Tillerson: ‘I would have no way to know’ if Russians bugged Oval Office

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged on Wednesday that he would have “no way to know” if the Russian government had bugged the Oval Office during President Trump’s meeting with Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador last week.

“I would have no way to know that,” Tillerson said when asked by NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell about the possibility of Kremlin surveillance of the meeting.

Tillerson’s response followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer earlier Wednesday to provide to members of Congress a transcript of Trump’s meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

{mosads}The Washington Post reported on Monday that Trump had divulged highly classified intelligence to the Russian officials during the meeting. Reports on Tuesday revealed that Israel was the source of that intelligence.

Putin’s offer raises questions of whether the Kremlin actually has a transcript of the meeting and, if so, how it might have obtained it.

The House and Senate Intelligence committees are currently investigating Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election, as well as the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Moscow.

Recently fired FBI Director James Comey revealed in March that his agency is conducting its own probe into the matter.