10-23-2022
Former CIA director compares Edward Snowden to Trump stealing documents: He's 'hiding in Russia'.
Donald Trump's stolen White House document scandal continues to move forward in the courts, with intelligence revealing what Trump took with
him to Mar-a-Lago when he left.
According to former CIA director Leon Panetta, Trump might want to look to Edward Snowden to see what happens to those who take classified documents.
"There is no question that [Trump] has violated security laws and the Espionage Act and he should
be held accountable, you know, people are held accountable.
Snowden, who revealed classified information, is hiding in Russia because if he came to the United States, he would be held accountable for revealing classified information," explained Panetta.
"So, the only way to basically secure classified information is to enforce the laws that are in place that require that you handle classified documents in
a specific process and procedure."
He went on to explain that when he was in the White House working with other presidents, there were strict procedures for handling classified information.
"You had to basically log those classified documents in and you had to make sure that even if the president had access to those documents they were returned.
None of that seems to have taken place in the Trump administration and for that reason, security laws have without question been violated," he said.
It was revealed on Friday that among the documents Trump stole were secrets about Iran and China.
"It's extremely concerning to have that kind of classified information being treated the way it is because lives are at stake," Panetta conveyed.
"It's that simple.
This information doesn't fall from the sky. It takes spies who are well-located in key positions, it takes very sensitive operations to be able to discover this kind of information and if you are careless with the information, the danger is that it's going to jeopardize the lives of those who are seeking that kind of intelligence.
So, this is -- this is incredibly reckless to allow classified material like that to be treated the way
the former president treated it."
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