Prosecutors examined whether Trump disclosed classified map on plane after leaving office
The Guardian • • nation
Key Points:
- Federal prosecutors investigated whether Donald Trump showed a classified map to people on his plane after his first term, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, as detailed in a January 2023 memo to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland.
- The memo indicated this was the second known instance of Trump displaying a classified map to Wiles, with a previous incident at his Bedminster club involving a military map of Afghanistan.
- The map disclosure was not charged separately in the indictment, likely because it occurred after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, thus not constituting national defense information.
- The memo also highlighted that Trump retained highly sensitive classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, some related to his business interests, which established a possible motive for keeping them.
- House Judiciary Committee member Jamie Raskin requested further information about the map incident and related documents, amid concerns about potential violations of court orders restricting the release of case files.
