, although it wouldnt be illegal for Trump to have done so, anonymous current and former U.S. officials said Trumps disclosures jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State. The Posts anonymous source allegedly said that Trump revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies and that Trump had relayed sensitive information that had been shared with U.S. intelligence through a partner-sharing agreement with an unnamed ally who had not given the U.S. permission to share it.

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has flatly declared the Washington Post report false.

National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster. (Getty)

The president and the foreign minister reviewed a range of common threats to our two countries, including threats to civil aviation, McMaster said in a news conference on May 15. At no time at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. And the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly knownI was in the room. It didnt happen.

McMaster said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and another senior official shared the same recollection of the conversation.

Washington Post reporter Greg Miller told CNN he stands by his story. In a subsequent analysis, The Post claimed McMaster and others were using semantics to help Trump, writing, McMaster says that at no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. But The Posts reporting doesnt say that they were.

The Post alleges that Trump discussed an Islamic State plot and the city where the plot was detected by an intelligence-gathering partner. Officials worried that this information could lead to the discovery of the methods and sources involved, but it didnt say Trump discussed them.

The meeting took place on May 10 between Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavlov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak (the latters phone conversations with Michael Flynn helped spur his resignation).

The Lavrov meeting was closed to the press and the only visual account we have of it thus far is via handout photos from the Russian government, Jordan Fabian, of the Hill, wrote in a pool report after the meeting. Those images show Trump also met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

White House officials barred reporters from witnessing the moment, reported The New York Times, which added that the Russians brought an official photographer whose snaps were soon disseminated by TASS.

You can listen to McMasters response here:

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster will make a statement about the Washington Post's report that Donald Trump shared classified info with the Russians. Watch live here.

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REPORT: Obama Offered to Give ISIS Intelligence to Russia - Heavy.com

Top officials from the Obama administration are working to stymie congressional pressure on Iran, including through a quiet push in Congress by an organization that has been criticized for helping mislead the public about the Iran deal, according to correspondence obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

The Ploughshares Fund, described by the Obama White House as a key promoter of the nuclear deal, distributed a letter to congressional staffers last week written by former Obama Treasury official Adam Szubin that harshly criticizes pending Iran sanctions legislation.

Ploughshares came under fire last May for giving hundreds and thousands of dollars to media outlets and fueling what Obama Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes admitted was an "echo chamber." A Ploughshares official cc'd Szubin on the email with the letter, and welcomed congressional staffers to reach out to him for further discussion. The sanctions bill is expected to move forward in coming weeks.

"[The legislation] would provoke a terrible reaction in Iran and with our allies," Szubin wrote in the letter, addressed to leaders of the foreign relations committee. "[It] would contribute no benefit, as it would impose no additional pressure on Iran's malign activities outside of the nuclear space."

The congressional push coincides with the launch of an organization backed by former Obama officials, with Secretary of State John Kerry at the fore, many of whom are vocal opponents of the sanctions legislation. The group, Diplomacy Works, aims to "promote, protect, and preserve" the nuclear deal by informing and influencing lawmakers, experts, and others, according to a statement on its website.

Experts who fought against the nuclear deal in 2015 told TWS that the Obama team's renewed push is all too familiar.

"The Obama defenders of the [nuclear deal] are terrified that the Trump administration will end the Obama paralysis of U.S. policy towards the Iranian regime," said one Iran expert who played a major role in push back against the nuclear deal. "They will fight tooth and nail any sign of a more robust and hard hitting policy to rollback and subvert Iranian aggression."

Another long-time Middle East expert closely involved in the fight against the deal said the officials are mobilizing to ensure that lawmakers do not impose additional pressure on Iran.

"The same people who promised that the nuclear deal would enable Congress to push back against Iranliterally the very same peopleare now mobilizing to prevent any pressure against Iran over its threats to us and our allies," the adviser told TWS.

"Of course that gives away the game, doesn't it?" the adviser continued. "The goal of the Iran deal was never to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, but instead to empower Iran by giving it something to use as blackmail against U.S. pressure."

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Obama Officials Working to Derail New Iran Sanctions - The Weekly Standard

Organizing for Action, the non-profit group with ties to former President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaSenate battle lines harden in FBI fight Trump to disclose 2016 financial info after Pence Trump faces tough choices in FBI pick MORE, is launching a digital and grassroots effort targeting vulnerable Republicans in the House for promoting President Trumps policies.

The group says it is going after members of Congress who are rubber-stamping the White House's harmful agenda.

The majority of the constituents in these districts voted against this administration's platform, yettheir representatives are acting as rubber stamps for the White House's extreme agenda rather than working for the people they represent, the programs website reads.

The program already targeted 25 Republicans after the House passed the American Health Care Act earlier this month, which repeals central provisions of ObamaCare.

The campaign is now targeting 34 Republican House members, though OFA says the list may change.

Democrats have targeted vulnerable Republicans ahead of the 2018 midterm elections over the GOPs attempts to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

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Obama-tied group targets House Republicans over Trump agenda - The Hill

Fundraising for the Obama Foundation began to ramp up in 2016, with donations totaling more than $13 million, the most since it was founded in 2014, according to tax records released by the foundation on Monday.

But that total is expected to surge as former President Barack Obama, now free of his own self-imposed restriction over making direct appeals for donations while in office, begins to raise money to pay for his ambitious presidential center. It is expected to cost at least $500 million by the time it is completed in 2021.

The majority of last year's donations were collected from a fairly small group of the former president's most loyal and prominent supporters nine donations in all that were worth $1 million or more. The fundraising total exceeded the combined $7.5 million that the Obama Foundation collected in 2014 and 2015.

Among the biggest donors was the Lucas Family Foundation of the filmmaker George Lucas, which kicked in $1 million toward the presidential center. His wife, Mellody Hobson, a Chicago native and president of Ariel Investments, sits on the private foundation's board.

The family foundation of Glenn Hutchins, a co-founder of the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, donated $1 million, as did the family foundation of the investor Andrew Hauptman, owner of the Chicago Fire.

Andrew Hauptman's name emerged in emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee, with one email referring to his intent to "meet with the folks from the Obama Foundation."

He is chairman of Andell Inc., a Los Angeles-based private investment firm and family office he controls with his wife, Ellen Bronfman Hauptman. She is from the Bronfman family, whose fortune was built through the Seagram Co.

Daniel Levin and his wife, Fay Hartog-Levin, donated $1 million as well. He is the founder of the Habitat Co., a major Chicago developer where Valerie Jarrett once was chief executive. Fay Hartog-Levin is a fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School who was appointed by Obama to serve as ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 2009 and 2011.

Another Obama-era political appointee, Louis Susman, gave as well.

Susman is a retired Chicago investment and top fundraiser for Obama's presidential bid who was nominated as ambassador to Britain in 2009. He and his wife, Marjorie Susman, donated $1 million toward the presidential center last year.

So did John Doerr, a prominent venture capitalist from California with an estimated net worth, according to Forbes, of $4.9 billion. When he and his wife, Anne, donated $1 million to the Obama Foundation last year it marked their second contribution in as many years.

The foundation has not released an updated estimated cost for the Obama Presidential Center since the first design plans were publicly released this month. It calls for three buildings in a campuslike setting in historic Jackson Park on the South Side.

But, in a significant shift, it will not house any permanent collection of presidential documents and artifacts maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration. Instead those records will be stored in existing NARA facilities and made available in digital format or on loan.

That decision freed the Obama Foundation from many stringent requirements concerning the center's design and endowment, including having to raise an endowment equivalent to 60 percent of the cost of the library portion of the center.

It also means that Obama Presidential Center will not receive the federal funds given to other presidential centers to support the library on their grounds. For example, NARA provided the library for George W. Bush $6.2 million in fiscal 2015.

Even with this loss, though, the savings in not having to meet NARA requirements could more than make up for the loss of federal funds.

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Obama Foundation ramped up fundraising in 2016 - Chicago Tribune

U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar Dana Shell Smith / Getty Images

BY: Adam Kredo May 15, 2017 1:30 pm

The U.S. ambassador to Qatar, an Obama administration holdover whose family donated hundreds of thousands to the Obama campaign, signaled her distaste for working under President Donald Trump, raising questions about her commitment to the new administration.

Dana Shell Smith, the U.S. ambassador for Qatar who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, took to Twitter last week to express her frustration at Trump's administration, which has been battling negative headlines over a plethora of foreign and domestic issues.

Smith, whose Hollywood executive brother bundled at least $50,000 to $100,000 for Obama during his run for the White House, tweeted that it is "increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news from home, knowing I will spend today explaining our democracy and institutions."

Smith's public expression of frustration with Trump is raising eyebrows both inside and outside of the administration among those who believe that Obama-era holdovers are working to undermine the current president.

Smith is just one of many current officials who also served in the Obama administration. The Washington Free Beacon, as well as other outlets, has reported multiple times on efforts by these holdovers to undermine Trump and his larger national security agenda. Smith's comments are being viewed as yet another attempt by Obama loyalists to foster skepticism of Trump.

"The Trump administration has been taking a lot of heat from the base for not cleaning out Obama holdovers, and this is exactly what people are talking about," one veteran Middle East adviser who is close to the White House told the Free Beacon. "There are hundreds of Obama supporters who are supposed to be non-political career professionals, but actually see themselves as part of the Resistance."

The goal of these officials, the source said, "is to grind the government to a halt, because they don't like the idea of any Republican administration, let alone this one, being empowered by voters to enact policies."

Smith's brother, Hollywood executive Jeff Shell, was a top campaign bundler for Obama. He raised between $50,000 and $100,000 to Obama during the 2008 campaign season, according to reports.

Obama-era holdovers have become a tense issue for the Trump administration in recent months, with many insiders suspecting that a range of sensitive leaks have emanated from these officials, sources said.

Calls have been mounting inside the administration for Trump and his senior staff to clean house, an issue that is complicated by the narrow pool of officials from which team Trump can choose.

A recent example of this struggle saw Senior National Security Council adviser on Israel, Yael Lempertan Obama holdover who was viewed as "one of the harshest critics of Israel"pushed out of the current administration after a months-long battle.

However, her replacement, Kris Bauman, shares similar views. Bauman has decried the so-called "Israel Lobby" and has called for the terror group Hamas to be included in Middle East peace talks, according to reports.

Trump administration insiders likened the problem to a game of whack-a-mole, a children's game in which players must hit a group of moles as they pop out of their holes.

"The problem is that the Obama administration left holdovers all over the government, so you get rid of one Obama loyalist and the replacement is another Obama loyalist," said one national security insider close to the Trump administration.

"That's already happened multiple times especially with Middle East appointments," the source said, referring to Lempert and Bauman.

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US Ambassador, Obama Holdover, Signals Disdain for Representing Trump - Washington Free Beacon