Federal Bureau of Investigations agents recovered highly classified documents about a foreign country’s nuclear capabilities, according to a bombshell new report published online by The Washington Post on Tuesday evening.
“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 last month, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about classified material stashed in the Florida property,” the newspaper reported. “Some of the seized documents detail top-secret U.S. operations so closely guarded that many senior national security officials are kept in the dark about them. Only the president, some members of his Cabinet or a near-Cabinet-level official could authorize other government officials to know details of these special-access programs, according to people familiar with the search, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive details of an ongoing investigation.”
The report came one day after Judge Aileen Cannon ruled she would be appointing a special master to review the documents seized in the search.
The newspaper reported the need-to-know information is beyond top-secret clearance.
Trump claimed “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax” and suggested the FBI may have planted evidence during an Aug. 12 post on his Trump Social website.
“Records that deal with such programs are kept under lock and key, almost always in a secure compartmented information facility, with a designated control officer to keep careful tabs on their location,” The Post reported. “But such documents were stored at Mar-a-Lago, with uncertain security, more than 18 months after Trump left the White House.”
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance warned of the damage that could’ve been done.
“Trump’s damage to our national security includes relationship damage with friendly countries we work with & rely on the gather intelligence,” Vance posted to Twitter. “If they believe it’s no longer safe to work with us, we are in a much less secure position and why wouldn’t think that with this?
“Compromising sources and methods of collection leads to long-term damage to our security, compliments of the guy who blathered about making America great again,” Vance added.
National security lawyer Bradley Moss said, “I have no idea what the Special Master is supposed to do with a document like this other than clear it for use by the FBI.”
Former Pentagon special counsel Ryan Goodman said, “Hugely important for prosecution of Espionage Act. Many people are behind bars for far, far less.”
“The doc with nuclear intelligence information also means we need our country’s full FBI etc resources to investigate, including tracking chain of custody, damage assessment, remediation. But…Judge Cannon’s order and injunction has thrown wrench into that,” Goodman added. “Deeply unnerving.”