Case of the missing russia binder

‘Case of the Missing Binder’: CNN Reports Highly Classified Russian Intel Disappeared in Final Days of Trump Admin
12/14/23

Highly sensitive and classified material regarding Russian election interference in 2016 has mysteriously disappeared, according to a CNN report that seems straight out of a spy novel. Further, former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson is almost certain that former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows took the binder home with him, per her testimony to the House Select Committee on January 6th.

CNN reports:

A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said.

In the two-plus years since Trump left office, the missing intelligence does not appear to have been found.

The binder contained raw intelligence the US and its NATO allies collected on Russians and Russian agents, including sources and methods that informed the US government’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election, sources tell CNN.

The CNN report has multiple bylines, but Katie Bo Ellis provided details to CNN This Morning on Friday. She reported:

There is one theory that has emerged from testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, the former top aide to former chief of staff Mark Meadows. She told the January six committee that she was, quote, almost positive it went home with Mr. Meadows. She said that the binder had been kept in a safe in Meadows — his office when it wasn’t being worked on. Hutchinson also wrote about this classified intelligence in her new book. She claimed that on January 19th, the final night of the Trump presidency, that she saw Meadows leave the White House with an unredacted binder, quote, tucked under his arm.

Now, Mark Meadows, his attorney, strongly denies this. And he said in a statement to us, quote, Mr. Meadows was keenly aware of and adhered to requirements for the proper handling of classified material. Any such material that he handled or was in his possession has been treated accordingly. And any suggestion that he is responsible for any missing binder or other classified information is flat wrong. We also reached out to officials with the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Justice Department, all of whom declined to comment.

Watch above via CNN.

The post ‘Case of the Missing Binder’: CNN Reports Highly Classified Russian Intel Disappeared in Final Days of Trump Admin first appeared on Mediaite


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Trump: report
Story by Tom Boggioni  •
12/15/23


Kremlin photos of Putin and Trump
© provided by RawStory

According to a report from CNN, U.S. intelligence officials are searching for a missing file containing highly sensitive information about Russia as well asinformation about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

As the report notes, the fact that the file can't be found, and was last seen in the possession of former president Donald Trump , has both senior U.S. intel officials and European allies concerned.


According to CNN, "The intelligence was so sensitive that lawmakers and congressional aides with top-secret security clearances were able to review the material only at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where their work scrutinizing it was itself kept in a locked safe."

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"The binder was last seen at the White House during Trump’s final days in office. The former president had ordered it brought there so he could declassify a host of documents related to the FBI’s Russia investigation," CNN is reporting. "Under the care of then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, the binder was scoured by Republican aides working to redact the most sensitive information so it could be declassified and released publicly."

According to the report, just before Joe Biden was to be inaugurated, Meadows took a redacted copy back to the Justice Department, but since then, the unredacted files have been missing.

Related video: Binder with highly classified information went missing in final days of Trump presidency (MSNBC)
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Binder with highly classified information went missing in final days of Trump presidency

"US officials repeatedly declined to discuss any government efforts to locate the binder or confirm that any intelligence was missing," CNN is reporting. "The binder was not among the classified items found in last year’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to a US official familiar with the matter, who said the FBI was not looking specifically for intelligence related to Russia when it obtained a search warrant for the former president’s residence last year."

You can read more here.

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