Trump: The US and Europe are appalled at the ex-President’s carelessness about top-secret documents
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: That the maverick Donald Trump was careless about top secrets was well-known even when he was the 45th President of the United States of America (2017-2021). Many Americans were worried about how their country would handle the transition of power and the fate of nuclear weapons and missiles whose control he had until the last day in office.
Now, even more shocking facts have emerged about the former US President’s strange habits in terms of his official duties and responsibilities.
His indictment in a second case has revealed that not only did he take away boxes of documents pertaining to closely-guarded state secrets with him when he left the White House, but he also left some of them on a ballroom stage for three months at his private residence in Florida.
Some of the nation’s most prized secrets spilled out of a box and were scattered across a floor. Others were stacked in a bathroom shower. An attack plan was waved in front of a writer, the media revealed on Saturday.
The second indictment against Donald Trump, released on Friday, unveiled shocking new details about how the former President and at least one staffer allegedly mishandled some of the nation’s most closely guarded papers. The fresh revelations have unsettled allied nations that share such classified information with the US.
The indictment, which outlines 37 counts, including willful retention of defense information, shows through photos, witness testimony, and other evidence how cavalierly Trump purportedly treated the papers he kept at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
It will doubtless be a galling list of offenses for former intelligence officers and others who, during their time in service, often could study such documents only in the confines of a secure room — often without mobile phones or any other electronics present.
The indictment shows that after his presidency Trump and his staff kept documents from a range of the nation’s spy agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency that runs US spy satellites and which is so secret its existence wasn’t officially confirmed until the mid-1990s.
The markings on some of the documents indicated they contained information to be shared only with the so-called “Five Eyes” intelligence allies — the US plus Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.
“The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military and human sources, and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods,” the indictment said.
Some of the boxes were transported to Trump’s office at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where in July 2021 he showed a writer and publisher the plan of attack on a country. Broadcaster CNN reported the country was Iran and that the plan was drawn up by General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
According to the indictment, Trump said to those in attendance, who didn’t have security clearances, that the document “is like, highly confidential” and “secret information.”
Trump — who has variously claimed that he declassified all the documents before leaving the White House or that he retained the power to do so as a former President — was allegedly captured on audio tape saying, “As president, I could have declassified it,” and “Now, I can’t you know, but this is still secret.”
Later that year, he showed a classified map of military operations in an unidentified country to a representative from one of his political action committees. According to the indictment, Trump told the representative that he shouldn’t be showing the map and not to get too close.
Trump maintained his innocence in a Thursday night post on his Truth Social platform, saying he’s “an innocent man!”
Whatever Trump’s motivation, experts said he will have a hard time defending himself.
The sheer volume of sensitive documents plus Trump’s own words made clear there was nothing accidental about his decision to keep sensitive documents, the media reports added.
