Binder of Russian Intelligence Went Missing Under Trump

[kpete]

The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump
By Jeremy Herb, Katie Bo Lillis, Natasha Bertrand, Evan Perez and Zachary Cohen, CNN

December 15, 2023

Washington (CNN) — 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.


https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/12/politics/missing-russia-intelligence-trump-dg/?cid=ios_app
https://politicalwire.com/2023/12/15/binder-of-russian-intelligence-went-missing-under-trump/

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1735659735360106792%7Ctwgr%5Eccdb19cb61a41339e1935419870e6e1badc9eab0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Deschatont_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fwww.eschatonblog.com2F20232F122Fwhich-voters-do-we-blame.htmlt_d%3DEschaton3A20Which20Voters20Do20We20Blamet_t%3DEschaton3A20Which20Voters20Do20We20Blames_o%3Ddescversion%3D46355a98bc48ecd1c0c19b65d17b59ed

[Wounded Bear]

1. K&R...nt

[dweller]

2. Uh huh

Mark Meadows burned so many papers in his office fireplace as Donald Trump’s presidency came to its chaotic end that the then White House chief of staff’s wife complained about the cost of dry-cleaning his suits to remove the “bonfire” smell, Cassidy Hutchinson writes in her eagerly awaited memoir.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/25/trump-mark-meadows-cassidy-hutchison-book




✌🏻

[Unwind Your Mind]

51. We can only hope it was burned in the fireplace

Every other alternative is so much worse

[dweller]

54. If the files contain

Definitive proof of collusion btwn the Pisswig and his Vlad daddy , then the last thing Pisswig would want is that info floating around.
It’s gone



✌🏻

[Warpy]

79. I imagine the fireplaces have all been converted to gas

so bozos only have to press a remote to start and stop a fireplace fire.

So either TFG held it back as a get out of jail free card or it's been alternating between the FSB and GRU in the Kremlin.

It's only a small taste of what he would do if he got back in.

[COL Mustard]

95. It's probably been fully translated

From English into Russian and the identified assets already killed.

[Xipe Totec]

103. It was better in the original Klingon nt

[Abigail_Adams]

83. If he burned it,

that's felony destruction of evidence. However, it looks unprovable at this point.

[Hotler]

3. And he still walks free.

why is he not in prison for that alone????? Again ... me and the wall.

[triron]

96. The great American justice system.

[Tribetime]

106. Yes like Steve Bannon and Roger Stone stll free

[bdamomma]

111. yea

he pardoned them, just like he wants to pardon J6 insurrectionists. He hates the United States and wants CHAOS. He's EVIL.

[ecstatic]

4. who helped him to steal it?

Aren't there security protocols? Audit trails of access?

It's not a fucking "mystery" it's just a matter of them doing their fucking jobs and connecting the dots. Maybe no one is in charge of actually taking on situations like this. A lot of holes in our set up.

[Deep State Witch]

11. It Was Absolute Chaos

Because TFG refused to acknowledge that he'd lost, and there was NO transition. It sounds like they were just throwing stuff into boxes randomly.

[yorkster]

13. This particular binder probably was "set aside"

quite intentionally, methinks...

[gab13by13]

21. I am guessing that this binder came up missing

way before Trump's last days.

[underpants]

59. The article details that it was. He was planning on giving it to RW "journalists"

It says White House lawyers made them go get the copies COPIES they’d already given out so me redacting could be done. Meadows himself delivered a new version with new redacting on Inauguration Day.

[mercuryblues]

90. He knew he lost

He wanted to create so much chaos on his way out as punishment on us and to distract from what he was actually doing.

[gab13by13]

19. Kash Patel

who, by the way, is in line for a top military job under Trump if he wins.

[ecstatic]

33. This is so frustrating!

I hope that whoever needed to see this story will see it and finally do something about it. Investigate and prosecute! This cannot be ignored!

[ecstatic]

38. Ok, so I just read the article. I think it was Meadows

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.

One theory has emerged about the binder’s whereabouts.

Cassidy Hutchinson, one of Meadows’ top aides, 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.

Based on this I assume that Meadows stole it and the feds know. I think he is currently "cooperating" to stay out of prison for both the classified docs & January 6. He really should do time though as these secrets cannot be put back in the box. All of our enemies have the info now. Whatever info he is providing BETTER be good!

[Ponietz]

43. Meadows is implicated and inferences are strong

[calimary]

107. The damage that Trump bunch did to this country can't even be fully calculated.

I bet 20 years from now there will still be ramifications from it - and all to the negative.

[underpants]

60. Loyalty over competence

I’m sorry but every time I see his name (and especially a pic) I both giggle and wince thinking how close he was to power and the elevated position he could have if the unthinkable happens.

[maryellen99]

114. He's in line for head of the CIA nt

[Johnny999r]

118. Theft of top secret documents

It doesn't surprise me one bit that these documents are missing. Trump desperately wanted to put his name on a hotel in Moscow that he promised Putin anything for his approval. His sickening sucking up to Putin at a meeting in Helsinki, besides his obnoxious treatment of normal country representatives, led important USA allies to make fun of him on video. He was characterized as a joke, an embarrassment. I agree the archive people played way too loose when dealing with Trump, their protection of key secrets and tracking of same was non existent.

[Bluethroughu]

5. These traitors need life in prison.

Someone is responsible and the fact that this orange turd is still free in our country is disgusting.

[2naSalit]

42. Including the enablers in office!!

Every last one of them.

[Bluethroughu]

112. That's exactly who I'm talking about.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. Gee, we wouldn't have any idea who might benefit from stealing that item

[marble falls]

7. Did they look in the medicine cabinet ...

[Farmer-Rick]

8. What did the powers that be expect?

That's what happens when you vote in and support a sociopath mobster with ties to Putin.

Probably caused a lot of deaths in Russia. If it contains raw data, that means it has sources, informants, spies, double agents names.

American oligarchs are really very bad at managing a federal government.

[Deep State Witch]

9. OMFG!

If anyone in the Intelligence Community had "mislaid" that kind of document, they would be in jail!

[DENVERPOPS]

65. Not just "jail"

But Colorado's famed "Super Max". You have NO human contact for 23.5 hours every day. Your cell is soundproof so you can't yell back and forth with other prisoners. You have no means of outside contact of ANY KIND: No Internet or emails, No Phone calls, No Newspaper or printed matter, No TV, No Cable, No Nothing. Your lawyer visits are few and far between, with no other visitors. Meals are served thru your cell door. Guards take you for your shower and exercise area 1/2 hour a day.....There are high walls outside your cell window and exercise area so you cannot see anything except the sky above you. Timothy McVeigh was sent there, and after six months begged to be executed because he said being a prisoner at Super Max was worse than death. Colorado granted him his wish.

There is no question what-so-ever that Trump, Ivanka, Jared, his two boys, his advisers, his cabinet, his lawyers, the Republican Senators, and many others desevere no less than cells at Super Max.............All of them Cannot be allowed to do any further damage to our national security................

[duckworth969]

10. Jesus H Christ

More good news

[erronis]

67. I didn't see anything in the reporting that said that Jesus did it.

Perhaps it was the Romans false-flagging the Palestinians. Couldn't be the Philistines or the Samaritans - they were on the road to somewhere. Can't blame the Muslims since they didn't exist yet.

[Grins]

12. My guesses...

Besides Trump: Richard Grenell, Kash Patel, and/or John Radcliffe.

[gab13by13]

23. Yup, we know who did it

we just need to prove it.

We also know that Russia interfered in the election without the proof from those binders.

Mueller got indictments of 13 Russian Nationals, 3 Russian companies, 12 Russian GRU officers, and Konstantin Kilimnik.

[BadgerMom]

14. I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you.

Eileen Cannon is guilty, too, in my mind.

[Owens]

15. It didn't go missing

Trump took it with him

[TheBlackAdder]

26. Trump went Trump, just like when the Tiger went tiger.

[bdamomma]

110. Or

gave it to Putin, his charges get longer and longer, just put him away!!!!

[Aviation Pro]

16. Somewhere within that Sphinx-like Special Prosecutor's office

Is the most bombshell of all bombshells indictment of Motherfucker.

The used colostomy bag sold intelligence to the Russians.

[agingdem]

56. and why do you think this bombshell is

"exploding" right now?...I'm guessing the DOJ did a little "leaking" so as to give the Supreme Court a "taste" of Trump's "presidential immunity" bullshit defense...

[scipan]

91. +1 for asking the right question

Something else missing is why Trump wanted this so bad.

I think it had to do with his sense of being wronged that the intelligence community was spying on his campaign.

He might have plans to selectively release certain parts (not the parts that tie him to Russia). Or a get out of jail free (but he could use many other docs for that).

I don't feel like I have a handle on all this.

[RandomNumbers]

115. Why? Trump is either truly sold-out to Putin, OR Trump's handlers are.

I have trouble believing Trump himself is smart enough to scheme and manage these things on his own. But he is a talented front man - he seems to have a (am I allowed to say??) Hitler-like talent for manipulating the masses. The question is really, who is pulling the strings outside the Kremlin, and especially in the U.S.? Those are the people who really, really need investigative material like this to disappear.

[C_U_L8R]

17. Would the Saudis pay $2 billion for it?

Or were they just the middleman?

[relayerbob]

18. "Went Missing"

Go ask Michael Flynn about it.

[Joinfortmill]

20. Unfucking believable...this is an act of treason in it's original, classical meaning.

This reads like a cold-war espionage novel. How much of this information did the Mueller Investigation have access to? How much collusion/cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russians actually occurred? And beyond that, how much classified information did Trump share with Putin.

TREASON: Merriam Webster: 'Middle English tresoun, from Anglo-French traisun, from Latin tradition-, traditio act of handing over, from tradere to hand over, betray'

[Harker]

22. I had been thinking that aside from "cool" stuff and material he could use as leverage

there might well be incriminating evidence of his malfeasance or of his incompetence.

[CrispyQ]

24. Who cares? Really, does anyone who can do something about it care? Cuz, the fucker is still walking free.

It seems the documents case is a slam dunk. He has documents he shouldn't have & not just a few. There's no, "I didn't realize those were still in my briefcase," excuses. We have the fucker red-handed & still the guy is being handled with kid gloves, so tell me again who the fuck cares that these highly sensitive docs are missing?

Here's a timeline of events leading to Donald Trump’s indictment in the classified documents case.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-documents-investigation-timeline-087f0c9a8368bb983a16b67dd31dcd4c

Some of it doesn't make sense to me. They say he turned 15 boxes of docs over in Jan 17, 2022 but on April 29, 2022 it says Justice asked Trump's lawyers for immediate access to the 15 boxes so did they have them or not?

No one else would ever have been treated so gently & gingerly. No one. This is a disgrace for the entire nation & we look weak & ripe for a takeover by a spoiled-brat, dictator wannabe.

Fintan O’Toole: Trial runs for fascism are in full flow
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375

Fascism does not need a majority – it typically comes to power with about 40 per cent support and then uses control and intimidation to consolidate that power. So it doesn’t matter if most people hate you, as long as your 40 per cent is fanatically committed.

[Gary 50]

25. The Repulicans knew this.

The senate intelligence committee was briefed on this so the Republicans knew that Trump had committed treason and they still protected him. I am sure this information spread like wildfire amongst the Republicans in the senate and the house. They don't care. How anyone knowing this could EVER vote for those scumbags is beyond me. Of course, your average MAGA idiot won't hear this on Fox "news" and if they did hear it somewhere they would "know" that it was fake news.

[scipan]

92. Was it the whole committee or just the chairmen

If you know. And isn't it usually the gang of 8?

[redqueen]

27. And Putin's puppet is still not in jail

This needs to be on every newspaper headline and it should be a breaking news story taking up hours of airtime daily.

Looks like only CNN is talking about it. They're saying it was intelligence about election interference.

[triron]

99. That's very watered down.

[spanone]

28. Ask defendant #1.

Of course he'd lie then double down on it.

[bagimin]

29. Kick this shit!

[Buckeyeblue]

30. In the 21st century why are such secrets contained in 1 binder?

Doesn't such information get scanned? Or aren't there duplicate copies made and put in various secure locations?

I don't know why we have paper copies of anything. It's the 21st fucking century. They should be electronic and only viewed by those with the correct level of security clearance.

[summer_in_TX]

93. Electronic copies are incredibly vulnerable.

Download to a thumb drive, hacking, screenshot. Old-fashioned means less access – except in this case with the sociopathic and kleptocratic TFG and his tools.

[bluestarone]

31. Could this be why 221 rethugs voted yes on impeachment inquiry

YES!! They are OWNED by Russia! BOUGHT and PAID for!! Why people can't see this is way beyond me??

[shrike3]

32. Oh, isn't that just great?

And NOW it shows up in the media.

[Ohioboy]

34. Maybe that's what he's always sitting on

https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-6719918b02b29fcb39972becd660d3dd-lq

[rambler_american]

35. If it went missing "under trump"

gonna need a forklift to find it.

[AllaN01Bear]

36. our friends would never trust us again. aiding a foe. grrr.

[Renew Deal]

37. Did it have women in it? Maybe Romney took it.

[Moosepoop]

105. OK, that made me laugh out loud.

Thanks for the chuckle, Renew Deal!

[Bavorskoami]

39. Who signed it out?

Someone would have had to sign a log sheet to remove the binder. Would it be someone like Meadows himself, or a CIA employee who was liaison with the White House? It sure seems there has to be a name(s) tied to the act of withdrawing the binder for the secure repository. The person withdrawing it has to be responsible for returning it. Meadows and others apparently had it to scour for to Crossfire Hurricane information - who verified they all had sufficient clearances and need-to-know. Who kept tack of the binder? The custodian of the repository should have the name of a contact person to retrieve the binder.

[Firestorm49]

40. I only hope that this matter regarding the loss

or probable sale of vital intel makes its way in front of a judge. This guy deserves jail more than any other person in this country.

[SergeStorms]

41. And is all this information....

being refined into an even more insidious, foolproof, tactical election tampering program to be used against Democrats in 2024?

They know where they can improve on their "aid" to get Trump elected in 2024. Allowing that information to be studied and defended against wouldn't be to their benefit. Better that folder be "misplaced", reworked, tweaked etc. until it's a slam dunk election stealing program.

Is this the reason TrumpCo. is so confident in their ability to "win" in 2024?

I hate to speculate or create conspiracy theories about things like this, but it's a possibility that should be considered. I put nothing, and I mean NOTHING, past these fascist thieves.

[ffr]

44. Let the media folly play with this for a while. I mean, this isn't an accusation, this is intelligence gone missing.

Email server level 24/7 around the clock coverage of actual lost, missing, or stolen Russian election interference intel, except without the email server WOW!!!!

[KPN]

45. J* H. C*! Imagine all the other crap that we

don’t know and will never know. But. …. “impeach Biden!”.

[VGNonly]

46. It's been found

stuck between Family Circle and Leaves of Grass.

[TeamProg]

47. Anyone surprised?? nt

[Blue Owl]

48. Just more of Red Don's Maga Lardo Malfeasance

[MagickMuffin]

49. Ya know, Nikola Tesla's papers went missing, Uncle John Trump had access

Could highly sensitive documents discovered missing and the Trump’s involvement run in the family?

Some of Tesla’s documents were related with his info on the Death Ray. Uncle John claimed they were considered classified. Then poof they went missing after Tesla’s death. Boxes upon boxes went missing.

[et tu]

57. trump family trait

poor tesla was a genius but lacked fundamental people skills~

[NameAlreadyTaken]

50. Binders full of women

can be found in Mitt Romney's desk.

[gordianot]

53. Mitt haunts binders everywhere with all of those Women.

[Takket]

52. I know where it is.

It is on Putin's laptop.

Best of luck recovering it

[Bettie]

55. Next on CNN: Why this is bad

for Biden!

Isn't that how the spin goes these days?

FFS, how does he keep getting away with all of this crap? It boggles my mind, even after this long.

[LymphocyteLover]

58. ONLY TRAITORS SUPPORT TRAITOR TRUMP

[Kid Berwyn]

61. It's way past time to lock him up.

Traitor is a menace to democracy.

[moniss]

62. Knowingly and purposely

disclosing information to Putin that would allow him to know our sources and methods. That by itself is an espionage charge.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

63. This is very serious

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

64. It is safe and sound in Moscow.

[twodogsbarking]

66. The most important thing is whether this hurts his ratings. Right?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

68. Not seeing a ripple on RW discussion sites. Fox not reporting. Only Wash Examiner report that I can find

Yes, magas live in an info bubble, but when the RW bubble is this tight, it indicates they are assessing the news as very bad.

CNN report was six hours ago, I think.

[MiHale]

69. KnR..nt

[UTUSN]

70. K&R - have they looked in BIDEN's garage (sarcasm for what Drumpf zombies will say) .

[BlueIdaho]

71. So there was no backup of this information

Anywhere else in the US government and its many agencies? Really?

[moondust]

104. Maybe.

I heard a former FBI or Intel agent on TV today say that there may be a digital copy in storage. If so, maybe someone can review it and alert any sources that may be at risk (if it's not too late already).

[BlueIdaho]

117. Let's hope so 👍🏻

[senseandsensibility]

72. CNN treating this story like a joke

Evan Perez smiling through the whole thing, and then at the end the male anchor turns to Pamela Brown and says, "Really interesting!" and she agrees with a big smile. Can you imagine the doom and gloom and serious anchor faces if ANY Dem administration did anything like this, particularly Biden's? OMG, it would be the end of the world.

[Ponietz]

73. Everyone see the con?

Stanky didn’t want this information declassified. He wanted it buried. His last day in office it disappears in the midst of a ruse to make it public.

[Nasruddin]

74. You don't say

How do you suppose that happened?

[SpankMe]

75. Check Putin's desk

Top drawer, right side under the box of Cheese-Its.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

76. There was a mentality in the Trump administration of being frivolous with the country's most sensitive national secrets.

Link to tweet

[Hermit-The-Prog]

77. Putin's orange pet. How many more pootypets are in the Republican party?

[keithbvadu2]

78. Who signed it out? That should require no speculation.

[prodigitalson]

80. of all things, Russian intelligence isn't that odd?

[AverageOldGuy]

81. Did Trump cause the death of several CIA agents?

[link:https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/575384-cia-admits-to-losing-dozens-of-informants-around-the-world-nyt/|https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/575384-cia-admits-to-losing-dozens-of-informants-around-the-world-nyt/
]

Leading counterintelligence officials issued a memo to all of the CIA’s global stations saying that a concerning number of U.S. informants were being captured and executed.

The CIA’s counterintelligence mission center investigated dozens of incidents in the last few years that involved killings, arrests or compromises of foreign informants. In an unusual move, the message sent via a top secret cable included the specific number of agents killed by other intelligence agencies, according to The New York Times.

Officials said that level of detail is a sign of the significance of the cable. Announcing the specific number of killings is rare as that figure is typically held under wraps from the public and even from some CIA employees, the Times noted.

[Stinky The Clown]

82. John Brennan described this information as our Crown Jewels.

[Evolve Dammit]

84. This arrogant INEPTITUDE characterized the GWB/Cheney and Drumpf/Pence admins. From

torture and invading countries that didn't attack us to the virtual STEALING of classified docs, a coup to overthrow an election and now threatening US military on American citizens???
Sickening at least, Christo-fascist intent very clear now.

[Stuart G]

85. k and r

[Hassler]

86. Who could have anticipated this about

The Orange Russian Asshat?

[Evolve Dammit]

87. Let me just add how sold out we were over the last 20 years or so. I hope we can right the ship. Hope. nt

[COL Mustard]

88. I'm sure it's already been translated into Russian

And used to eliminate our agents.

[Abigail_Adams]

89. This is nowhere mentioned

on the ABC News website, BBC's US & Canada page, or the NBC News website.

[triron]

100. Heil Trump

[samsingh]

94. pretty sure its in russia

[Kid Berwyn]

97. "A 10-inch binder," Brennan said.

Might be Family Jewels-level disaster.

[kentuck]

98. If Mark Meadows was aware of this....?

Then his ass should be in jail, in my humble opinion.

[AverageOldGuy]

101. CIA agents went missing about the same time

Do I recall correctly that at about the same time there were news reports that Congressional sources revealed the CIA found several of their agents in/around Russia were missing?

[Xipe Totec]

102. Remember when we thought Romney's gaffe about "Binders full of Women" was a big deal?

Now it doesn't even qualify.

[RandomNumbers]

116. Same thought - whenever I hear "binder" in a political context,

Romney's gaffe comes to mind. And then I think how crazy things have become.

But it also shows the skillful manipulation of small events into campaign-impacting "crises". Consider that Trump says worse things on the daily, yet Hillary's "deplorables" comment got enough bad press and "oh the horror" gasps to potentially turn the election.

[bluevoter4life]

108. Check. Ivana's. Grave

[jdadd]

109. K.O. just reported this ...

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/countdown-with-keith-olbermann/id1633301179?i=1000638707783

[coffeenap]

113. Guessing it explains

Putin's timing and strategy of the Ukraine invasion--kinda like Reagan and hostage release timing? Just a gut feeling.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

119. The US has lost a number of sources due to TFG's incompetence