Berkeley prof calls Trump's handling of classified documents a 'national security issue of the first order'

On June 12, the University of California, Berkeley posted an interview with a professor to its official news website who claimed that former President Donald Trump would share vital information with Russia and Saudi Arabia.

In the interview transcript published by the university’s Berkeley News, UC Berkeley professor emeritus Michael Nacht was asked if it was “conspiracy thinking” to believe that Trump would share classified documents with foreign adversaries.

“There’s no way to know for certain unless we have evidence,” Nacht replied. “But my impression would be that, yes, he would share this information with leadership of the Russian government, the Saudi government, and others with whom he had special arrangements, including financial arrangements.”

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The university’s website labels the publication as the school’s “main news and information engine,” stating that content is created by staff in the Office of Communications and Public Affairs.

The article featured Nacht’s thoughts on Trump’s June 9 indictment on 37 federal counts related to handling classified information.

When asked what Trump’s motives were for allegedly keeping classified documents, Nacht said he thinks the former president is interested in financial gain.

“It’s hard to know his motives,” Nacht said. “But my impression is, first of all, he’s very concerned about financial profit from anything he does.”

“He doesn’t do anything much unless there’s a profit motive for him and his family,” Nacht continued. “So, I would think he may have seen a way to use those documents — to sell them or share that information with others in order to gain financial profit.”

The interview is presented on the website without any sort of disclaimer or other statement prior to delving into the article.

Nacht has extensive political experience, including previously serving in high-level national security roles during the Clinton and Obama administrations. 

In the interview, Nacht repeatedly accused Trump’s handling of classified information as a national security concern.

“My view is that he’s 100% injected risk into the national security profile of the U.S.” 

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Nacht asserted that Trump was careless with properly maintaining classified information protocol, stating that “he just didn’t think it ever applied to him.”

“The fact that he had [documents] and kept them loosely in various rooms of Mar-a-Lago, which of course is not a secure facility, indicates that it’s absolutely a national security issue of the first order,” he noted.

Nacht concluded the interview by claiming that Trump’s actions are “beyond anything that any human being has ever done at the highest levels of the U.S. government with classified information.” He added that it “requires very special attention by the government.”

All relevant parties have been contacted for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.