A group of current and former military and national security officials brought a bus tour to Greensboro last week to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris. A retired general in the group has concerns about former President Donald Trump’s past handling of classified documents.
Over the summer, a federal judge dismissed charges against Donald Trump alleging that he withheld top secret documents at his Florida home and enlisted aides to keep federal authorities from finding them. That decision has been challenged by the special counsel leading the investigation.
Regardless of the court status of the case, the accusations alone are enough to raise serious concerns, says Steven J. Lepper, a retired Major General and former Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Air Force.
He says his position gave him extensive experience in dealing with classified documents. And he worries that Trump’s potential mishandling of them could threaten military operations.
"Classified information generally discusses aspects of things that we are doing as a country," he says. "The people doing it are on the front lines, and if information about what they're doing falls into the wrong hands, their lives — and certainly their mission — can be compromised."
Lepper says a key question remains: What was Trump's intent by not returning the documents?
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and described the case as a “witch hunt.”
In dismissing the charges, Judge Aileen Cannon sided with Trump’s attorneys who argued the special prosecutor was illegally appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In Greensboro, Lepper and others with the National Security Leaders for America argued that character matters in leadership, and said Kamala Harris has the better temperament to lead the country.