ICYMI
A binder full of Russian intelligence went missing during Trump's final days in office. His allies are looking for it, too.Paul Squire
Fri, December 15, 2023
More classified intel — this time about Russia — went missing during Trump's final days, CNN and the New York Times report.
The binder of intelligence about election interference disappeared, according to a CNN investigation.
Trump's allies are still looking for the binder and hope to make it public, the outlet reported.
Even more classified intelligence went missing as Donald Trump was leaving the White House in 2021, a CNN investigation found.
A binder full of intelligence about Russia's interference in the 2016 election vanished during Trump's final days in office, CNN reported on Friday, citing more than a dozen anonymous sources. A representative for Trump didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment about the CNN report.
The report was later confirmed by the New York Times, who cited "two people familiar with the matter."
That binder apparently had a lot of information. A court filing from Trump-friendly journalist John Solomon said the binder was "about 2,700 pages and was approximately ten inches thick."
The New York Times reported that the "substance" of the intelligence wasn't considered too sensitive, but the raw materials contained in the binder could be used to "reveal secret sources and methods."
Some of the material inside the binder was so classified, the binder was kept at CIA headquarters in Virginia, CNN reported, and analysis of the intel was kept in a locked safe.
That is, until Trump was leaving office.
On January 19, 2021 — two days before his presidency ended — Trump declassified portions of the binder as part of a flurry of last-minute declassifications and pardons for his allies.
The binder has since gone missing.
This binder isn't referenced in special counsel Jack Smith's sprawling indictment against Trump that accuses him of taking classified intel to Mar-A-Lago and trying to keep the government from getting it back.
Trump's own allies are searching for the binder since they want to make it public, thinking it'll exonerate Trump and help defend his criminal cases, CNN reported.
In his court filing, Solomon writes that he went to the White House in those final hours of Trump's presidency to review the intelligence and plan how to release it with then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
The White House even gave Solomon the records "in a paper bag" to scan and prepare to release them on his website, according to the court document.
But that night, Solomon said in the filing, the administration asked for the documents back, so he returned them to the White House.
They've been missing since then, CNN reported.
Months later, Trump named Solomon as one of his representatives to the National Archives. Solomon has since been waging a battle in the courts to get the documents, arguing that the Department of Justice has them.
Key points from CNN’s report on a missing binder full of intelligence on Russia
Compiled by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN
Fri, December 15, 2023
During then-President Donald Trump’s final days in office, a 10-inch-thick binder of raw Russian intelligence transported from the CIA went missing after it was last seen at the White House, CNN reported Friday. The investigation offered disturbing new details about the final frantic days of Trump’s term.
These revelations about what Trump tried to release publicly just before leaving the White House are yet another example of his ongoing effort to undercut the intelligence community on the issue of Russia. They are also a possible window into what he may view as unfinished business if he wins a second term as president next year.
CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Katie Bo Lillis, Natasha Bertrand, Evan Perez and Zachary Cohen have a methodical and in-depth report that also includes interactive features to explain what we know about how the binder got from the “safe within a safe” where it was kept at the CIA to the White House, where much of its contents were declassified by Trump.
The authors also explore what may have happened to the version of the binder that went missing. It does not appear to have been found, and intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about ongoing efforts to retrieve it.
Read the full report here.
Some key passages from CNN’s report are below.
What was in the missing binder?
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 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.
Where did the binder come from?
The binder’s origins trace back to 2018, when Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, led by Chairman Devin Nunes, compiled a classified report alleging the Obama administration skewed intelligence in its assessment that Putin had worked to help Trump in the 2016 election.
The GOP report, which criticized the intelligence community’s “tradecraft,” scrutinized the highly classified intelligence from 2016 that informed the assessment Putin and Russia sought to assist Trump’s campaign. House Republicans cut a deal with the CIA in which the committee brought in a safe for its documents that was then placed inside a CIA vault – a setup that prompted some officials to characterize it as a “turducken” or a “safe within a safe.”
Why was the binder brought from the CIA to the White House?
The former president had ordered it brought there so he could declassify a host of documents related to the FBI’s Russia investigation. Under the care of then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, the binder was scoured by aides working to redact the most sensitive information so it could be declassified and released publicly.
The Russian intelligence was just a small part of the collection of documents in the binder, described as being 10 inches thick and containing reams of information about the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. But the raw intelligence on Russia was among its most sensitive classified materials, and top Trump administration officials repeatedly tried to block the former president from releasing the documents.
The day before leaving office, Trump issued an order declassifying most of the binder’s contents, setting off a flurry of activity in the final 48 hours of his presidency. Multiple copies of the redacted binder were created inside the White House, with plans to distribute them across Washington to Republicans in Congress and right-wing journalists.
Instead, copies initially sent out were frantically retrieved at the direction of White House lawyers demanding additional redactions. … An unredacted version of the binder containing the classified raw intelligence went missing amid the chaotic final hours of the Trump White House. The circumstances surrounding its disappearance remain shrouded in mystery.
What does the government say?
US officials repeatedly declined to discuss any government efforts to locate the binder or confirm that any intelligence was missing.
Is the binder part of the criminal case against Trump for mishandling classified documents?
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.
There’s also no reference to the binder or the missing Russian intelligence in the June indictment of Trump over the mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Copies of a redacted version were made. How did they leave the White House?
On January 19, 2021, Trump issued a declassification order for a “binder of materials related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.”
The White House had planned to distribute the declassified documents around Washington, including to Trump-allied conservative journalist John Solomon. But Trump’s order did not lead to its release – and earlier this year Solomon sued the Justice Department and National Archives for access to the documents.
Solomon claims that on the night of January 19, Meadows invited him to the White House to review several hundred pages of the declassified binder. One of Solomon’s staffers was even allowed to leave the White House with the declassified records in a paper bag.
(Cassidy) Hutchinson (one of Meadows’ top aides) writes in her book that (then-White House Counsel Pat) Cipollone told her after 10:30 p.m. on January 19 to have Meadows retrieve the binders that had been given to Solomon and a right-wing columnist. “The Crossfire Hurricane binders are a complete disaster. They’re still full of classified information,” Hutchinson writes that Cipollone told her. “Those binders need to come back to the White House. Like, now.”
The documents were returned the next morning, on January 20, after they were picked up by a Secret Service agent in a Whole Foods grocery bag, according to Hutchinson.
Where might the missing binder be?
Hutchinson … testified to Congress and wrote in her memoir that she believes Meadows took home an unredacted version of the binder. She said it had been kept in Meadows’ safe and that she saw him leave with it from the White House.
“I am almost positive it went home with Mr. Meadows,” Hutchinson told the January 6 committee in closed-door testimony, according to transcripts released last year.
A lawyer for Meadows, however, strongly denies that Meadows mishandled any classified information at the White House, saying any suggestion Meadows was responsible for classified information going missing was “flat wrong.”
Does Trump still want the binder released?
In June 2022, Trump named Solomon and (former Trump official Kash) Patel as his representatives to the National Archives, who were authorized to view the former president’s records. Solomon’s lawsuit included email correspondence showing how Solomon and Patel tried to get access to the (declassified version of the) binder as soon as they were named as Trump’s representatives.
“There is a binder of documents from the Russia investigation that the President declassified with an order in his last few days in office. It’s about 10 inches thick,” Solomon wrote in June 2022 to Gary Stern, the Archives’ general counsel. “We’d like to make a set of copies – digital or paper format – of every document that was declassified by his order and included in the binder.”
In February and March, the FBI released under the Freedom of Information Act several hundred pages of heavily redacted internal records from its Russia investigation, following lawsuits from conservative groups seeking documents from the probe.
The Justice Department said in a June filing seeking to dismiss Solomon’s lawsuit that the FBI’s document release had fulfilled Meadows’ request for a Privacy Act review, noting that it had “resulted in the posting of most of the binder” on the FBI’s FOIA website.
Binder with top-secret Russia intelligence missing since end of Trump term -source
Fri, December 15, 2023
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a "Commit to Caucus" event for his supporters in Coralville
By Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A binder holding top-secret intelligence that contributed to a U.S. assessment that Russia tried to help throw the 2016 U.S. election to Donald Trump has been missing since the last days of his presidency, a source familiar with the issue said.
The Russia intelligence was included with other documents in a binder that Trump directed the CIA to send to the White House just before he left office so he could declassify materials related to the FBI probe of Russian interference in the 2016 vote, the source said.
The Russia materials included highly classified raw intelligence gathered by the U.S. and NATO allies, fueling fears that the methods used to collect the information could be compromised, the source added.
Trump's presidential campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in January 2017 released an assessment that found Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government conducted a campaign of disinformation and cyberattacks to “help … Trump’s election chances” by denigrating his Democratic foe, Hillary Clinton.
Russia denies interfering in the election.
The disappearance of the binder ignited such deep concerns that the government last year offered to brief the Senate Intelligence Committee, which accepted, the source said.
CNN first reported the missing binder.
In a federal court document filed in August by John Solomon, a conservative journalist, the binder was described as 10-inches thick. Trump appointed Solomon to be a representative authorized to access records from his presidency in the National Archives.
The court document said that Mark Meadows, who served as Trump’s last chief of staff, was involved in handling the missing binder and developing with Solomon a strategy to release the materials that Trump planned to declassify.
Meadows did not immediately respond to a request for comment made via the Conservative Partnership Institute, where he is a senior partner.
The source said the binder contained other information related to the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation, including materials on the origins of the probe collected by Trump aides and botched FBI applications for wiretap warrants.
They also included anti-Trump text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, FBI officials who were involved in the probe, the source said.
Much of that material is not considered sensitive, said the source.
It was covered in a heavily redacted version of the binder that was declassified and posted in five parts on the FBI’s website in 2022.
Trump has repeatedly called the FBI investigation a hoax.
Solomon’s federal court filing said that just before Trump left office after his defeat by U.S. President Joe Biden, Solomon was told by Meadows that Trump intended to order the declassification of the Crossfire Hurricane materials in the binder.
Two days before his term ended, the document said, Trump and Meadows told Solomon that the binder had been declassified. On Jan. 19, Meadows invited Solomon to the White House to review several hundred declassified pages and discuss the materials’ public release, it said.
Copies were provided to Solomon. As he began preparing a story for his website, it continued, he received a call from the White House asking that copies be returned for additional redactions.
“Meadows promised Solomon that he would receive the revised binder,” said the document. “This never happened.”
There has been no trace of the classified version since then.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)
Top secret US intelligence file on Putin disappeared during Trump presidency
Tony Diver
THE TELEGRAPH
Fri, December 15, 2023
The missing binder had not been found in Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where other classified documents were discovered - AFP
A binder containing highly classified information on Russian election interference went missing at the end of the Trump administration and has never been recovered, US sources said.
American intelligence officials are concerned that the file of national secrets could be exposed, revealing the CIA’s official assessment of Russian attempts to secure the 2016 election for Donald Trump.
It came as the Kremlin said on Friday that it wants a “more constructive” relationship with the US following the 2024 elections in a hint that Vladimir Putin would favour Mr Trump over Joe Biden.
Western leaders are increasingly concerned that the re-election of Mr Trump, who has praised Putin in the past for strong leadership, will damage attempts to contain Moscow.
The binder was last seen in the White House in the final days of Mr Trump’s presidency, a CNN report said, as aides worked to redact classified information from the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference.
It is believed to contain intelligence gathered by the US and other Nato allies, and details the work of Russian agents during the 2016 election.
A separate report by Robert Mueller, who was appointed to investigate Russian interference in 2016, found that Putin’s agents attempted to sway the election results “in sweeping and systematic fashion”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to suggest that Putin is hoping Donald Trump will win next year’s US presidential election. - SPUTNIK/VIA REUTERS
The report found no collusion between Mr Trump and Putin, but it ruled that Mr Trump was “receptive” to offers of assistance from the Russians.
The binder is believed to have been held at the CIA, with intelligence officials requiring top-level clearance to handle it within the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
But it later went missing during a frantic attempt to declassify reports relating to Russian interference by Mr Trump and his aides as he prepared to leave office in January 2021, multiple sources told CNN.
One aide to Mark Meadows, Mr Trump’s chief of staff, has testified to Congress that she is “almost positive it went home with [him]”. Mr Meadows denies that allegation.
The binder had not been found in Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where other classified documents were discovered, despite aides’ attempts to track it down, according to the report.
The existence of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago has since become the subject of a federal indictment against Mr Trump, who faces trial in Florida.
While the disappearance of classified documents at the end of Mr Trump’s tenure in the White House has been previously reported and investigated, the disappearance of the Russian interference binder was revealed yesterday.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, appeared to suggest that the Kremlin is hoping Mr Trump will win next year’s presidential election.
Rare interview
Mr Peskov told NBC in a rare interview with foreign press that the Russian president wants a more constructive relationship with the US built on the “importance of dialogue”.
Asked directly about Mr Trump, Mr Peskov said Putin wants to work with “anyone who will understand that from now on, you have to be more careful with Russia, and you have to take into account its concerns”.
Mr Trump has previously been criticised for his approach to Russia, and has described Putin as “smart” and a “genius” for his approach to the invasion of Ukraine.
He has also promised to end the war in Ukraine “in one day” if he was elected president, by brokering negotiations between the two countries.
In return, Putin has said he “cannot help but feel happy” about Mr Trump’s plan to “resolve all burning issues within several days”. The former US president responded: “I like that he said that, because that means what I’m saying is right.”
However, on Friday, Mr Peskov said the conflict was “too complicated” to end so quickly, and admitted for the first time it was a “war” rather than a “special military operation” – the phrase Russia has used until now to describe its activity in Ukraine.
Attacking the US, the Russian spokesman said the Biden administration was fuelling the war and putting Ukrainians at risk.
He said: “You are telling them: ‘Go and die. Don’t worry, we will give you enough money and enough armaments, but you should go and die.’ And you know pretty well that they cannot win.”
Binder Of Classified Russia-Related Intelligence Vanished At End Of Trump Presidency: Reports
Fri, December 15, 2023
The missing binder had not been found in Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where other classified documents were discovered - AFP
A binder containing highly classified information on Russian election interference went missing at the end of the Trump administration and has never been recovered, US sources said.
American intelligence officials are concerned that the file of national secrets could be exposed, revealing the CIA’s official assessment of Russian attempts to secure the 2016 election for Donald Trump.
It came as the Kremlin said on Friday that it wants a “more constructive” relationship with the US following the 2024 elections in a hint that Vladimir Putin would favour Mr Trump over Joe Biden.
Western leaders are increasingly concerned that the re-election of Mr Trump, who has praised Putin in the past for strong leadership, will damage attempts to contain Moscow.
The binder was last seen in the White House in the final days of Mr Trump’s presidency, a CNN report said, as aides worked to redact classified information from the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference.
It is believed to contain intelligence gathered by the US and other Nato allies, and details the work of Russian agents during the 2016 election.
A separate report by Robert Mueller, who was appointed to investigate Russian interference in 2016, found that Putin’s agents attempted to sway the election results “in sweeping and systematic fashion”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to suggest that Putin is hoping Donald Trump will win next year’s US presidential election. - SPUTNIK/VIA REUTERS
The report found no collusion between Mr Trump and Putin, but it ruled that Mr Trump was “receptive” to offers of assistance from the Russians.
The binder is believed to have been held at the CIA, with intelligence officials requiring top-level clearance to handle it within the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
But it later went missing during a frantic attempt to declassify reports relating to Russian interference by Mr Trump and his aides as he prepared to leave office in January 2021, multiple sources told CNN.
One aide to Mark Meadows, Mr Trump’s chief of staff, has testified to Congress that she is “almost positive it went home with [him]”. Mr Meadows denies that allegation.
The binder had not been found in Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where other classified documents were discovered, despite aides’ attempts to track it down, according to the report.
The existence of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago has since become the subject of a federal indictment against Mr Trump, who faces trial in Florida.
While the disappearance of classified documents at the end of Mr Trump’s tenure in the White House has been previously reported and investigated, the disappearance of the Russian interference binder was revealed yesterday.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, appeared to suggest that the Kremlin is hoping Mr Trump will win next year’s presidential election.
Rare interview
Mr Peskov told NBC in a rare interview with foreign press that the Russian president wants a more constructive relationship with the US built on the “importance of dialogue”.
Asked directly about Mr Trump, Mr Peskov said Putin wants to work with “anyone who will understand that from now on, you have to be more careful with Russia, and you have to take into account its concerns”.
Mr Trump has previously been criticised for his approach to Russia, and has described Putin as “smart” and a “genius” for his approach to the invasion of Ukraine.
He has also promised to end the war in Ukraine “in one day” if he was elected president, by brokering negotiations between the two countries.
In return, Putin has said he “cannot help but feel happy” about Mr Trump’s plan to “resolve all burning issues within several days”. The former US president responded: “I like that he said that, because that means what I’m saying is right.”
However, on Friday, Mr Peskov said the conflict was “too complicated” to end so quickly, and admitted for the first time it was a “war” rather than a “special military operation” – the phrase Russia has used until now to describe its activity in Ukraine.
Attacking the US, the Russian spokesman said the Biden administration was fuelling the war and putting Ukrainians at risk.
He said: “You are telling them: ‘Go and die. Don’t worry, we will give you enough money and enough armaments, but you should go and die.’ And you know pretty well that they cannot win.”
Binder Of Classified Russia-Related Intelligence Vanished At End Of Trump Presidency: Reports
Sara Boboltz
HUFFPOST
Fri, December 15, 2023
A binder of highly classified information relating to Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election disappeared at the very end of Donald Trump’s presidency in 2021, according to reports Friday by CNNand The New York Times.
The binder reportedly featured raw intelligence gathered by the U.S. and NATO allies, including some extremely sensitive details on sources — including human sources — and methods of gathering the information.
Both outlets reported that the matter had so alarmed national security officials that they briefed the Senate Intelligence Committee about efforts to retrieve the material last year.
The outlets also said that the binder had not turned up in a search for classified material at a Trump property — the same FBI search that formed the basis of one of the federal criminal cases against him.
CNN reported that information contained in the binder was supposed to be accessed inside a safe at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
As president, Trump had demanded to receive documents emerging from the government investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which was believed to have helped Trump’s campaign. Trump had become “obsessed” with the Russia investigation, The New York Times wrote, and he aimed to declassify whatever related documents he could.
Aides reportedly brought classified material to the White House for review and redaction. Copies of redacted versions of the binder’s contents were reportedly made; the original, unredacted version of the binder is what went missing.
Mark Meadows, who was the White House chief of staff at the time, assisted in this effort, writing about it in his 2021 memoir, “The Chief’s Chief.” His former aide Cassidy Hutchinson has said that she saw Meadows leave the White House with the unredacted binder tucked under his arm.
The New York Times reported that Trump and an aide also made reference to Meadows’ alleged possession of the unredacted binder in an interview for a book about the Trump presidency.
An attorney for Meadows strongly denied in statements to both outlets that he mishandled any classified information.
The missing material had been dubbed the “Crossfire Hurricane” binder, after the FBI’s name for its Russia investigation.
Both The New York Times and CNN said that much of the information contained in the binder is not considered particularly sensitive, but that the presence of raw intelligence was cause for alarm.
A Binder on Highly Classified Russian Intel Went Missing Under Trump
Fri, December 15, 2023
A binder of highly classified information relating to Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election disappeared at the very end of Donald Trump’s presidency in 2021, according to reports Friday by CNNand The New York Times.
The binder reportedly featured raw intelligence gathered by the U.S. and NATO allies, including some extremely sensitive details on sources — including human sources — and methods of gathering the information.
Both outlets reported that the matter had so alarmed national security officials that they briefed the Senate Intelligence Committee about efforts to retrieve the material last year.
The outlets also said that the binder had not turned up in a search for classified material at a Trump property — the same FBI search that formed the basis of one of the federal criminal cases against him.
CNN reported that information contained in the binder was supposed to be accessed inside a safe at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
As president, Trump had demanded to receive documents emerging from the government investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which was believed to have helped Trump’s campaign. Trump had become “obsessed” with the Russia investigation, The New York Times wrote, and he aimed to declassify whatever related documents he could.
Aides reportedly brought classified material to the White House for review and redaction. Copies of redacted versions of the binder’s contents were reportedly made; the original, unredacted version of the binder is what went missing.
Mark Meadows, who was the White House chief of staff at the time, assisted in this effort, writing about it in his 2021 memoir, “The Chief’s Chief.” His former aide Cassidy Hutchinson has said that she saw Meadows leave the White House with the unredacted binder tucked under his arm.
The New York Times reported that Trump and an aide also made reference to Meadows’ alleged possession of the unredacted binder in an interview for a book about the Trump presidency.
An attorney for Meadows strongly denied in statements to both outlets that he mishandled any classified information.
The missing material had been dubbed the “Crossfire Hurricane” binder, after the FBI’s name for its Russia investigation.
Both The New York Times and CNN said that much of the information contained in the binder is not considered particularly sensitive, but that the presence of raw intelligence was cause for alarm.
A Binder on Highly Classified Russian Intel Went Missing Under Trump
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling
THE NEW REPUBLIC
Fri, December 15, 2023
A 10-inch-thick binder of highly classified raw data regarding Russian election interference went missing in the final days of the Trump administration, a new report reveals.
The loss of the massive binder, which has yet to be found two years after it was first reported missing, included details on Russian agents that informed the government’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin had worked to help Trump win the 2016 election, according to a sprawling CNN investigation.
The information inside was so sensitive that lawmakers and congressional aides looking to review the materials had to do so under top secret security clearances and only inside a locked safe at CIA headquarters.
The binder included a GOP report on Russian intelligence, foreign intelligence surveillance warrants on a Trump campaign adviser from 2017, interview notes with Trump-Russia dossier author Christopher Steele, internal FBI and DOJ communications, and FBI reports from a confidential source related to FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation, among other documents, according to the outlet.
It was last seen at the White House.
In the waning hours of the administration, Trump ordered a host of documents, including the binder, to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for mass declassification in a scheme to prove that the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation into his 2016 campaign ties was a hoax.
Republican aides spent days scrubbing the binder, redacting the most sensitive details so that an abridged version could be released to the public, even against the behest of other top Trump administration officials who repeatedly attempted to block the former president from releasing its contents, according to the outlet.
A day before his term was set to end, Trump issued an order to preemptively declassify most of the binder’s contents well before it was ready and regardless of some of the redactions. Multiple copies of the redacted version had been created inside the White House, with plans to hand them off to Republicans and right-wing journalists. But that’s not what happened. Instead, White House lawyers scrambled, forcing an immediate retrieval of some documents that had already been sent off, and demanding that the documents be stripped down more.
“The Crossfire Hurricane binders are a complete disaster. They’re still full of classified information,” White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson recalled a White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, telling her. “Those binders need to come back to the White House. Like, now.”
With minutes to spare before Joe Biden’s inauguration, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows hand-delivered a redacted copy of the binder to the Justice Department for a final review.
“I personally went through every page, to make sure that the President’s declassification would not inadvertently disclose sources and methods,” he wrote in his book detailing his time as Trump’s chief.
Meanwhile, the original, unredacted version had gone missing.
But Hutchinson believed she had a clue as to its location. In a closed-door testimony before the January 6 committee, Hutchinson pointed a finger directly at her old boss in relation to the possible whereabouts of the original binder.
“I am almost positive it went home with Mr. Meadows,” Hutchinson said, according to transcripts.
Meadows’s legal team has vehemently denied that he mishandled any classified or sensitive documents.
Apart from Meadows, there seem to be no obvious leads for the location of the binder, which could expose some of America’s most closely guarded national security secrets. Somehow, it was not one of the 11,000 documents discovered at Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Fri, December 15, 2023
A 10-inch-thick binder of highly classified raw data regarding Russian election interference went missing in the final days of the Trump administration, a new report reveals.
The loss of the massive binder, which has yet to be found two years after it was first reported missing, included details on Russian agents that informed the government’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin had worked to help Trump win the 2016 election, according to a sprawling CNN investigation.
The information inside was so sensitive that lawmakers and congressional aides looking to review the materials had to do so under top secret security clearances and only inside a locked safe at CIA headquarters.
The binder included a GOP report on Russian intelligence, foreign intelligence surveillance warrants on a Trump campaign adviser from 2017, interview notes with Trump-Russia dossier author Christopher Steele, internal FBI and DOJ communications, and FBI reports from a confidential source related to FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation, among other documents, according to the outlet.
It was last seen at the White House.
In the waning hours of the administration, Trump ordered a host of documents, including the binder, to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for mass declassification in a scheme to prove that the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation into his 2016 campaign ties was a hoax.
Republican aides spent days scrubbing the binder, redacting the most sensitive details so that an abridged version could be released to the public, even against the behest of other top Trump administration officials who repeatedly attempted to block the former president from releasing its contents, according to the outlet.
A day before his term was set to end, Trump issued an order to preemptively declassify most of the binder’s contents well before it was ready and regardless of some of the redactions. Multiple copies of the redacted version had been created inside the White House, with plans to hand them off to Republicans and right-wing journalists. But that’s not what happened. Instead, White House lawyers scrambled, forcing an immediate retrieval of some documents that had already been sent off, and demanding that the documents be stripped down more.
“The Crossfire Hurricane binders are a complete disaster. They’re still full of classified information,” White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson recalled a White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, telling her. “Those binders need to come back to the White House. Like, now.”
With minutes to spare before Joe Biden’s inauguration, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows hand-delivered a redacted copy of the binder to the Justice Department for a final review.
“I personally went through every page, to make sure that the President’s declassification would not inadvertently disclose sources and methods,” he wrote in his book detailing his time as Trump’s chief.
Meanwhile, the original, unredacted version had gone missing.
But Hutchinson believed she had a clue as to its location. In a closed-door testimony before the January 6 committee, Hutchinson pointed a finger directly at her old boss in relation to the possible whereabouts of the original binder.
“I am almost positive it went home with Mr. Meadows,” Hutchinson said, according to transcripts.
Meadows’s legal team has vehemently denied that he mishandled any classified or sensitive documents.
Apart from Meadows, there seem to be no obvious leads for the location of the binder, which could expose some of America’s most closely guarded national security secrets. Somehow, it was not one of the 11,000 documents discovered at Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
Classified Russian Election Meddling Intel Vanished From Trump White House: Report
Nikki McCann Ramirez
ROLLING STONE
Fri, December 15, 2023
A binder containing highly classified information regarding Russia’s efforts to meddle with the 2016 election disappeared from the West Wing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency —- and has never been found, according to a report from CNN.
The binder, described as 10 inches thick and containing a trove of information on the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” Russia investigation, was moved from the CIA’s headquarters to the White House days before Trump left office so the former president could declassify its contents.
According to a Jan. 2021 White House memo issued the day before President Biden’s inauguration, Trump wrote that he had personally requested and received “a binder of materials related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Portions of the documents in the binder have remained classified and have not been released to the Congress or the public.”
“I determined that the materials in that binder should be declassified to the maximum extent possible,” Trump wrote.
Sources tell CNN that the declassification order caused chaos within the White House. The binder reportedly contained extremely sensitive, raw intelligence on Russia gathered by the U.S. and NATO allies. As White House lawyers scrambled to appropriately redact its contents — and retrieve improperly redacted copies — the original, unredacted binder vanished.
Despite Trump’s order, the Justice Department has yet to make the documents available to the public. The binder was not identified among the hundreds of classified documents found in Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago during a 2022 search by the FBI.
According to transcripts released by the Jan. 6 committee last year, in closed-door testimony, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told the committee she was “almost positive” the binder went home with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
“I don’t think that would have been something that he would have destroyed. It was not returned anywhere, and it never left our office to go internally anywhere. It stayed in our safe in the office safe most of the time,” Hutchinson said, adding that she realized the binder was no longer in the safe on her last day at the White House.
Hutchinson also told the committee that Meadows had fiercely guarded the original, unredacted copy of the binder. “He wanted to keep that one close hold,” she said. “He didn’t want that one to be widely known about. I just know Mr. Meadows. He wouldn’t have had that one copied unless he did it on his own.”
Attorneys for Meadows strongly denied the claims. “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,” Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger said in a statement to CNN.
While Trump has not been directly linked to the binder’s disappearance, Rolling Stone reported last year that in the final days of his presidency, Trump told advisers he needed to preserve documents related to Russia to prevent their destruction by his enemies.
Sources told Rolling Stone that the former president raised concerns that the incoming Biden administration would seek to “shred,” bury, or destroy documents containing “evidence” that Trump was somehow wronged by federal investigations into Russian election interference.
Intelligence officials had long resisted Trump’s efforts to declassify the document and continued to thwart him after he left office. Several of the hastily redacted versions of the binder are now housed in the National Archives, and it’s certainly possible that if Trump regains the presidency in 2024 he will revive his efforts to secure the release of their contents.
Classified binder on Russian meddling went missing as Trump left office: Reports
Fri, December 15, 2023
A binder containing highly classified information regarding Russia’s efforts to meddle with the 2016 election disappeared from the West Wing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency —- and has never been found, according to a report from CNN.
The binder, described as 10 inches thick and containing a trove of information on the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” Russia investigation, was moved from the CIA’s headquarters to the White House days before Trump left office so the former president could declassify its contents.
According to a Jan. 2021 White House memo issued the day before President Biden’s inauguration, Trump wrote that he had personally requested and received “a binder of materials related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Portions of the documents in the binder have remained classified and have not been released to the Congress or the public.”
“I determined that the materials in that binder should be declassified to the maximum extent possible,” Trump wrote.
Sources tell CNN that the declassification order caused chaos within the White House. The binder reportedly contained extremely sensitive, raw intelligence on Russia gathered by the U.S. and NATO allies. As White House lawyers scrambled to appropriately redact its contents — and retrieve improperly redacted copies — the original, unredacted binder vanished.
Despite Trump’s order, the Justice Department has yet to make the documents available to the public. The binder was not identified among the hundreds of classified documents found in Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago during a 2022 search by the FBI.
According to transcripts released by the Jan. 6 committee last year, in closed-door testimony, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told the committee she was “almost positive” the binder went home with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
“I don’t think that would have been something that he would have destroyed. It was not returned anywhere, and it never left our office to go internally anywhere. It stayed in our safe in the office safe most of the time,” Hutchinson said, adding that she realized the binder was no longer in the safe on her last day at the White House.
Hutchinson also told the committee that Meadows had fiercely guarded the original, unredacted copy of the binder. “He wanted to keep that one close hold,” she said. “He didn’t want that one to be widely known about. I just know Mr. Meadows. He wouldn’t have had that one copied unless he did it on his own.”
Attorneys for Meadows strongly denied the claims. “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,” Meadows’ attorney George Terwilliger said in a statement to CNN.
While Trump has not been directly linked to the binder’s disappearance, Rolling Stone reported last year that in the final days of his presidency, Trump told advisers he needed to preserve documents related to Russia to prevent their destruction by his enemies.
Sources told Rolling Stone that the former president raised concerns that the incoming Biden administration would seek to “shred,” bury, or destroy documents containing “evidence” that Trump was somehow wronged by federal investigations into Russian election interference.
Intelligence officials had long resisted Trump’s efforts to declassify the document and continued to thwart him after he left office. Several of the hastily redacted versions of the binder are now housed in the National Archives, and it’s certainly possible that if Trump regains the presidency in 2024 he will revive his efforts to secure the release of their contents.
Classified binder on Russian meddling went missing as Trump left office: Reports
Tara Suter
THE HILL
Fri, December 15, 2023
A binder containing classified information related to Russian meddling in the 2016 election went missing as former President Trump left office, according to new reports.
The binder contained U.S. and NATO-ally “raw intelligence” on Russia and Russian agents, CNN first reported. The binder was last spotted at the White House during the former president’s final days in office and reportedly hasn’t been seen since.
The “Crossfire Hurricane” binder has sparked concern about the possible spread of sensitive information, The New York Times reported. The binder’s name mirrors that of the FBI’s investigation into alleged connections between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
The information in the binder, described as being 10 inches thick, was so sensitive that even lawmakers and congressional aides with top secret security clearances could only go over the material at the CIA headquarters in McLean, Va., CNN reported.
A source said the substance of the binder’s material isn’t seen as particularly sensitive, the Times reported, but that it contained details that intelligence agencies thought could reveal secret sources and methods. A redacted version is available on the FBI’s website.
Trump issued an order with the aim of declassifying the majority of the binder’s contents in the days before he left office, according to CNN.
A source close to Trump told the Times that the binder’s contents captured the former president’s attention. Trump aides worked on redactions for parts of the material in 2021 due to Trump’s plans to declassify and share parts of the content publicly. Copies were made of the redacted version, and one conservative writer allegedly received some of the binder’s material from Mark Meadows, then-White House chief of staff.
After the Department of Justice (DOJ) voiced worries about the material’s distribution, the copies were taken back, sources told the Times.
Meadows went to the DOJ shortly before President Biden’s inauguration to deliver a redacted copy of the binder for a final review, CNN reported. However, the department hasn’t released all the documents.
Trump suggested in 2021 that Meadows still had contents from the binder, the Times reported.
“I would let you look at them if you wanted,” Trump reportedly said in an interview at the time, according to the Times. “It’s a treasure trove.”
Meadows’s lawyer said he does not possess the binder, according to the Times.
“Mark never took any copy of that binder home at any time,” George J. Terwilliger III told the Times.
References to the binder or lost Russian intelligence were not in Trump’s indictment in the the Mar-a-Lago documents case from June, CNN reported.
Fri, December 15, 2023
A binder containing classified information related to Russian meddling in the 2016 election went missing as former President Trump left office, according to new reports.
The binder contained U.S. and NATO-ally “raw intelligence” on Russia and Russian agents, CNN first reported. The binder was last spotted at the White House during the former president’s final days in office and reportedly hasn’t been seen since.
The “Crossfire Hurricane” binder has sparked concern about the possible spread of sensitive information, The New York Times reported. The binder’s name mirrors that of the FBI’s investigation into alleged connections between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
The information in the binder, described as being 10 inches thick, was so sensitive that even lawmakers and congressional aides with top secret security clearances could only go over the material at the CIA headquarters in McLean, Va., CNN reported.
A source said the substance of the binder’s material isn’t seen as particularly sensitive, the Times reported, but that it contained details that intelligence agencies thought could reveal secret sources and methods. A redacted version is available on the FBI’s website.
Trump issued an order with the aim of declassifying the majority of the binder’s contents in the days before he left office, according to CNN.
A source close to Trump told the Times that the binder’s contents captured the former president’s attention. Trump aides worked on redactions for parts of the material in 2021 due to Trump’s plans to declassify and share parts of the content publicly. Copies were made of the redacted version, and one conservative writer allegedly received some of the binder’s material from Mark Meadows, then-White House chief of staff.
After the Department of Justice (DOJ) voiced worries about the material’s distribution, the copies were taken back, sources told the Times.
Meadows went to the DOJ shortly before President Biden’s inauguration to deliver a redacted copy of the binder for a final review, CNN reported. However, the department hasn’t released all the documents.
Trump suggested in 2021 that Meadows still had contents from the binder, the Times reported.
“I would let you look at them if you wanted,” Trump reportedly said in an interview at the time, according to the Times. “It’s a treasure trove.”
Meadows’s lawyer said he does not possess the binder, according to the Times.
“Mark never took any copy of that binder home at any time,” George J. Terwilliger III told the Times.
References to the binder or lost Russian intelligence were not in Trump’s indictment in the the Mar-a-Lago documents case from June, CNN reported.
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