Several media outlets revealed personal details about a former CIA asset who had to be extracted from Russia in 2017, prompting immediate criticism

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President Donald Trump speaks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, August 15, 2017 in New York City.

• Several media outlets published information on Monday about a former CIA asset in Russia who had to be extracted in 2017.
• CNN first reported on the source's existence but withheld information about the individual's identity and work in Russia. The report said the source had to be extracted after President Donald Trump revealed classified intelligence to two Russian officials in an Oval Office meeting.
• But The New York Times and NBC News later followed up with their own reporting, which revealed intricate details about the source's espionage on behalf of the US, as well as where they now reside. Both outlets faced significant scrutiny for disclosing the information, and neither immediately responded to requests for comment.
• The episode is similar to what happened in 2017, when multiple media outlets revealed details about the nature of the intelligence Trump disclosed to two Russian officials.
• In both cases, more sensitive information became public knowledge as a result of disclosure to the media that were then published.
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A handful of media outlets published details about a former CIA asset this week that could put that person's safety at risk.

CNN first reported on the source's existence on Monday morning but withheld some information about the source's work and identity. The report claimed the source had to be extracted from Russia in 2017 in part because of concerns about the way President Donald Trump handled classified intelligence following a meeting with two Russian officials that May.

The information Trump shared with the Russians in 2017 wasn't related to the CIA's asset. But the president's disregard for strict intelligence-sharing rules to protect highly placed sources "prompted intelligence officials to renew earlier discussions about the potential risk" that the source in Russia would be exposed, CNN reported.

CNN also notes that the Obama administration also initially considered removing the asset. "Those concerns grew in early 2017 after the US intelligence community released its public report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which said Putin himself ordered the operation."

CNN's report shed light on the stark implications of Trump's callous attitude toward the US intelligence community and sensitive information.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement to CNN that its "reporting is not only incorrect, it has the potential to put lives in danger."

Read more: 'You actually have to give a s--- about your spies': Intel veterans are floored by revelations that an asset had to be extracted from Russia because of Trump's 'loose lips'

But later Monday, The New York Times and NBC News followed up with additional reporting that prompted immediate criticism on Twitter, because it revealed further details about the spy and their work.

The Times disclosed that the intelligence asset had been sending secrets to the US for decades but was extracted after the media began learning details of the CIA's assets in the Kremlin following revelations about Russia's election interference.

The report described the individual's position in the Russian government, the level of access they had to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and their role in helping US intelligence agencies discover Russia's interference campaign in the 2016 election.

Crucially, the report said officials did not disclose the source's identity or location because both are "closely held secrets" and the person's life remains in danger.

Shortly after, NBC News published its own report which revealed where the spy lives and other details about their home. The news came as Russian state-sponsored media reported that it had a name for the suspected intelligence asset.

The Times and NBC did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment, and it's unclear if government officials asked them to withhold any details for national security reasons.

Read more: Trump and the Taliban are telling wildly different stories about why he canceled a planned meeting at Camp David days before the 9/11 anniversary

Russia has previously targeted former spies, like the former agents Sergei Skripal and Alexander Litvinenko.

Monday's events bear a resemblance to what happened after The Washington Post first reported that Trump had shared sensitive information with Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, and Sergey Kislyak, then Russia's ambassador to the US, during their May 2017 Oval Office meeting.

The Post reported that Trump had disclosed to the Russians what officials described as "highly-classified information" related to an Islamic State terror plot. Several outlets later reported that the plan involved putting a bomb on a commercial airliner.

Shortly after, The Times, citing current and former officials, identified Israel as the source of the intelligence. CBS later revealed that the Islamic State had been developing a laptop bomb at Mosul University that could evade airport scanners.

Axios, citing national security experts, speculated that "lives could well be lost as a result of an ISIS mole hunt that's sure to follow" Trump's disclosure. But less attention was paid to the media's role in making some of the information public.

James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, told CNN on Monday that revelations about the spy's extraction are "going to make recruiting assets in Russia even more difficult tan it already is." (He also noted that he understood that CNN reporter Jim Sciutto was doing his job.)

Asked if disclosures like those on Monday put sources at risk, one former senior Justice Department official who worked closely with the former special counsel Robert Mueller when he was FBI director told Insider, "Without a doubt."