Mar-A-Lago Search Affidavit Unsealed

Okay, so I was wrong about the previous post being the last to the blog sooner than I thought. The redacted affidavit applying for the Mar-A-Lago search warrant has been unsealed, and it's a doozy. NPR has the whole document embedded with no paywall. One highlight. On page 17 (after several pages of solid black redactions) the affidavit states the following:

"A preliminary triage of the documents with classification markings [retrieved in January among the 15 boxes returned to the National Archives] revealed the following approximate numbers: 184 unique documents bearing classification markings, including 67 documents marked as CONFIDENTIAL, 92 documents marked as SECRET, and 25 documents marked as TOP SECRET. Further, the FBI agents observed markings reflecting the following compartments/dissemination controls: HCS, FISA, ORCON, NOFORN, and SI."

Translation: HCS means "HUMINT (HUMan INTelligence) Control System," that is, documents that are classified and controlled because they identify foreign intelligence agents. If any of these were revealed to foreign adversaries and the people identified in them burned, at best it ruins their value as assets and at worst (and most likely) it got them captured and/or killed. All the acronyms are defined early in the affidavit for the benefit of the court if you're curious, but that's the most grievous possible breach (bar possibly nuclear weapons secrets to the wrong hands).

There is no valid reason to retain these documents. They're not personal memorabilia. Their only possible use to someone not in a position to control the intelligence programs they outline is espionage. Or possibly braggadocius showing off, i.e. "look what I have," considering the subject, but that's not much better. Trump should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and if he compromised American agents subject to the tender mercies of a foreign adversary, that extent is broad indeed. As for the possibility, well, in October of last year the CIA admitted to losing a "concerning" number of confidential informants worldwide since Trump left office.