Pelosi: Trump ‘seriously jeopardized’ national security in handling of classified documents

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) underscored the severity of the criminal charges former President Trump faces in his federal indictment and said Sunday, if Trump is found guilty in the documents probe, “he seriously jeopardized our national security.”

In an interview with MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Pelosi stressed the seriousness of the charges brought against Trump and the potential for global repercussions to members of the Intelligence Community.

“What the former president is alleged to do – and he seems to have confessed to it, but, nonetheless, he’s innocent until proven guilty – is to say he did it and have some arrogance about it. And if that is the case, he seriously jeopardized our national security, if he did that,” Pelosi told Psaki in an interview that aired Sunday. “Secondly, he is dishonoring our court system in the manner in which he is treating it. So, our security and one of the pillars of our democracy. [Trump is] very casual about it all, sad to say.”

Trump was indicted on 37 federal criminal charges related to his handling of classified material, including obstruction of a federal investigation and willful retention of national security information. In the indictment, he is accused of taking extraordinary steps to hide the sensitive documents from his lawyers and from federal officials.

Pelosi highlighted her 30 years dealing with intelligence material, including before she was elected to House leadership and served as the top Democrat on House Intelligence. Pelosi stressed that some of the material Trump is accused of keeping is only able to be reviewed in an ultra-secure Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF).

“I know how important it is to protect these documents. If I were in the SCIF – that’s the room that you go in to get briefed – and I just wrote down a few names, or a few dates, I couldn’t take my own piece of paper out of the room,” Pelosi said. “I’d have to submit it to the staff to be placed in a vault. I would have access to my information, but I could not take it with me.”

“This is about protecting our national security. It’s about protecting our sources and methods. And not only that, as allies. What is an ally? A person who helps you, right? Instead, we are jeopardizing not only our own security, but the security of other countries and their sources and methods. How do they trust us as an ally if we do that?” Pelosi said.