Sen. Chuck Grassley released documents alleging security incidents involving Justice Department personnel, including staff tied to Jack Smith’s special counsel office, during the classified documents investigation of Donald Trump.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released documents Wednesday that he said raise concerns about whether Justice Department personnel, including members of then-special counsel Jack Smith’s team, mishandled classified information while investigating Donald Trump over allegations that he mishandled classified records.
Grassley, R-Iowa, outlined the concerns in a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, requesting additional information from the Justice Department about alleged security failures involving classified materials and a secure government facility.
Grassley to Doj – Security Violations by yourNEWS Media
“Messages involving personnel in Jack Smith’s Special Counsel Office (SCO) raise serious concerns about the Biden administration’s failure to properly secure classified materials,” Grassley wrote.
Smith was appointed special counsel during the Biden administration and led a federal investigation into Trump’s alleged handling of classified documents after leaving office. The probe resulted in a grand jury indictment charging the then-former president with 40 felony counts.
The case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith’s appointment violated the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Grassley’s newly released documents focus on alleged security incidents within the Justice Department during the same broader period in which Smith’s office was investigating Trump. According to Grassley, internal messages show that a Justice Department sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, accessible to special counsel personnel was left open overnight and possibly longer.
“The messages show that these failures caused a security ‘violation and incident’ where a Justice Department sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) accessible to SCO personnel was left open overnight and potentially longer,” Grassley wrote.
The documents also show Justice Department officials discussing concerns that some individuals may have accessed classified materials without the required “need to know” authorization.
In one exchange cited from the documents, a team member indicated the secure facility had not been properly closed.
“No one opened it yesterday because no one closed it the day before,” one team member wrote.
Another person responded by flagging the matter as a security problem.
“Who opened it the day before? That’s a violation and incident so I need to know the details,” the person replied.
Grassley asked the Justice Department to provide more records and information about whether the agency investigated the incident and whether any classified materials were “compromised, missing, altered, or tampered with.” He also asked whether Trump’s legal team was notified.
Grassley said the documents suggest a double standard in the prior administration’s handling of classified information.
“This conduct appears to show the Biden Justice Department may have mishandled classified information while it prosecuted President Trump for allegedly mishandling classified information,” Grassley wrote. “This is yet another example of law enforcement’s double standards in the previous administration.”
The senator’s release adds a new line of inquiry into the handling of classified information inside the Justice Department during Smith’s investigation, which was one of the most closely watched criminal cases brought against Trump before its dismissal.
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