CNN analysts respond to 'damning' photo included in FBI filing: 'Packs a punch'
On Don Lemon Tonight Tuesday, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig reacted to the FBI filing in response to former President Donald Trump’s legal team’s motion asking for a special master to be assigned to the case against him for illegally taking hundreds of classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago home when he left office. The filing included a photo which appeared to show highly sensitive, unsecured documents.
“This is a national security nightmare,” Honig said, “to have documents of this level of sensitivity and classification splayed out on the floor of a hotel, I think the visual is quite visceral, and packs a punch, and really shows you what those agents found.”
CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem also weighed in on the potential implications of documents such as those being unsecured.
“Mar-a-Lago was essentially just sort of an open book to anyone who was willing to come in,” Kayyem said. “I mean, those documents are not secure, not simply for anyone who’s randomly passing by, but, of course, for foreign intelligence agents or foreigners who might have interest in it.”
Video Transcript
ELIE HONIG: This is a national security nightmare to have documents like this at this level of sensitivity and classification splayed out on the floor of a hotel. I think the visual is quite visceral and packs a punch and really shows you what those agents found.
- CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig joined "Don Lemon Tonight" Tuesday, where he reacted to the FBI's filing arguing against the Trump team's motion to appoint a special master to examine the hundreds of documents illegally taken to the former president's Mar-a-Lago home. A special master generally deals with attorney client privilege, not highly classified documents.
ELIE HONIG: They said, once we pulled out attorney client privilege documents and kept them away from the investigative teams, we were left with, I believe it says, double-- approximately double the amount of documents that were given to us when we served a subpoena.
- CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem also appeared on the show where she spoke about the implications of a photo included in the filing appearing to show classified documents left completely unsecured.
JULIETTE KAYYEM: Mar-a-Lago essentially was just sort of an open book to anyone who was willing to come in. I mean, those documents are not secure, not simply for anyone who's randomly passing by but, of course, for foreign intelligence agents or foreigners who might have interest in it.
