Our Job was to Brief Trump on Intelligence. His Job was to Protect the Secrets.

Just before President Donald Trump left office in January 2021, I recommended in these pages that Joe Biden forgo the courtesy of providing to his predecessor the occasional intelligence briefings some former presidents have received after leaving office. 

I briefed Trump many times in the Oval Office, and I cautioned that he had too many overseas interests — as well as obvious plans to remain a political actor and too little understanding of the tradecraft involved in gathering the information — to add more risk of exposure. As it was, I cautioned, “he leaves office with knowledge of some of our most precious intelligence assets in his head.” 

But I can see now that I underestimated the situation. Trump left office, federal prosecutors now assert, with some of our most precious intelligence assets in his pocket. I know too many people risked far too much to get that information for it to be stacked in boxes, unsecured, in a ballroom of a Florida resort.