Yesterday I suggested that the raid on Trump’s Mar a Lago compound had to be much more than a violation of the government records keeping laws driven by the National Archives. We now know that the three criminal acts that were alleged in the search warrant related to illegal removal of government property, obstruction of justice but most importantly, the Espionage Act.
It has been reported that documents labelled Top Secret/SCI were retrieved. This is beyond serious and would be hard to rationalize as mere carelessness. There is no way that anyone who has ever been granted a clearance at this level does not understand the sensitive nature of these documents and how they are to be properly handled. Stuffing them in a box and hauling them off to a private residence is a clear violation of every rule for how to handle these types of documents. I assure you without a doubt that if I had removed a document labelled Top Secret/SCI when I was working and took it home and that fact came to light, I would certainly be looking at jail time and hefty fines.
Access to these types of documents is very restricted and on a ‘need to know’ basis. Just because someone may have a Top-Secret clearance does not mean they have a ‘need to know’. Trump was extremely careless about this stuff. It was recommended by the intelligence community that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, not be granted a high-level security clearance, due in part to all of his foreign contacts and entanglements. Trump pushed it through anyway.
I am willing to bet that this is not just carelessness. There is something much more sinister going on here. As I stated yesterday, there is no legitimate reason for Trump to have these types of documents at his private residence in Mar a Lago unless there was some illicit intent. It just cannot be rationalized any other way. So, the real question in my mind is who was the intended recipient of this information? It is inconceivable that Trump just took these as souvenirs.
All Top Secret/SCI documents are logged so the exact number of copies is known. You cannot legally just go to any old copy machine and make a new copy without going through the proper procedures AND using an approved copying machine. Anything else is illegal – full stop! Secondly, all Top Secret/SCI documents are supposed to be locked in approved safes when they are not being used. You just don’t leave documents like these laying around for anyone who passes by to get a glance at. These types of documents are generally only reviewed in SCIFs (Secure Compartmented Information Facility), known commonly as ‘vaults.’
If these types of documents ended up in boxes in Mar a Lago, it means that someone had to either make an illegal copy of the document and not bring it into accountability and/or someone had to unlock a safe and consciously place a very sensitive document into a box that was then transported through unsecured channels to end up at Mar a Lago. Both of those are criminal acts. And given the fact that President Biden revoked Trump’s clearances when he left office, his mere possession of such documents is likely a criminal act.
If Trump tries to make the argument that the documents were accidently put into the box along with some other stuff, that is pure bullshit. It had to be a conscious effort to place these documents into those boxes for the reasons cited above. For anyone involved in putting those documents in boxes and transporting them to Mar a Lago, I would get prepared to soon be looking at the underside of the bus. Trump will certainly not take responsibility for anything and, in true Trump style, will blame everyone else, even though it is inconceivable that he did not know what was in those boxes, given the nature of these documents. So, again, it begs the question, why would someone do something that they know is illegal to transfer these documents to Mar a Lago. What was the intended purpose of retaining these documents? Who was the intended recipient?
It is unlikely that Trump kept these for those nights that he wanted a little light reading! Or perhaps he thought that sharing them with his dinner guests at the Club would show everyone how important he was? (Even he is probably not that stupid!) The only rational explanation is that there was a plan to use these documents in some way and I believe when it finally comes to light (and I believe it will), some people will be shocked. I won’t be because I’ve been predicting this for a long time.
Unfortunately, Trump’s idiotic supporters will continue to rally around this man regardless of the facts that emerge and how damaging to our national security Trump turns out to be. I have always believed, and I continue to believe, that Trump is the biggest security threat to this country in my lifetime.
Don’t forget, Hitler wrote ‘Mein Kampf’ while he was in prison before coming to power in Germany! Let that sink in for a while!
Sorry for last post – Yes, scary – If a Trumplican wins 2024 – they may let him out even if he is convicted.
Someone contacted me if I wish to consider working again in a contract position for the IC world again – and I have to think real hard on that – may depend which area – frustrated that the fruits of my efforts could be used by folks like Trump or worse than him. I’ve always enjoyed my “work” – not being work since I enjoyed it. But I’ll be go to heck if I will facilitate any tyrant or contribute to tools that do not succeed at preventing them from abusing power.
I’d sooner enjoy my senior years in NE Maine 5 miles away from the entry to New Brunswick. I’d be just as happy serving as a secretary at the local community hospital and be out of the house helping Dr.s and nurses, or anyone else.