After the world learned, with a collective sense of horror and disgust, the true nature and fine details of Donald Trump’s extremely inappropriate handling of top-secret, classified, official White House documents and materials, the United States Department of Justice has finally agreed to look into the ex-president’s clear violation of the Presidential Records Act. But one government veteran is speaking out and making it clear that a much more “urgent” approach is absolutely necessary after what Trump has done.
As average Americans, we won’t deny that we got a bit of a chuckle, albeit an appalled one, when we learned of Trump’s document handling habits — which allegedly included ripping up official papers, trying to flush documents down a White House toilet, tearing up material and then attempting to eat it, and even packing up at least 15 boxes of official White House records, including many that were clearly marked top secret and confidential, and taking them with him to his Mar-a-Lago home/resort following his White House eviction. But a columnist for the Washington Post, Colbert I. King, says the entire situation should be taken far more seriously, as Donald Trump’s negligent handling of confidential materials quite literally put lives in danger.
Following the discovery of top-secret White House materials at Mar-a-Lago, by the National Archives, attorney general Merrick Garland with the Biden DOJ has promised a methodical investigation of Trump’s alleged crimes. But King says it’s not enough, a situation like this requires swift, thorough, and forceful action.
King, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and former U.S. Army officer who served in numerous legislative and executive branch roles writes, “For me, this is neither a juicy Trump news story nor a spectator sport. Garland can ponder his next move. But someone in a position of authority had better find out what Trump did with top-secret materials taken from the White House, his tender sensibilities notwithstanding.”
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Ultimately, national security officials are tasked with determining what steps, if any, the ex-president took to keep those documents he wrongfully brought with him to his Mar-a-Lago residence protected. If any of that classified material were to fall in the wrong hands, it could result in “exceptionally grave damage.”
“Government agencies that produced, own, and are responsible for controlling the top-secret information that was taken have a need to know whether their information could have fallen into the wrong hands,” the WaPo reporter and bureaucratic veteran pens. Lives, vital sources and methods of collection, critical U.S. interests, including relations with foreign governments, depend upon top-secret information being properly safeguarded.”
There are very specific instructions that government officials are beholden to when it comes to the handling and storing of any sensitive, official materials. At this point, King says, there is absolutely no shred of evidence in favor of Donald Trump’s vehement denial that he took part in improper activities in relation to top-secret, classified documents.
“Where were the documents kept at Mar-a-Lago?” King mused. “How were they stored, and in what kind of equipment or facility? Who at Mar-a-Lago had potential access to them? Given the circumstances of their removal from the White House, and Trump’s past defiance of the Presidential Records Act, which requires document preservation, the government must — not should — but must investigate the thorny question of whether classified information in Trump’s possession might have been compromised.”
“Whether top-secret materials were or were not intentionally mishandled — and who, if anyone, was grossly negligent — are important questions, but for another day.”
Read King’s full opinion piece with the Washington Post here.
Featured image via Political Tribune gallery
