Trump is under federal investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act, which makes it illegal to spy for another country or mishandle U.S. defense information, including sharing it with people not authorized to receive it, according to a search warrant . read more As president, Trump sometimes shared information, regardless of its sensitivity. Early in his presidency, he spontaneously gave top-secret information to Russia’s foreign minister about a planned Islamic State operation while in the Oval Office, US officials said at the time. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register But it was at Mar-a-Lago, where well-heeled members and people attending weddings and fundraising dinners feasted on an ocean breeze, that US intelligence seemed particularly at risk. While the Secret Service provided physical security for the venue while Trump was president and beyond, they are not responsible for vetting guests or members. The Justice Department’s search warrant raises national security concerns, former DOJ official Mary McCord said. “Clearly they felt it was very serious to get these materials back to a safe place,” McCord said. “Even simply keeping highly classified documents in improper storage—especially given Mar-a-Lago, foreign visitors there, and others who may have connections to foreign governments and foreign agents—poses a significant threat to national security.” Trump, in a statement on his social media platform, said the files were “declassified” and placed in “secure storage.” McCord said, however, that she saw no “plausible argument that she had made a conscious decision about each of them to declassify them before she left.” After he left office, he said, he did not have the authority to declassify information. Monday’s seizure by FBI agents of multiple sets of documents and dozens of boxes, including information on US defense and a reference to the “French President”, is a frightening scenario for intelligence professionals. U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo read more “It’s a nightmare environment for the careful handling of highly classified information,” said one former US intelligence officer. “It’s just a nightmare.” The DOJ has not provided specific information about how or where the documents and photos were stored, but the club’s general vulnerabilities have been well documented. In one high-profile example, Trump huddled in 2017 with then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at an outdoor table while guests hovered nearby, listening and snapping photos they later tweeted. The dinner was interrupted by a North Korean missile test, and guests listened as Trump and Abe debated what to say in response. After issuing a statement, Trump left a wedding party at the club. “What we saw was Trump being so lax on security that he had a sensitive meeting about a potential war issue where non-US government personnel could observe and photograph,” said Mark Zeid, a lawyer who specializes in national security cases. . “It would be easy for someone to also have a device that was listening and recording what Trump was saying.” White House aides set up a secure room at Mar-a-Lago for sensitive discussions. It was there that Trump decided to launch airstrikes against Syria for use of chemical weapons in April 2017. Trump made amends for his decision at dinner with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping. Over a dessert of chocolate cake, Trump briefed Xi on the airstrikes. In 2019, a Chinese woman who passed through security checkpoints at the club carrying a thumb drive encoded with “malware” was arrested for trespassing on restricted property and making false statements to officials, authorities said at the time. Then-White House chief of staff John Kelly launched an effort to try to limit who Trump had access to at Mar-a-Lago, but the effort failed when Trump refused to cooperate, aides said at the time. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Steve Holland and Karen Freifeld. Edited by Heather Timmons and William Mallard Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
