Democrats are increasingly concerned that Donald Trump will reveal top-secret intelligence during his ongoing public meltdown over the search of Mar-A-Lago.
FBI agents seized boxes of classified materials the former president had hoarded at his private resort in Florida, and lawmakers are worried that he might lash out against the government by blurting out top-secret information on his Truth Social account or during back-channel discussions with foreign leaders, reported The Daily Beast.
“I would not leave it beyond him to do something as insane as that," said Rep. Ted Lieu (DCA). "When someone is cornered, they make very bad decisions, and Donald Trump is in a very bad situation right now. We don’t know what he will do."
A photo released Tuesday by the Department of Justice shows investigators found top-secret documents, some marked as highly classified, in boxes and desk drawers at Mar-A-Lago, and Trump's social media posts have gotten increasingly unhinged -- and have hinted he may retaliate by releasing some of that information.
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“Thought they wanted them kept Secret?" Trump posted Wednesday morning. "Lucky I Declassified!”
A court filing revealed the DOJ was seeking documents that could include specific information about the nation's nuclear weapons, which under the Atomic Energy Act a president cannot unilaterally declassify -- but Lieu is concerned Trump would try anyway.
“You can’t just have this lying around at Mar-a-Lago -- this is crazy,” Lieu said. “Who knows who would have seen these documents in a public place like Mar-a-Lago? This is a resort where lots of people go.”
Other lawmakers expressed fears about who had already seen some of that information, and Trump's own attorney Alina Habba admitted Wednesday night on Fox News the former president hosted frequently guests in the office where some of that material was found.
“Did the MyPillow guy spend hours in the office taking notes? Did Rudy Giuliani? We don’t know," said Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT). "We’ve got to assess that to see if there are steps we should take to mitigate damage. To put them in an unsecure office, where his pals can amuse themselves by looking at these documents, is appalling.”
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) was concerned that Trump refused to read his daily spy briefing as president but was interested enough in that secret information to squirrel those documents away at his private home, and he said those online rage spasms were a source of anxiety.
“It’s hard to predict exactly what he’s going to do," Castro said. In the last few days, he’s been behaving very frantically. It’s very erratic and strange behavior — particularly from a former president. But the entire episode of how he treated those documents was erratic and unsafe.”
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) agreed Trump's social media posts presented an ongoing threat to national security.
“Here’s what makes it truly scary: Trump is weirdly attached to all of this ‘Top Secret’ information, he constantly throws tantrums, and he has an insatiable desire for attention including on social media,” Huffman said. “Since he no longer has White House china to smash, his next tantrum might be blurting out sensitive national secrets on Truth Social, or calling his pal [Vladimir] Putin to divulge or even sell information. With anyone else these would seem like crazy scenarios, but not with Trump.”
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