Russia expert tells Fox News: Mar-a-Lago is a 'counterintelligence nightmare'

A Fox News segment on Sunday examined reports that former President Donald Trump may have "illegally transferred" documents to foreign adversaries.

"Did former President Trump try to sell, share the highly classified material to the Russians or to the Saudis or others?" Fox News host Eric Shawn asked. "Or were the documents innocently mishandled and stored because he thought he had a legal right to have them?"

Shawn noted that Russian state media has claimed that Russian officials have seen the documents.

Former intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler agreed that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be in possession of documents that were stored at Mar-a-Lago.

"The real question, Eric, is what Russian President Putin has already done?" Koffler explained. "The truth is the United States is the top target for KGB operative Putin and his spy services. And Mar-a-Lago, former President Trump's estate, is a counterintelligence nightmare, meaning that spies from all over the world, Russia, China and beyond are always on the hunt to lay their hands on top secret information, especially something that is related to nuclear warfare doctrine."

Shawn concluded that the documents were not well secured if federal officials had to ask Trump's staff to put a lock on the storage room.

"We don't know where these documents were floating around," he said.

"The fact that those boxes were not secure is a really grave concern," Koffler remarked. "Apparently some of the documents that were lying around there also were top secret and code word. That is a huge concern. There are various ways that intelligence tradecraft could suck out all kinds of information."

Koffler, however, found it improbable that Trump would personally sell the documents.

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But Shawn reminded the guest that Trump had previously been accused of leaking classified information to Russian officials while he was president.

"We see Russian media exploding today with this coverage of this issue and siding with President Trump," Koffler pointed out. "But that is because they want to divide our society. They understand that President Trump is a hot button for us. And by amplifying this type of issue, they know that they could rip our country apart."

"Eventually what they are hoping to do is heat up the situation so much to the point that social unrest would erupt in America," she concluded. "That is Putin's goal."

Watch the video below from Fox News. You can also watch it at this link.