Mar-a-Lago Member Posts Photos to Facebook of Trump With Documents During North Korea Briefing

‘Wow…..the Center of the Action!!!’

A member of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort appears to have taken images of the Commander-in-Chief, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe, about a dozen aides, and what are presumably security documents on the dining table during the President’s briefing just after North Korea launched a missile Saturday night. The photos were posted to the Facebook account of Richard DeAgazio, who is being described as a member of the President’s Florida resort, along with one of him with the man who carries the “nuclear football.” 

DeAgazio on Facebook wrote:

HOLY MOLY !!! It was fascinating to watch the flurry of activity at dinner when the news came that North Korea had launched a missile in the direction of Japan. The Prime Minister Abe of Japan huddles with his staff and the President is on the phone with Washington DC. the two world leaders then conferred and then went into another room for hastily arranged press conference. Wow…..the center of the action!!! 

DeAgazio, a Trump supporter, reportedly had taken down or hidden his Facebook page once the media began reporting on the photos, but it appears now to be back up. His profile picture shows him holding a photo of himself posing with the President. 

RELATED: Trump Discussed Classified National Security on North Korea Missile Launch While Among Mar-a-Lago Diners

“’The meeting was conducted out in the open, in front of paying members of the club, with cell phones pointing toward sensitive documents. The decision-making about how to respond to North Korea was “on full view to fellow diners,’ CNN reported,” according to Business Insider. 

“CNN reports that, instead of retiring to a secure room, Trump took the briefing in the middle of the resort’s public terrace. Even worse, his aides lit the documents with their cell phones, since apparently no one had a lamp handy,” The Verge’s Russell Brandom reports. 

That is a really bad idea. 

We’ve written before about how Trump’s lingering Android habit makes him vulnerable to hacking, and this is the perfect example. The concern is a hot mic attack, in which a hacker uses the compromised phone to record private conversations. But as our demo showed, it’s just as easy to compromise the camera, allowing the attacker to see whatever is in front of the phone. That’s usually not as useful, provided the target doesn’t physically hold up the phone and point it at sensitive intelligence documents, but here we are. 

“It is unclear if Trump had his unsecured Android phone with him during the briefing, which he still carries around with him to send tweets, according to the New York Times. The unsecured phone is susceptible to phishing attacks that could infect the phone with malware, which is capable of taking over the phone’s camera and microphone.”

It’s important to note that President Trump won the election in part by denigrating Hillary Clinton for what he falsely described as criminal activity, the use of a private email server and being “careless,” with some emails, according to FBI Director Comey.

The FBI Director has not weighed in publicly.