I dedicate this blog to the memory of my friend and former colleague, Daniel Ellsberg, who passed away Friday. He and I were among the authors of the top-secret Pentagon Papers, which Daniel released to the public in hopes of ending the Vietnam War. His powerful voice for peace will be greatly missed.
The Indictment
The indictment of Donald J. Trump is a matter of national security, not just American politics. To read the many charges against Trump is to be reminded that there are real secrets of state—maybe only 5 percent of all classified material, as Dan Ellsberg liked to say, but still documents that, in the wrong hands, can result in foreign policy disasters, loss of life, and threats to US military and civilian personnel on duty. Presidents have access to current and prospective military operations; to the nuclear weapons codes; to ongoing spy operations; to intelligence assessments about foreign governments and their leaders; and to the latest weapons research.
Trump took documents that fall within the 5-percent category. The federal indictment of Trump states: “The classified documents TRUMP stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack. The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods” (https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000188-a12f-db74-ab98-b3ff4de50000). Some documents had special markings that indicate extremely sensitive information beyond Top Secret, including the identity of US spies and signal intelligence on foreign militaries.
The Self-Annointed Savior
While in office, Trump had a reputation for being playing fast and loose with the nation’s secrets, as he once (and perhaps more than once) demonstrated during an Oval Office visit with Russian officials. Trump seemed more interested in showing off top-secret documents than protecting national security. As Elizabeth Neumann, formerly Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism in Trump’s Dept of Homeland Security, recently said: “I found the indictment to be a really vivid picture for the American public of what the national security community dealt with for four years when he was president. He had a blatant disregard, just did not care to follow the rules” (https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4044605-former-dhs-official-trump-indictment-paints-vivid-picture-of-what-national-security-community-dealt-with-for-four-years/). When “top secret Special Access Programs [such as Trump took with him] — when they fall into the wrong hands, people die, and the United States Security is deeply compromised,” she said. Trump’s behavior fits with his monumental ego, which leads him to believe he is smarter than everyone and is America’s savior (“I am the only one that [sic] can save this nation,” he said the day after his court appearance). As president he showed utter disdain for the intelligence community, military leaders, and diplomats—and therefore for their secrets.
The indictment of Trump mentions that on several occasions in 2021, Trump showed classified documents to people without security clearances, in each case stating that he knew he should not be doing so. The documents included plans of attack on another country, and classified maps. This is the same man who, as a candidate in 2016, said: “We can’t have someone in the Oval Office who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word confidential or classified.”
The special prosecutor’s indictment shows that Trump was careless about handling confidential documents and obstructionist in concealing them. His motives, however, are left open to speculation. Perhaps he was merely wanting the documents around to boast about his one-time control of the nation’s most closely held secrets. Or perhaps he had visions of writing his memoirs. But it’s also possible Trump planned to exploit the secrets for financial gain, selling intelligence to the highest bidder. Ted Vaill, a writer who served as a naval lawyer and had a very high security clearance, suggests that Trump may have intended to sell secret information (https://www.laprogressive.com/law-and-the-justice-system/why-did-trump-keep-classified-documents). He offers several examples, such as selling intelligence information regarding Iran’s military operations to Israel, and selling military secrets to Saudi Arabia regarding Israel’s or Iran’s military plans.
Nowhere to Hide
Trump’s allies in and out of Congress are desperately searching for arguments that can be used to exonerate him. “Witch hunt” is the tiresome mantra Trump and some of his followers use. Others, such as Congressman Jim Jordan, deploy the Presidential Records Act, which is not part of the indictment and which clearly does not give Trump the right to declassify anything, anytime. Still other supporters, such as Mike Pence and Sen. Lindsay Graham, say Trump did a bad thing but, with an eye to the MAGA-ites, insist his case is political, not judicial. The last things any of these sycophants wants to discuss are the implications for national security of what Trump did, or his motives. Republicans used to be famous for posing as guardians of national security, but now they blithely dismiss the notion that Trump is a national security risk. None of their arguments, however, can relieve Trump’s guilt. He is what he has been since 2016: a threat to national security.
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In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 
Hi Mel,
He departed when the thing he feared most was becoming ever more
certain. The NY Times Opinion section interview with your former
colleague and co-author Daniel Ellsberg was enlightening with the
revelation that his lifelong concern was with the nuclear threat, for
example the warning he gave your readers in response to your first blog,
lo, all those years ago, when he said the threat had never been greater.
What serious person he was.
Dan persisted in warning us about how terribly, simply easy it has been
to trigger an accidental nuclear launch. Now, Putin sharpens that bright
Damoclean edge with his move of nuclear weapons to Belorus, only a
stone’s throw from Ukraine. I’m nauseous now just contemplating the
critically serious situation we are in because of the mad Russian
leader’s bellicosity. How the US and Europe address this new,
ultra-dangerous threat should be concerning us all.
I never noticed over the years Dan Ellsberg referring to specific
diplomatic steps as a means of avoiding nuclear holocaust, so I am most
intrigued to learn from the Times’ interview that he was always
especially focused on states’ decision-making process. I could speculate
that you also were involved in that at Rand…perhaps that is when you
began developing the message seen in your nuanced posts and many
thoughtful books about the urgent__need for effective diplomacy in
resolving conflict. It is truly frightening how badly we need this
today: leaders have to be talking with one another at this exact moment.
One can hope that Blinken’s and Gates’ goals in their respective
meetings with Xi this week included gaining the support of China in
sending a clear message to Putin that world leaders will not tolerate
use of nuclear weapons, or catastrophic destruction of nuclear plants,
such as the 6 structures at Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. One can hope that
leaders, however wise and cautious, will listen to such warnings and do
the right thing. It’s in all our best interests including, if they will
only acknowledge it, their own.
Best,
-Joe
Thanks for the wise words, Joe. Sadly, the game of chicken seems more popular than diplomacy when it comes to “peacemaking” strategies.
I could have added that I’ve been monitoring the impact of nuclear
radiation on a personal scale since being diagnosed as a child with
hypothyroidism–the result of living downstream of the Hanford nuclear
waste seeping underground into the Columbia. Makes the hazards
Ukrainians face quite real for me.
See you in 6 weeks or so.
He was going to sell or somehow profit on these documents. Notice he took the ones that involve the middle east mess of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel, and others. This was high end treason and espionage on his own country. Hope he dies in prison.
Nice commentary. I was pleased as well as surprised to learn that you worked with Ellsberg on the Pentagon Papers. That makes you a hero too. And – you never did any jail time, either, right? I hope so. I never did either, but I probably was on the FBI’s attention list — as were you, I surmise. My hat is off to you, sir. Keep up the good work.
Very kind of you, but really, there’s only one hero here, and that’s Dan.
Oh, go ahead and let at least a little rub off on you. You deserve it.
P.S. Gates’ interview with Xi preceded Blinken’s trip this week. I’ll bet you have some insightful comments on the trips – maybe the whole string lately and not just these. There seems to be a gentle murmur going around among the passengers urging one another to move less and stop threatening to capsize the boat.
Thanks, Mel. Of course he was showing off waving them around, but I have no doubt that he has already “monetized” the documents. (I hate that word! Is it even real?)
Mel: Many thks for helping unweave the knot of historical complexity as we confront our current political unreality….
“Witch Hunt” is the same defense used by Agnew and Nixon.
Didn’t work then, we will see if it will now.
RIP Daniel!
You made a DIFFERENCE!!!