Fmr Def Sec Cohen: Classified Documents Confirm Trump Is a ‘Clear and Present Threat to Democracy’

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified material has confirmed he was a “clear and present threat to democracy.”

Co-host Willie Geist asked, “What is your reaction when you just hear the detail, the list of hundreds of classified documents, the latest reporting from The Washington Post that Donald Trump, now a private citizen out of office, had all of this at his beach resort in Florida?

Cohen said, “I think you’ve been asking this question: Why? I don’t think it matters why. The fact that he had those documents in his possession is offense enough, subject to perhaps criminal prosecution. If I had had those in my house after leaving office, I would be in handcuffs by this time. So, I think that the Justice Department has gone out of its way to show deference to the former president that no other president in history would have behaved in this fashion or have behaved in this fashion. I think the Justice Department is going about it very methodically and very deferentially. I think that time has come to an end.”

He added, “I go back to the January 6 committee, where Judge Luttig, a very conservative judge – he said that Donald Trump is a ‘clear and present threat to democracy. That’s been confirmed over and over by these revelations. The notion that the former president had documents, highly classified documents, in his possession and in unsafe circumstances, or any circumstances, puts our nation at risk, potentially. So, I think there’s no justification. There’s no way they can say, ‘oh, it’s a mistake.’ I think that’s been disproved, and anyone who says that is flat-out lying.”

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