'No respect for classified information': Former aide bashes how Trump shared documents

Stephanie Grisham, a veteran of Arizona politics who served as press secretary for then-President Donald Trump, became the most recent of his administration's alumni to highlight his cavalier treatment of classified information.

Grisham, who served as Trump's press secretary and communications director for nine months in 2019 and 2020, said in an interview with MSNBC she saw him show documents to people at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home, while she was working for Trump.

"I watched him show documents to people at Mar-a-Lago on the dining room patio. So he has no respect for classified information. Never did," she told MSNBC's Alex Witt.

Grisham also said, "To be showing it to people who haven’t gone through the extreme vetting that you go through to get a clearance, it’s you know, it’s a disservice to the country, but it also puts people in danger potentially."

Later in the interview, she said, "I can’t stress enough how by being so loose with this stuff, he’s potentially putting people in danger."

Before joining Trump, Grisham served as political spokesperson in Arizona

Before joining Trump's campaign in 2015, Grisham served as spokesperson for then-Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne and the Republican majority at the Arizona House of Representatives.

She defended Horne when he was accused of using his office as a campaign office, and when he was the subject of an FBI investigation.

In 2012, she took a break from her job in Horne's office to be a press aide for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

After returning to Horne's office after Romney's campaign, Grisham assumed the role of spokesperson for the Arizona House of Representatives. She supported then-House Speaker David Gowan's issuing of an order that required reporters to undergo extensive background checks before accessing the House floor to speak with lawmakers.

Grisham began working with Trump in the early days of his campaign in 2016. Earlier in his presidential term, she served as a top aide to first lady Melania Trump.

"She's a great advocate for the person she's working for," Horne said to the Arizona Republic in 2019. "She's very friendly, easy to be around, and she's very effective. She has good relationships with reporters. And she is very committed to her work. I think people in Washington notice that in her defenses of the president’s wife. She hit back hard when they’ve made unfair criticisms."

Grisham replaced Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary. But during her tenure, she did not hold a single White House press briefing.

After leaving the job, Grisham was replaced by Kayleigh McEnany.

Grisham then became Melania Trump's chief of staff but resigned in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“It has been an honor to serve the country in the White House," she said in her statement posted on Twitter. "I am very proud to have been a part of Mrs. Trump’s mission to help children everywhere, and proud of the many accomplishments of this administration."

Since her resignation, she has been a critic of Trump. In October 2021, she released her memoir, "I'll Take Your Questions Now," in which she slammed the former president's administration.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Stephanie Grisham bashes Trump's handling of classified documents