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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDerek Lyons, who suddenly left his job as Staff Sec on 12/18, was in charge of classified documents.
Rob Porter, with no security clearance, was first in charge of classified documents for Trump. His replacement, Derek Lyons, stepped down on December 18, 2020 (after being present at a staff meeting where he and the other "normies" had a screaming argument with some MAGAS about overturning the election) and no one replaced him. So Trump was free to abscond with hundreds of classified documents.
https://www.grid.news/story/politics/2022/09/14/the-white-house-system-to-protect-secret-records-has-a-president-sized-hole/
Key to maintaining the control of documents is the White House staff secretary, whose job includes keeping track of documents circulating within the White House. Among the empty folders found by FBI agents when they executed the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago last month were 42 empty folders marked Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide.
Trumps first staff secretary, Rob Porter, never obtained a permanent security clearance and resigned in February 2018 amid reports of alleged domestic abuse, which he has denied.
Im shocked that someone with that kind of background could have held this position for over a year, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who served as staff secretary in 1999 and 2000, said in a statement at the time. Its absolutely unacceptable that someone so easily compromised would only now be stepping down.
Following Porters departure, White House attorney Derek Lyons stepped into the role. But Lyons stepped down on Dec. 18, 2020, and it is not clear who, if anyone, assumed responsibility for tracking the movement of documents at the White House during the final, chaotic weeks of Trumps presidency.
Although little is publicly known about when and how the boxes of sensitive material were transported from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, the unsealed search warrant affidavit indicates they may have been moved during Trumps final week in office.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/530404-top-trump-aide-derek-lyons-to-leave-white-house-this-month/
White House staff secretary Derek Lyons, one of President Trumps closest aides, is leaving his job later this month, a White House official confirmed Tuesday.
Lyons held multiple roles in the White House over the last few years, becoming one of Trumps close confidantes in the process. He replaced Rob Porter as staff secretary upon Porters departure in 2018 in the face of domestic abuse allegations.
Lyons handled the flow of information to the president in his role as staff secretary. He was reportedly considered for the head of the Domestic Policy Council earlier this year, but that job ultimately went to Brooke Rollins. Lyons was promoted to counselor to the president at the same time Rollins landed that job.
https://www.yahoo.com/video/fbi-agents-found-trump-mar-151001638.html
The more detailed description of items seized during the Aug. 8 search also shows dozens of empty folders with classified marking, and many labeled return to staff secretary/military aide.
The document seizure has brought focus to the White House staff secretary position, which is responsible for the flow of documents to the president, and was vacant for the final weeks of Trumps presidency after Staff Secretary Derek Lyons left the role in late December 2020. Federal investigators have interviewed Lyons, according to the New York Times and CNN. The Jan. 6 select panel also interviewed Lyons and released excerpts of his testimony about a confrontational Dec. 18, 2020, White House meeting involving Trumps outside advisers and their plans to overturn the election.
gab13by13
(21,378 posts)stopdiggin
(11,336 posts)for documents (classified and otherwise) extended well beyond the final weeks of the administration (as given in this article). It's been well documented (numerous sources) that Trump simply refused to follow any sort of rules on this topic. The 'lost', damaged, destroyed, and improperly maintained documents was a feature that started at the top - and started very early.
And this lost soul resigning on 12/8 - really means diddly as to that larger picture. (this individual had no 'control' over anything in the first place)