Report: Trump Had Highly Sensitive Documents About Iran and China at Mar-a-Lago, and Yes, That’s as Bad as It Sounds

Quick question: Is there any justifiable, non-shady reason that a former president of the United States would leave the White House with secret information about two countries he regards as enemies—one of which he publicly threatened to attack—hide said information in his home, and then refuse to give it back despite being asked to do so multiple times? Quick answer: No! There absolutely isn’t! There are literally only incredibly suspicious ones! Which is why it’s really quite bad that Donald Trump allegedly did just that.

The Washington Post reports that, according to people familiar with the situation, some of the classified documents removed during the August 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago “included highly sensitive intelligence regarding Iran and China.” If you’re wondering at this time if it’s possible that such highly sensitive information could simply be about, say, the best places to get breakfast in Tehran and Beijing, and thinking that this might not be as bad as it sounds, we regret to inform you that that is not the case. According to the Post, at least one of the documents recovered during the FBI raid “describes Iran’s missile program,” while others “described highly sensitive intelligence work aimed at China.” The people who spoke with the outlet said that if the information in question was shared with others, it could, per reporter Devlin Barrett, “expose intelligence-gathering methods that the United States wants to keep hidden from the world.” And if these documents fell into the hands of the wrong people, it could endanger the human sources aiding US intelligence efforts, compromise collection methods, and lead to adversaries retaliating against the US.

In other words, it’s a very big deal that Trump had this kind of stuff at his for-profit Palm Beach resort and residence, and it could tip the scales when it comes to the decision to charge him with a crime. “The exceptional sensitivity of these documents, and the reckless exposure of invaluable sources and methods of US intelligence capabilities concerning these foreign adversaries, will certainly influence the Justice Department’s determination of whether to charge Mr. Trump or others with willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act,” David Laufman, a former senior Justice Department official, told the Post.

A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment. After the story was published, the former president took to social media to rant about “the Document Hoax,” writing: “Who could ever trust corrupt, weaponized agencies, and that includes NARA…Also, who knows what NARA and the FBI plant into documents, or subtract from documents—we will never know, will we?”

Last month the Post reported that “a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club.” It’s not clear if that document concerned China, Iran, or another country.

Since the FBI raided the Palm Beach resort in August, Trump and his allies have trotted out all manner of excuses re: why it was perfectly reasonable for him to have hundreds of classified documents, including top secret ones, that weren’t his to keep. Among other things, the 45th president has insisted that he declassified the documents in question, saying the reason some in his administration claim this isn’t true is because he declassified them with his mind and didn’t tell anyone.

Earlier this month, the Post reported that a Trump employee had told the Justice Department he’d moved boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago at the ex-president’s behest, while The New York Times reported that a Trump aide had been caught on camera moving boxes at the club. The moving of boxes reportedly occurred both before and after Trump received a subpoena in May telling him to turn everything over.

In keeping with his previous MO re: investigations into his actions, the odds are high to extremely high he ignores it. Per CNN: