Former FBI official flattens Trump's defense for leaking nuclear secrets: 'Just sickening'

Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe walked through the latest revelations that Donald Trump leaked classified information about U.S. nuclear sub to an Australian businessman – and said there is no excuse or downplaying of that charge.

Speaking on the "Jack" podcast with Allison Gill (of Mueller, She Wrote), McCabe targeted the statement Trump's office put out downplaying the seriousness of the actions.

Trump's spokesperson said that the claim about the "leaks" lacks "proper context and relevant information."

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"President Trump did nothing wrong, has always insisted on truth and transparency, and acted in a proper manner, according to the law," the spokesperson told ABC.

Trump allegedly shared the information with Australian businessman Anthony Pratt of Pratt Industries, who then told others. In fact, Pratt said the number of people he told was likely close to 45 and includes a dozen or so foreign officials, several of his own employees and a handful of journalists, Gill explained.

The scene unfolded when Pratt, looking to make conversation at Mar-a-Lago, told Trump that he thought the Australian government should buy its subs from the U.S. Trump then "leaned forward" and told the man the number of nuclear warheads that can be held on such subs and just how close they can get to a Russian sub without being detected.

McCabe explains that most classified information is delegated to be handled by executive order, but not when it comes to nuclear information. Trump has claimed that much of the information that he took from the White House was "declassified' by him before leaving office and that he had a "standing order" to declassify things when they left the West Wing.

Nuclear secrets don't work that way. McCabe explained that the legal statutes determine the classification of nuclear information and not even the president can unilaterally declassify and disseminate that defense intelligence.

"I'm sorry, what context makes it OK to share classified information — nuclear information?" McCabe said in response to Trump's spokesperson. "You could easily argue [it's] the most sensitive information we have."

If you're Trump, McCabe quipped, "You can just share it with your friends at Mar-a-Lago after a well-done steak and a bowl of vanilla ice cream."

Gill, who briefly served on a nuclear ship, said that she knows people on such subs and that even they aren't aware of that information.

"That's what kills me," McCabe said. "People in the defense community, the intelligence community, you spend your life collecting this information and perfecting it. Sharing it with decision-makers under rigorous controls, understanding and living by the rules necessary to preserve these secrets the nation's secret to preserve our safety and dominance in the world, certainly in areas like the High Seas in terms of nuclear-aided defense weapons.

"And to see a former president just blithely run past these requirements, to handle this information so incredibly irresponsibly, it's just sickening. It really is."

Listen to the full podcast with McCabe and Gill here.