Friday, November 27, 2020

Trump's "Secret Classified Server" And Biden

We've posted before about the national security threat posed by sociopathic narcissist and Russian asset Donald "Tovarich" Trump once he's booted from office. He possesses all the classic elements of someone who's ripe for compromise: financial need and excessive debt, sympathies with a hostile foreign power, and a grudge against America by being resoundingly denied a second term. It's not inconceivable that a con man like Trump might trade national security information he's been privy to for money, particularly lots of it to retire his massive personal debts coming due in the coming few years.

We're also seeing the flip side of that being discussed, namely the review of transcripts of Trump's phone calls with foreign leaders, especially the ones with America's decline as their goal. The infamous secret classified server in the White (Supremacist) House that Trump and his lackeys used to hide sensitive conversations with foreign adversaries will be inherited by the Biden Administration at noon on January 20, 2021:

"A person close to the Biden transition team told CNN that no decisions have been made about how these sensitive materials will be handled when the President-elect takes office on January 20, and that it's likely they will maintain the Trump administration's close hold on such information, at least at first, until they are settled in and Jake Sullivan, Biden's pick for national security adviser, can assess their information security needs.

A senior US official said that the Biden team will be given access to a secret server containing sensitive information related to President Donald Trump's more controversial conversations with foreign leaders on a need-to-know basis and the Trump administration is prepared to share any information that they deem to be relevant to their future decision-making process." (our emphasis)

We shouldn't have to remind anyone that the "need-to-know basis" is meaningless when Trump's still in office. He and his counsel won't share compromising transcripts comparable to the Ukrainian extortion call that led to his impeachment. It's a given that he'd rather violate fairly weak Federal records management laws and destroy the records than make public any potentially treasonous statements or deals with foreign adversaries. As a service to the American people and to history, the Biden Administration needs to err on the side of disclosure when it comes to the Trump regime's dealings when they're in a position to do so.

BONUS: More on why Trump shouldn't be trusted with secrets post-Presidency.