PC: CNN

As more details have come to light in the days since FBI agents searched the former President’s private residence, officials in the current administration have grown more concerned about what Trump took and whether that information — some of which was found in a basement-level storage facility at Mar-a-Lago — could potentially jeopardise the sources and procedures of the US intelligence community.

White House officials have privately expressed grave alarm over the collection of sensitive documents that were delivered to former President Donald Trump’s property in Florida, including some that can only be examined in high-security federal buildings.

One senior administration source told CNN, “There is deep anxiety.”

According to a person with firsthand knowledge of the situation, intelligence agencies have also raised alarm about what Trump may have taken. Representatives of the intelligence community have recently discussed possible missing sensitive papers with the Justice Department, congressional intelligence committees, and the National Archives, the individual claimed.

White House officials have persistently refused to say anything about the situation, claiming that the Justice Department should speak out regarding the continuing probe. Officials claim that President Joe Biden has not been briefed on the criminal investigation and that news of it has reached the West Wing via media accounts.

Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, argued that the President would keep his distance when questioned on Wednesday about whether Biden needed to be informed on the national security implications.

As he explained to CNN’s Don Lemon, “Joe Biden won the presidency in part because he pledged to refrain from interfering politically with the Justice Department’s efforts to uphold our laws, as his predecessor did in investigations being conducted by that agency.

Without knowing exactly what was seized from Mar-a-Lago, authorities have voiced internal worries about whether the material could harm the country’s spy agencies by jeopardising the methods by which officials gather intelligence. There have also been debates over the potential diplomatic repercussions, including the possibility that the data discovered at Mar-a-Lago could lead to hostilities with allies.

According to records that a judge unsealed last week, the Justice Department removed 11 sets of secret documents from Trump’s residence. One of the highest levels of classification, “top secret/SCI,” was used to mark some of the retrieved materials, according to the inventory. The FBI’s discovery of information about French President Emmanuel Macron has also caused some alarm inside the White House.

The French Embassy in Washington declined to comment on whether they had discussed the material with the White House. Additionally, the White House refuses to address internal worries regarding the secret information brought to Mar-a-Lago.

Concerns regarding Trump’s handling of sensitive information have already been voiced by Biden while serving as president. Early in his presidency, he took the unprecedented step of denying Trump access to intelligence briefings, a privilege historically accorded to all prior presidents.

What use serves providing him with an intelligence briefing? In a February 2021 interview with CBS News, Biden stated. Apart from the possibility that he might stumble and say anything, what effect does he have at all?

Aides to Biden have previously questioned whether Trump may disclose sensitive or secret information he acquired while serving as president in speeches or interviews, which are frequently given on the spot.