'Jesus': Rep. Eric Swalwell Learns On Air Just How Many Classified Docs Trump Took
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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) reacted on air Monday to a new report that the federal government has recovered more than 300 classified documents this year from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“Jesus,” Swalwell said as he was informed of the report from The New York Times during his interview on MSNBC. “That’s a lot.”
Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said top secret documents are often designated as such to protect U.S. military troops or to shield nuclear secrets and counterterrorism efforts.
“Just for your viewers’ sake, the reason that they’re marked ‘top secret’ means that it often relates to force protection for our troops,” he said. “So, information about where our troops are that we would not want anyone to know because it could put them in harm’s way. It could relate to our nuclear posture or the nuclear posture of our adversaries.”
“And so 300 pages, you know, just a basement stairway away in an open beach house is not where you would want that information, especially in the hands of somebody who President Biden deemed should not even be able to receive classified information.”
Shortly after taking office, President Joe Biden barred Trump from receiving intelligence briefings traditionally given to former presidents, citing his “erratic behavior” and concerns he might share the information.
WATCH @ericswalwell reacts to the New York Times reporting that Trump had more than 300 classified documents at Mar-a-Lago: "That's a lot." pic.twitter.com/hrC60DIGGe
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) August 23, 2022
The Times reported Monday that the government recovered more than 300 documents with classified markings from Trump since he left office.
That figure was divided among three batches of documents recovered on separate occasions: about 150 documents that were handed over to the National Archives in January, another batch handed over by Trump’s aides to the Justice Department in June and the documents seized by the FBI in its Aug. 8 search of the property.
After the first set of documents were handed over in January, officials reportedly grew concerned that more sensitive material was taken to the Palm Beach resort from the White House.
Justice Department officials subpoenaed any additional material in June but authorized the search after security video and information from Trump’s allies led them to believe there was still more material stored at the Florida compound.
The search warrant revealed that Trump is under investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
