Some of America’s Worst Security Breaches Are Coming From the White House

Trump Campaigned on Platform of National Security and ‘Law and Order’

American intelligence officials alongside their U.S. military counterparts are taking stock of what is rapidly becoming a serious compromise of the safeguards protecting the nation’s secrets. Ironically, according to one senior official in a conversation with NCRM on Monday, the worst breaches are coming from the officials and White House staffers working directly for President Donald Trump, who is the ultimate recipient of classified data generated by the 17 or so agencies responsible for American intelligence gathering.

Other sources of disclosure and compromise that are apparently also giving U.S. officials ulcers are the elite and super wealthy friends, and acquaintances, along with guests of the president, as evidenced by a series of Facebook posts and Twitter posts released during the formal Saturday evening dinner hosted by the president for Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. 

Richard DeAgazio a retired investor and an actor and producer, who had recently joined Trump’s exclusive Mar-A-Lago private club after paying its $200,000 annual fee within the past three months, apparently posted pictures of himself posing with the U.S. Army officer responsible for the security of the classified briefcase, known colloquially as the ‘nuclear football’, which contains the launch codes and secure communications for America’s nuclear arsenal. He also identified the Army officer as “Rick.”

DeAgazio has since deleted his Facebook profile page, or made it otherwise unavailable, but not before taking criticism in the comments section including one person who noted: “Thanks for getting Rick demoted and/or relieved of duty.” In another post DeAgazio posted pictures of the president and prime minister as they learned that North Korea launched a missile. 

A Pentagon official said that there was a “better than average chance” that the U.S. Army officer would likely reprimanded or be relieved of White House duty and reassigned, even though press and official White House photographers have taken pictures in the past of the military officers responsible for carrying the “nuclear football.” Posing or flaunting the solemn duty is frowned upon and officers tasked with shadowing a president with the briefcase, he went on to say, are specifically instructed to blend into the background and not attract attention.

Others are also taking the president and his staff to task for lax adherence to security procedures. In a Tweet last Friday, New Mexico Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich lambasted the president after a photo showing what Heinrich said was a key to classified information was left out in the open on the president’s desk.

“Never leave a key in a classified lock-bag in the presence of non-cleared people. #Classified101,” Heinrich tweeted along with a photo from the Associated Press, which includes a close-up shot of a golden key sticking out of a lock-bag on the president’s desk, as was reported by The Hill.

The problem according to the official who spoke with NCRM is two fold. “Number one problem is that nearly all of the senior staff around him [The President] have no experience nor exposure to classified materials not are briefed nor instructed in their proper handling.” He then went on to say that Trump’s attitude towards the intelligence community is also not helpful and questioned whether or not the president has a handle on just how serious a seemingly minor breach of security protocols can lead to a more serious compromise of the nation’s secrets. 

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

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Image via Richard DeAgazio/Facebook