Donald Trump Will Sell Classified Intelligence ‘To The Highest Bidder,’ Lawmaker Says
During an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday, Rep. Val Demings suggested that former President Donald Trump would sell classified intelligence if he could. As reported by Raw Story, the comment came in the wake of President Joe Biden asserting that the former head of state does not need intelligence briefings.
“I believe this former president — and I believe it with all of my heart — that he would use intelligence as a bargaining chip or sell it to the highest bidder,” she said.
Demings continued to take the side of Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who suggested that there is “no circumstance” where Trump should receive intelligence — now or in the future.
“We don’t trust our former president and neither do many of our allies around the world,” she said.
As reported by CNN, Biden declined to “speculate out loud” when pressed by CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell on the possible consequences of Trump continuing to receive intelligence briefings. Nevertheless, the Democrat suggested that he doesn’t want the former commander-in-chief kept in the loop on the United States’ classified information.
“I just think that there is no need for him to have the — the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?”
As The Inquisitr reported, intelligence experts have long raised concerns about what Trump would do with classified data after leaving the White House. Notably, many believe he could see the knowledge as a source of revenue to help him cope with the financial pressures he purportedly faces.
In a piece for The Washington Post, former CIA analyst and author Aki Peritz noted that there is no way to stop ex-presidents from selling American intelligence. He also claimed that Trump is “compromised” and in need of money due to a fast-approaching deadline for paying off $421 million in debt — as well as potentially billions in debt across his many properties.
Peritz underlined the wealth of information Trump has on the U.S. government and — like Demings — said that he could sell such knowledge “to the highest bidder.” Included in this knowledge is the American government’s investments in secret military technology, its financial abilities, as well as information on the strengths and weaknesses of various foreign leaders.
Jack Goldsmith, a former senior Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration, also sounded the alarm on the possibility and argued that Trump’s track record reveals that he does not take “secret-keeping” very seriously.
