Internet shocked after reports suggest binder with Russian election interference intel vanished under Trump

WASHINGTON, DC: A binder containing highly classified information on Russian election interference has reportedly gone missing, causing concern among intelligence officials regarding the potential compromise of closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies.

According to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to CNN, the binder contained raw intelligence gathered by the US and its NATO allies on Russians and Russian agents, including sources and methods that informed the US government's assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to aid Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election.

This information was part of a collection of documents, which was described as being 10 inches thick, and contained extensive information on the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.

The article reports that the missing materials were of such significant concern that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the situation and the government's efforts to recover them.

However, in the two-plus years since Trump left office, the missing intelligence has not been found.

The binder was only accessible to lawmakers and congressional aides with top-secret security clearances, who were able to review the material only at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Their work scrutinizing the information was itself kept in a locked safe.

The purported loss of such critical intelligence is a significant setback to US national security and could have serious implications for US foreign policy and its relationship with its allies.

Where were the sensitive Russian intel files last seen?

The report by CNN notes that during the final days of the Trump administration, a binder containing sensitive documents related to the FBI's Russia investigation was brought to the White House.

Then POTUS Donald Trump himself ordered the declassification of most of the contents of the binder, resulting in a flurry of activities during his final 48 hours in office.

Mark Meadows, the then-White House chief of staff, was entrusted with the care of the binder, which was examined by Republican aides with the aim of redacting the most sensitive information so that it could be declassified and released to the public.

Multiple copies of the binder were created with redactions inside the White House, with the intention of distributing them to Republicans in Congress and right-wing journalists.

However, the copies distributed were later retrieved by the White House lawyers who demanded additional redactions.

Mere minutes before President Joe Biden was inaugurated, Mark Meadows allegedly rushed to the Justice Department to hand-deliver a redacted copy of the files for a final review.

Despite Trump's declassification order, the Justice Department has yet to release all of the documents.

Additional copies, with varying levels of redactions, have ended up at the National Archives.

During the chaotic final hours of the Trump administration, an unredacted version of the binder containing classified raw intelligence went missing.

The circumstances surrounding its disappearance remain unknown, and US officials have declined to disclose to the outlet any government efforts to locate the purported binder or confirm whether any intelligence was missing.

Cassidy Hutchinson, one of Meadows' top aides, testified to Congress and wrote in her memoir that she believes Meadows took home an unredacted version of the binder.

According to transcripts released last year, Hutchinson told the committee on January 6 in closed-door testimony, "I am almost certain it went home with Mr. Meadows."

Meadows' lawyer, on the other hand, firmly rejects that Meadows mishandled any classified data in the White House, calling any notion that Meadows was responsible for sensitive information going missing "flat wrong."

"Mr. Meadows was keenly aware of and adhered to requirements for the proper handling of classified material, any such material that he handled or was in his possession has been treated accordingly and any suggestion that he is responsible for any missing binder or other classified information is flat wrong," the attorney for Mr Meadows, George Terwilliger, told CNN at the time.

He added, "Anyone and any entity suggesting that he is responsible for anything missing does not have facts and should exercise great care before making false allegations."

What do Trump’s aides have to say about the missing binder?

In the years following Trump's departure from the White House, his allies have pursued the redacted binder, suing the Justice Department and the National Archives earlier this year to have it made public.

As they prepare to defend Trump against accusations against him from efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Trump's lawyers are now requesting access to classified intelligence from the 2016 election analysis.

This story of the secret binder's path to the White House, how its trail went cold after Trump left office, and the lingering issues it raises are based on interviews with more than a dozen persons familiar with the case, all of whom sought anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive issue.

The missing binder is a point of contention in the continuing dispute between President Trump and the FBI over the Russia investigation into his campaign.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, led by Chairman Devin Nunes, compiled a classified report in 2018 stating that the Obama administration distorted intelligence in its determination that Putin worked to aid Trump in the 2016 election.

The report assessed highly sensitive intelligence from 2016 that informed the assessment Putin and Russia sought to assist Trump's campaign.

House Republicans struck a deal with the CIA, bringing in a safe for the agency's records and putting them in a CIA vault.

Republican and Democratic sources disagreed on the report's findings.

Republican sources said that senior Obama administration officials skewed the intelligence community assessment to eliminate evidence that Russia truly wanted Hillary Clinton to win in 2016, while exaggerating the relevance of evidence that Russia supported Trump.

Democratic sources, on the other hand, said the intelligence included in the report indicated the opposite of what the Republicans claimed, demonstrating that Russia was interfering in US elections and attempting to manipulate Trump directly.

The Democratic view was corroborated in 2020 by the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee, which concluded that the 2016 assessment was a “sound intelligence product” and that analysts were under no political pressure to reach specific conclusions, undercutting Nunes’ allegations.

Internet says it's worrying what's going on behind the scenes

People on X reacted to the CNN report by expressing their concern amidst the hullabaloo of the missing sensitive files alleging the collusion of a foreign nation in US elections.

One X user said, "This is deeply troubling. A binder of highly classified documents about Russian election interference went missing in the last days of the Trump presidency."

Another user wrote, "The disgraced ex president's administration was nothing more than a vast international crime syndicate."

Another user remarked, "All of this should have been released to the public BEFORE Trump left office."

"Did you try looking under Putin’s server in Trump Tower?" one user suggested.

Another X user said, "Oh, no. That sounds awful! Who is alleging this, so that we can better validate the merit of their claims?"

Finally, this user tweeted, "We will never fully know the damage done by his administration."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.