Donald Trump Should Not Be Trusted With Classified Information

Poor handling of intel is a threat to our nation and too our allies, and he has been reckless with secrets in the past.

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Hello and happy Thursday! 

Today I want to chat about President Trump’s handling of classified materials and a new whistleblower report claiming Twitter is super insecure and crawling with foreign spies. 

About Those Classified Documents 

I’ve held off on writing about the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago because the issue immediately became a political “shirts and skins” game and because much of what was “known” was little more than conjecture. The facts have firmed up over the last few weeks, however, and I’ve had some time to think about what I have to say. So here are seven observations in the context of the former president’s handling of classified information. 

First, we need to remember why we have classified information in the first place. There are people, groups, and nations who want to hurt us. They want to steal our wealth, undermine our system of government, and enslave or kill our family, friends, and neighbors. If you think that sounds alarmist, you’re wrong. Certainly, this does not describe most of the people in the world, but it accurately applies to enough people that our government must have a way of keeping state secrets away from those who would use those secrets to hurt us. Any action that weakens this system also threatens to weaken our individual and national security.  

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Comments (371)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Kevin C. Smith

    I hope every American reads this newsletter today.

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  2. Rick Mason

    Thanks, great insight on both the documents and the Twitter story.

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    Steven

    I’m not convinced that the far right maga folks care about national security or democracy. I absolutely agree with the article and it befuddles me that more republicans are not expressing grave concerns about Trump’s careless handling of top secret documents. Thank you for saying what should be obvious!

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  4. Brian Crossley

    I've never understood people like you. Selling out the country that has given you so much, and which so many have sacrificed for. We all know Trump threatens the unitparty and it's embrace of fascism. Yes, as we all know, you are the new fascists. This is why you wrote this article and why you fear a return of MAGA.

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      Kizedek

      As we all know, you don’t understand fascism.

      Hint: Social Democracy does not equal National Socialism.

      Social Democracy is the most popular and prevalent form of democracy in the developed world, and has fought against National Socialism on the one hand and Stalinism on the other, for the last hundred years. National Socialism, like Stalinism, is illiberal and anti-democratic. The US Democratic Party wants as many people as possible to vote (it’s even in the name), not just those who match a certain cultural identity.

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  5. Mary Stine

    In 2015 one of my favorite Republican friends asked me if I thought Trump might "grow" into the job and become more "presidential" with a great crew of advisors. I could only put my head in my hands and shake my head no. His personality type does not improve with age and too much money..it just hardens the resolve to continue on the same bullying, unintelligent course while trampling other humans in the path. Bullies are only ever content with sycophants and totally loyal pit bull-type bodyguards, so no truly competent advisors will ever last, even if hired. Hence the hundreds of firings and resignations and tell-all books for his time in office.
    Trump kept all those files with "useful" information for his future power plays, whether in the White House or not. He obviously considers those files "his" private property to do with as it best suits him.
    Why anyone would question this from the guy who considered the Attorney General to be "his" private attorney, primarily in charge of protecting him as president, is beyond me.
    Everyone should have been suspicious of his private "chats" with our enemies in North Korea and Russia, with no translator and no clear records.
    Mr. Kitchen has laid out the clearest case yet for never letting DJT near the reins of power again, and he has done so from a standpoint of professional experience and expertise.
    Anyone who can't agree with Mr. Kitchen's points here should ask themselves if they really care about the future of our country as a free democratic republic.

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      Mudskipper

      Well said.

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  6. John Hopkins

    I appreciate the hardnosed, fact-based approach here. There's much more that could be said (especially in the last few days), but this was enough to make the point, and you made it very well. Thank you.

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  7. Beth Hiseler

    Klon, I know it's difficult to speculate because the documents are classified and we don't know what's in them, but do you have any thoughts on why Donald Trump was moved to take them home with him? I hardly ever approve of things he does, but I can usually understand why an amoral person serving only his own interests would do them. This time, I'm not sure.

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      Klon Kitchen

      I don't know. Imagine it's a mix of "these are mine" and "screw whatever they think I should do."

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        JohnF

        My completely uninformed opinion leads me to speculate that at least some of these documents relate to the Russia probe. Trump is still fixated on that and he sent Kash Patel into DoD after he fired Mark Esper with the mission of ferreting out any documents related to the probe. Some of the FISA-related documents could include the unredacted filings, as well as any information that they did manage to extract about Carter Page. If there are also documents that describe the methods used to determine that it was Russia that hacked the DNC that would be interesting to Trump, but highly problematic for future cyber operations. Patel also vowed in mid-June that he was going to start posting "Russiagate" documents on his website. (https://abcnews.go.com/US/weeks-mar-lago-search-trump-dod-official-vowed/story?id=88461618)

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        Mudskipper

        FWIW, I think Trump is the kind of guy who is always working the angles, always scheming to turn things to his advantage. His instincts would be to keep documents on hand that are of immense value to others that he could use as future bargaining chips. This is, after all, the guy who wrote "Art of the Deal."

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    Anony Moose

    I’ve followed Mudge since the L0pht Heavy Industries days, it never occurred to me that he has a real name until now. 😛 It feels transgressive to see it print!

    My personal theory is that Twitter hired him as more of a figurehead to give their security some credibility. Mudge then started doing the job they they actually hired him to do and they had to put a stop to it.

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    Doug B.

    Anyone who has had a clearance understands how nuts what Trump did is. Pretend a TS document is a large live bomb and SCI is a nuke. That is what he had lying around Mar-a-lago. You don’t get to just take those with you as souvenirs. Thanks for helping show why the folks who have held a clearance are still trying to pick their jaws off the floor.

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    Faraday

    Thanks Klon. Didn’t realize he liked to keep the daily. Very helpful.

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