National security is a dangerous job

Aug 23, 2022
Aug 23, 2022 Updated Apr 13, 2025
19

Editor,

Several recent letters have criticized the FBI for forcefully retrieving Top Secret documents from Donald Trump’s home. This is why it matters, no matter your party.

(19) comments

acomo Aug 23, 2022 7:42am

Thank you Mr. Brownrigg for your insightful LTE. I'm hopeful that the American voter, should the former president declare his candidacy again, overwhelmingly rejects this threat to our democracy and security. Thank you for your service to our great nation.

Terence Y Aug 23, 2022 8:46am

Mr. Brownrigg, I agree national security is a dangerous job. In this day and age, it’s especially dangerous to the American people as national security is weaponized against them. We should be afraid when national security instigates the so-called “insurrection” which targeted Biden’s opponents - and which let the officer who murdered Ashli Babbitt skate. We should be afraid that Twitter endangers national security though deficiencies in privacy and security. We should be afraid when national security gets in bed with Iran while claiming an Iran deal will lower the price of gas. We should be afraid when a national security advisor feeds lies to the media about our great President Trump. We should be afraid when national security is targeting our great President Trump while allowing the Biden crime family to skate.

acomo Aug 23, 2022 1:19pm

...and we should be very afraid when your "great" president chooses to ignore the results of an election that he lost, then claims with ZERO evidence that the vote was "rigged", and then incites an attack on our capital and sits back and watches law enforcement officers get assaulted and the capital building desecrated. That's what we should be afraid of.

Jorg Aug 23, 2022 1:50pm

ALMC: In addition to Trump supporters so dense that they believe foreign adversaries had rigged the election against him, the most easily fooled and manipulated WH occupant they could ever dream of. In 2016, though, it is very likely that the rigging worked as they intended, since Trump unfortunately "won", but only thanks to the archaic Electoral College that again let a minority supported, unqualified Republican candidate prevail, like in 2000.

Terence Y Aug 23, 2022 2:08pm

ALMC, perhaps you’ve conveniently memory-holed Pelosi and DC Mayor Bowser, after being warned two weeks in advance that there may be possible violence on Jan. 6, turning down thousands of National Guard troops. Two weeks in advance. Now why would our (yes, our) great President Trump offer troops if he were planning on inciting an attack? Trump was proactive to ensure no violence. We know there were embedded law enforcement agents in the crowd along with embedded Antifa-BLM folks and yet no National Guard thanks to Pelosi and Bowser. As for LEO, you forgot to address the officer murdering an unarmed woman. Now, wouldn’t all that have been prevented if Pelosi and Bowser accepted our great President Trump’s offer? Seems like what we should also be afraid of is folks continuing to repeat the same, debunked, Democrat talking points. BTW, it’s Capitol, not capital.

acomo Aug 24, 2022 7:48am

The fact is that Speaker Pelosi had zero authority to order troops on January 6th.

But even if she did, why not mention Mitch McConnell also? He would have had equal authority to do the same. A cursory check of the internet is all that's needed to debunk your absurd claims. "Embedded Antifa-BLM folks"...and your facts are? Hilarious. Please do yourself a favor a stop watching Fox News. My sincere hope is that your "great" and repugnant president gives most Americans an opportunity to shout, "Lock him up!" Out.

Terence Y Aug 24, 2022 8:48am

Please, ALMC, do yourself and our dear readers a favor and stop repeating debunked fake news and lies, from … wherever. I’ve already gone through this before and sadly, I’ll go through it again: Our (yes, our) great President Trump authorized National Guard troops. The Capitol Police are responsible for security at the US Capitol and their police chief asked House and Senate officials for permission to have the National Guard be placed on standby. Pelosi and Bowser turned him down.

Tafhdyd Aug 24, 2022 10:01am

Terence,

Please, Terence, do yourself and our dear readers a favor and stop repeating debunked fake news and lies, from … wherever. Show us your proof in print, and I don't mean a printout from from your golden idol on Twitter or whatever format he is using to con his gullible minions into sending him money.

Terence Y Aug 25, 2022 9:03am

Please, Taffy, do yourself and our dear readers a favor and stop repeating debunked fake news and lies, from … wherever. Show us your proof in print, and I don’t mean a printout from the media and sources who fell hook, line, and sinker for the Russian collusion thing, or the COVID masks work thing, or the “vaccine” (that doesn’t vaccinate) thing. BTW, thanks for granting us the favor of skipping your fantasy world, tinfoil hat, or mirror shtick.

Dirk van Ulden Aug 23, 2022 10:01am

It scares me that we have persons like Mr. Brownrigg in our foreign service. He is clearly very biased and while using the raid as an example, he is someone who apparently overlooked the thousands of Afghans that were either killed or jailed because they supported our government after we abandoned them last year. That certainly compromised our national security for all to see. Instead, he focuses on the raid on Mr. Trump's house which is all based on selective leaks by the DOJ. No evidence, no indictment, no prosecution and no conviction. We should all be glad that the Mr. Brownriggs of the world are no longer in a responsible position.

Jorg Aug 23, 2022 11:17am

Even Fox News has finally seen the light, and done something right, for a change:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-mar-a-lago-search-justified

What will it take for their followers to get it, no matter how obvious?

Rel Aug 23, 2022 12:25pm

When I was in the military as a lieutenant, our intelligence officer was a captain. One night, a classified document was left out on an office desk overnight. The colonel in charge discovered it and dismissed the captain immediately. Since such a violation goes into the officer's career jacket, his military objectives for promotion were effectively over. I was then assigned the responsibility of being the intelligence officer. While I had no objective of having the military as a career, I always checked our logs and desks before leaving our offices for the day. The military takes classified documents very seriously as likely all governmental offices. The fact that Trump kept Top Secret documents unprotected up to 18 months is deeply problematic for the safety of many lives and our country.

Jorg Aug 23, 2022 12:56pm

Rel: The only excuse I can cook up for Trump, is that he is an incurably spoiled child, not very bright, and poorly educated, so he may not even have fathomed the risks he has caused and the problems we have been left with. Instead, I would blame those who so blindly and carelessly voted for him. Twice, showing how slow learners they must be. Although they were a minority, they still are a dangerous minority, ready to do it again if given a chance.

Dirk van Ulden Aug 23, 2022 9:00pm

The usual response from Tantrum Jorg. No facts, just characterization.

Dirk van Ulden Aug 23, 2022 2:14pm

Rel - that he kept Top Secret documents is an allegation by the DOJ. So far the DOJ has refused to corroborate that inconvenient tidbit. Why no indictment, arrest warrant, etc.? Don't you wonder?

Rel Aug 23, 2022 5:10pm

No, Dirk, I don't wonder for a moment. Do you think documents became Top Secret on a whim? The DOJ had a search warrant because they had a serious reason to believe he had classified documents and the FBI corroborated that fact. Trump is facing the most serious threat to his freedom with this violation with indictments sure to follow. Just have patience.

Ray Fowler Aug 23, 2022 6:57pm

Hello, Rel

I have not followed the political aspects of this story as closely as I follow others, but I feel the proof in the pudding will be found in the affidavit re: why things were done the way they were. I agree with your sentiment that for now we should "just have patience."

Dirk seems to find the process curious and wonders why we have not seen an indictment or arrest. I think it's a valid point as the FBI was already aware there were classified documents at Mar-a-Lago based on information available from NARA over the past year and a half. They didn't need a search warrant to corroborate that information. The question in my mind is... what caused the FBI to reasonably suspect a crime may have been committed and that the former president committed that crime? The answer should be in the affidavit, and we will have to "just have patience" until that document is unsealed or things move forward into a courtroom.

But this LTE is about national security…

As the writer, Michael Brownrigg, was someone once cleared to the “Top Secret/Codeword” level and posted overseas, I am grateful for his service. He made an interesting statement… “For all we know, there may be highly placed sources around the world who are either dead or in jail because Donald Trump decided to store Top Secret/Codeword materials where anyone with a bolt cutter could photograph them.” It sounds like Michael is just thinking out loud unless he still has sources who have given him reason to draw such a conclusion. However, the national security concern is real, and it is my understanding the House Intelligence Committee has called for an assessment of what damage might have been done as a result of classified documents being stored at Mar-a-Lago. Again, we should “just have patience."

Tommy Tee Aug 25, 2022 10:21am

Terence: "Do yourself and our dear readers a favor and stop repeating debunked fake news and lies, from … wherever."

Also Terence: Quoting made up election lie BS from Fox, Newmax, Hannity, etc...LOL

Terence Y Aug 26, 2022 8:08am

Tommy – thanks for taking a step outside your comfort zone and submitting more than a one sentence response. Although, does it really count as a sentence when you cut/paste from another post? As for Fox, Newmax (sic), Hannity, etc… it sounds like you’re an avid viewer (definitely more of a viewer than I am) if you’re citing them in a response. Unless your sentence is BS. LSMH

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