Did the Mar-a-Lago breach damage national security? Spy agencies have yet to determine
The nation’s top intelligence officials do not appear to have launched a formal damage assessment relating to classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
The country’s top intelligence officials do not appear to have launched a formal damage assessment relating to classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, even though the government has known since January that highly sensitive material had been improperly stored in former President Donald Trump’s golf club and residential compound, four current U.S. officials told NBC News.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or DNI, which oversees the CIA, the National Security Agency and 16 other agencies, has a policy that says a damage assessment “shall be conducted when there is an actual or suspected unauthorized disclosure or compromise of classified national intelligence that may cause damage to U.S. national security.” The 2014 policy says damage assessments “may also be conducted when there is an actual or suspected loss, misuse, or unauthorized access to or modification of classified national intelligence that could adversely affect national security.”
Representatives of the DNI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies declined to comment, as did representatives of the FBI and the Justice Department.
Report: Trump had over 300 classified documents at Mar-a-LagoAug. 23, 202202:23Current and former officials said they found the apparent lack of a damage assessment puzzling. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the topic. Some said it suggests that the Biden administration is concerned about the appearance of involvement beyond the Justice Department in the highly charged investigation that led to the FBI search of Trump’s home.
“I suspect that the Biden administration is being super careful right now not to appear to be involved beyond the independent FBI and Justice Department,” a former senior intelligence official said.
Rating: 5