MAGA crowd's false take on classified document story
The Marines use to say the brass sometimes like to treat the troops like mushrooms -- keep them in the dark and shovel a lot of manure on them. I truly believe Fox “news” has made this a cottage industry with the MAGA crowd. And so, while I know this is an exercise in futility, I will undertake it anyway because I believe at the end of the day, facts do matter, if only for the sake of posterity.
A writer in the Sunday Naples News asked a series of slanted and misleading questions about the discovery of classified documents in Mr. Biden’s possession. I know responding is most likely futile because we have reached a point in our politics where the only way to get most MAGA Republicans to admit to anything being true that does not fit into the MAGA narrative is to place them under oath. Possible jail time seems to bring rare moments of clarity to Trump acolytes.
I offer as evidence the tunes now being sung by the January 6 defendants or the recent case of Fox "News” Sean Hannity, who, once forced to testify, famously said under oath that he did not believe for one second Mr. Trump’s false claims that Mr. Trump was cheated out of victory in the 2020 presidential election by a voting tech company. Yet, following the 2020 election, Mr. Hannity hosted countless guests who, unchallenged by him, spouted the lie. Go figure.
First, it should be stated unequivocally that the mishandling of classified or national security documents is wrong, potentially illegal and should have an appropriate penalty assessed against those responsible, regardless of who they are or what office they occupy. Let me also say there is a double standard when it comes to military, civil servants and government contractors versus high elected political officials when it comes to granting of security clearances and the adjudication of punishment for infractions. They are not treated the same. This does not apply to former elected officials by the way, who are after all civilians.
In a perfect world everyone would undergo the same level of scrutiny, be held to the same criteria to obtain a security clearance and be punished equally for the same type offenses when it comes to violations. I have held a security clearance for over 50 years and hold one today and would like to address the writer’s “questions” by the numbers as he delineated them. #1, #2, #3 and #11.
Publicly acknowledging that national security information has been found in a specific location or that a specific piece of information that has appeared in some publication is in fact classified is not normal. These acknowledgements themselves increase the probability of increased damage to national security on top of what may or may not have already occurred. Proper, normal procedures is for the custodian of the documents (in this case the National Archives) to be notified and to retrieve the documents as quietly as possible or examine the information found in the public domain, and after an initial assessment, determine if an investigation, and at what level, is warranted. It was Mr. Trump who revealed that the FBI was executing a search on his premises for “classified documents,” not the DOJ or the National Archives. Mr. Trump sought to play the victim again and may find himself hoisted on his own petard as a result. DOJ and the National Archives kept their efforts to retrieve national security documents from Mr. Trump out of the public for over a year as they attempted, without success, to quietly resolve the issue with him. Mr. Trump, in typical fashion, did not think Merrick Garland would call his bluff and follow through on enforcing the law without fear or favor. Mr. Trump, and the rest of us, should bear that in mind as we approach a decision on whether Mr. Trump’s role in January 6 is criminally prosecutable.
#9 and # 10. Mr. Trump stonewalled for over a year after the National Archives notified him that he had to return national security documents in his possession which he was not authorized to have. Mr. Trump then lied and said he had turned over all of the national security documents when he knew he had not, prompting a subpoena and, when that failed, a search warrant. The post-discovery actions of both Mr. Biden and Mr. Pence were akin to apples and oranges when compared to what the National Archives and the DOJ experienced in dealing with Mr. Trump.
#4 and #5. There is no prohibition against uncleared personnel finding unsecured national security documents. The very nature of them being unsecured means they are in a location where uncleared personnel have access. However, there are very precise regulations that guide what actions can be and cannot be taken after the discovery. All indications are that both Mr. Biden and Mr. Pence followed those regulations. Mr. Trump did not make any pretense of following the correct procedures or the law and in fact admitted knowingly taking the documents as they were “his” and offering up increasingly ridiculous excuses for having them, finally settling on having declassified all of them by “thinking about it.” Ironically, none of his lawyers offered up those defenses in court when DOJ sought to force Mr. Trump to turn them over.
#6. Pictures of classified documents? The photos of classified document “covers” found at Mar-a-Lago were submitted to the court by the DOJ to prove the unreliability of statements made by Mr. Trump and his lawyers in their attempt to have a special master appointed. The approval of this request was later knocked down in a blistering scolding of Judge Aileen Cannon who allowed it. These documents were found two months after Mr. Trump had one of his lawyers attest there were no more classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The pictures of classified document covers were submitted as evidence in court, in response to the Trump lawsuit machine grinding out yet another suit to delay ever holding him accountable, a move straight out of the Trump playbook.
#7 and #8. The writer got his facts wrong. On the heels of national security documents having been found at Mr. Biden and Mr. Pence owned properties, both have willingly invited the DOJ to search any and all locations where there is the potential for them having inadvertently stored any national security related documents. In other words, they, unlike Mr. Trump, are cooperating fully. On the last question as to why AG Garland has not answered questions, that is a question best left up to Mr. Garland himself to answer although it is clear that his court filings and successes have spoken loud and clear for those listening. As a resident of Florida, I would like to see that particular question posed to Mr. DeSantis.
A retired colonel with the United States Marine Corps, Thomas Minor is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Army War College and the U.S. Naval War College with a master's degree in national security and strategic studies. He spent 30 years as a Marine infantry officer with the last assignment as head of the Department of Naval Science and instructor of leadership and ethics at the Virginia Military Institute. He is currently employed by General Dynamics as a security contractor for the Department of Homeland Security and is a resident of Bonita Springs.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: MAGA crowd's false take on classified document story
