Report: Trump Had Documents With Intel on China, Iran

Former president pushes back against 'Washington Post' account
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 21, 2022 3:35 PM CDT
Report: Trump Had Documents With Intel on China, Iran
This photo provided by Revolutionary Guard's ground force on Monday shows missile systems in a maneuver in northwestern Iran.   (Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Ground Force via AP)

The classified documents FBI agents found at Mar-a-Lago included intelligence about China and Iran, people with knowledge of the government investigation have told the Washington Post. One file detailed Iran's missile program, they said, while other highly sensitive documents seized at former President Trump's Florida home involved US intelligence work directed at China. In social media posts Friday in response to the report, Trump criticized what he described as leaks concerning "the Document Hoax" and suggested the FBI could have planted the records during its search. "We will never know, will we?" Trump posted.

Were such secret information disclosed to the wrong people, experts said, several dangerous outcomes are possible, involving:

  • Methods: The ways the US gathers intelligence, which it wants to keep secret, could be exposed.
  • People: Those helping the US could be at risk if their identity is revealed through the documents. Many of the files at Mar-a-Lago were analyses without the names of sources, per the Post, but they could contain clues to their identities.
  • Retaliation: Other nations or groups could take action in response to past US secret operations.
(More Donald Trump stories.)

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