America’s most famous closet

During a search of Donald Trump’s Florida home in early August, FBI agents found numerous classified documents. Some of these documents are believed to have been in the former president’s private office, but most were in a windowless storage room in the basement of the Mar-a-Lago residence. Contrary to assurances from Trump’s lawyers that the room is safe, a Washington Post report casts doubt on this.

Concerns that the basement room was unsafe had already been expressed shortly after Trump returned the first secret documents in June. “As I told you before, Mar-a-Lago does not contain a secure location authorized for the storage of classified information,” the newspaper quoted the Department of Justice’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Branch director, Jay Bratt, from court documents.

Bratt, who picked up the first batch of documents in Florida in June, asked that the storage room be “secure” and all boxes being brought from the White House to Mar-a-Lago “in their current state until further notice.” condition to be kept in this room”.

The raid on August 8 finally seized 18 documents classified as “top secret”, 53 documents classified as “secret” and 31 documents classified as “confidential”. Seven of the top secret documents, 17 of the classified documents and three of the confidential documents were in Trump’s office. The documents filled 33 boxes. In addition, the FBI assumes that not all documents have been found. Some folders marked as “classified” were empty.

Two months before the search, Trump’s lawyers had sworn in affidavits to representatives of the US Department of Justice that the ex-president no longer stored any secret documents in Mar-a-Lago. Now they are trying to downplay the security risk.

Access to the storage room “limited”

“It’s a very limited number of people that have access down there,” Trump attorney Christina Bobb told Fox News a few days after the FBI searched the property. “Of course Mar-a-Lago is safe in and of itself. It’s difficult to get onto the site. Then it was a locked door. Back in the basement, there are security personnel down there, only certain employees can go down there.” In addition, there is only one key to the storage room.

Bobb left unanswered questions about the key and where it was kept. An anonymous source confirmed to the Washington Post that there was only one key to the room. However, a single locked door “barely meets the stringent requirements that federal regulations dictate for the physical storage of classified information,” the newspaper writes.

According to the Washington Post, documents classified as top secret must be kept in a certified “safety container.” “The container must be inspected every two hours by a person authorized to view top secret material, or be fitted with an intruder alarm that meets specific requirements,” the report said.

Mar-a-Lago gives security experts ‘headaches’

Recordings from a surveillance camera should also show that the premises from which the storage room is accessed are frequented by many different people, writes the “Washington Post” – separated only by a simple wooden door. Confidants of the former US President have confirmed to the newspaper that a large number of employees had access to the basement. The property also serves as a 500-member private club before, after and during Donald Trump’s presidency.

Even during his tenure as US President, the situation in Mar-a-Lago repeatedly gave security experts “headaches,” the newspaper writes. “I think Mar-a-Lago is a counterintelligence nightmare,” Joel Brenner, former head of US counterintelligence and former NSA inspector general, is quoted as saying.

In addition to the Trump family, the property has also regularly hosted public events and weddings – including foreign nationals. Together with the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump watched the launch of a North Korean missile on the property’s terrace – in the midst of guests and not far from a wedding party, reports the Washington Post.

Several incidents in Mar-a-Lago

In addition, several security risks – in addition to those for which Trump is allegedly responsible – are known in Mar-a-Lago. Brenner counts the property’s dozens of foreign guests and employees among them. In the last season alone, from October 2021 to May 2022, 87 foreign waiters, cooks and other domestic workers worked in Mar-a-Lago, the newspaper quoted from documents from the Ministry of Labour. Work permits have been issued for 92 people for the coming season.

“The rules for foreign nationals were not made because we believe certain foreigners are bad people,” Brenner told the newspaper. But he doesn’t trust them as much as Americans with security clearances.

In addition to the speculative danger of foreign agents being smuggled into the property, there have already been various security gaps in Mar-a-Lago. In 2019, for example, a Chinese woman was arrested who was able to bypass the security check. The case of a Ukrainian woman who is said to have gained access last year shows that these checks are apparently not carried out particularly thoroughly. You probably didn’t have to identify yourself.

The revelations of the last few weeks show how careless former US President Donald Trump is alleged to have been with secret information from the US government. He himself claims to have released the documents found. The Justice Department denies that.

It remains to be seen whether the coverage will harm his goal of being re-elected US President in 2024. After all, there are allegations of violations of the anti-espionage law and obstruction of justice. (Tsp with agencies)