'This is crazy': Democrats react to the FBI's evidence photo of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago

01 September 2022

Shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice released an incriminating photo on Tuesday evening that showed classified documents sprawled across the floor inside former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Democratic lawmakers began to express worry.

According to The Daily Beast, the photo released on Tuesday, August 30 showed that "some of the documents were labeled 'TOP SECRET.' Others were just 'SECRET.'"

The news outlet also reported that "all of the visible cover sheets warned that the contents were “HSC-P/SI/TK,” meant to signify that the secrets they held inside were strictly controlled, clandestinely captured, and involving possible aerial reconnaissance, respectively."

To make matters worse, Trump has been lashing out more with volatile social media posts. The sensitive nature of the documents and Trump's "particularly unhinged behavior in recent days" is a growing source of anxiety among lawmakers. Speaking to The Beast, a number of Democrats have voiced their unease.

“I would not leave it beyond him to do something as insane as that. When someone is cornered, they make very bad decisions, and Donald Trump is in a very bad situation right now. We don’t know what he will do,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said.

The California lawmaker also weighed in on Trump's claim that he declassified some sensitive nuclear information.

“A president, under the Atomic Energy Act, does not appear to be able to declassify nuclear top secret information. One of the reasons for that is, this is extremely sensitive information we don’t want our adversaries to get,” Lieu said.

Sharing his reaction to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) finding, Lieu explained why it was so important not to just leave such sensitive information lying around.

“You can’t just have this lying around at Mar-a-Lago. This is crazy,” he said. “Who knows who would have seen these documents in a public place like Mar-a-Lago? This is a resort where lots of people go.”

Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), also a member of the House Intelligence Committee, also shared his disquieted with the news outlet.

“Did the MyPillow guy spend hours in the office taking notes? Did Rudy Giuliani? We don’t know. We’ve got to assess that to see if there are steps we should take to mitigate damage,” Welch told The Daily Beast. “To put them in an unsecure office, where his pals can amuse themselves by looking at these documents, is appalling.”

Welch also raised concerns about the consequences of those documents landing in the wrong hands and what they subsequently could have jeopardized.

“The information contained is sensitive but also jeopardizes two things: the lives of human intelligence sources, and two, the collection methods which are used by our national security folks,” Welch said. “If those collection methods are revealed, that jeopardizes our continued ability to keep America safe. It’s a stunning breach of trust.”

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