Politics - News Analysis

Trump Forces DOJ’s Hands with Documents on China and Iranian Missiles Found at Mar-a-Lago

We will let Vanity Fair ask the question since they did it so well:

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 fact that Donald Trump is out walking about probably owes itself to the fact that he’s A) An ex-president and B) We have elections scheduled in a little over two weeks. The Justice Department is going to have a very hard decision to make come November 9th-20th, though one made someone easier by the materials collected.

The federal government is going to have to deal with an ex-president hiding classified documents pertaining to the Iranian and Chinese military. You will note that they align nicely. Iran is Saudi Arabia’s primary enemy, and Russia sees China as its biggest threat (though right now it cannot defeat Ukraine). That seems awfully “Trumpish.”

In case you thought maybe it’s not that bad:

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.

Of course, the question everyone wants to be answered is why Trump had documents on Iranian missiles. Again, there are no good reasons. They are on to him now. Watch your phones, televisions, and computers on or about November 15th.

*****

[email protected], @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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