The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and other Democrats slammed former President Donald Trump for his careless handling of documents containing some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets, after a redacted affidavit used to obtain a warrant for a search of his Florida home showed the former president- The president’s files were flagged as containing intelligence from classified human resources.
Virginia Senator Mark Warner said in a statement that, according to the affidavit, “the Mar-a-Lago document was mishandled” — the Palm Beach mansion turned private club where Mr Trump owns his primary residence and The official residence after the President. Office – including “some of our most sensitive intelligence”.
Mr Warner said the specter of loose intelligence secrets being improperly stored at Mar-a-Lago was “one reason” for his committee’s bipartisan demands for “a damage assessment of any national security threat posed by the mishandling of this information”, and It added that the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the matter “must be allowed to proceed without interference.”
The Virginia Democrat’s comments came shortly after an Aug. 8 redacted version of a 38-page document FBI agents filed with a Florida magistrate judge.
The document shows the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved a set of 15 boxes from Mr Trump’s home in January containing “184 unique documents marked by classification, including 67 classified as classified. documents, 92 documents marked confidential and 25 documents marked top secret”.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., a member of the House Permanent Intelligence Committee, tweeted that Mr. Trump not only “brought his own notes to his beach house.”
“He obtained information to protect our troops. Then refused to return it. It was a criminal act,” Mr Swalwell said.
Mr Trump and his lawyers allege he unilaterally declassified the disputed records through “regular orders” declassifying anything from White House office space to residential parts of the building.
The former president also claimed he had access to the records, and in a letter to the Justice Department, his lawyers argued that laws that criminalize mishandling of classified information do not apply to current or former presidents.
But attorneys for the Justice Department said in a subsequent letter that Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and office were not suitable for storing the kind of classified information found in boxes returned to Nara.
Asked if it was acceptable for the president to take classified information home, Mr. Trump’s successor — President Joe Biden — said before leaving the White House late Friday to tap Jay Leno’s garage, It “depends on the situation”.
“For example, I have an enclosed space in my home that is completely safe. I’m taking home today’s PDB today. It’s locked, and I’m alone with me — the military I’ve read about it with. I put It’s locked up and handed over to the military,” Mr Biden said.
