Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham says she saw Trump show classified documents to people on the Mar-a-Lago dining patio
"He has no respect for classified information. Never did," Grisham told MSNBC's Alex Witt while discussing former President Donald Trump on Sunday.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
- Stephanie Grisham said she saw Trump show classified documents to individuals at Mar-a-Lago.
- "I watched him show documents to people at Mar-a-Lago on the dining room patio," she told MSNBC.
- Last month, Trump was indicted on 37 federal counts over his handling of classified documents.
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Sunday said that she saw former President Donald Trump show classified documents to individuals at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Grisham, who also served as the chief of staff and press secretary to former first lady Melania Trump, made the revelation to MSNBC's Alex Witt while discussing the former president's indictment over his handling of top-secret documents that were found at his mansion.
When Witt asked Grisham if it was believable that Trump was showing classified documents to individuals in private meetings, Grisham replied in the affirmative.
"The short answer is yes," Grisham said. "I watched him show documents to people at Mar-a-Lago on the dining room patio. So he has no respect for classified information. Never did."
Grisham then stated that she was upset after hearing an earlier clip on MSNBC where Trump was recorded speaking freely about documents that he "could have declassified" when he was in the White House.
"He talks specifically that he should have declassified it, but he didn't. So there, I think, is proof. I believe also there's a portion of that audio where he says, you know, this is off the record," Grisham said. "And I know Donald Trump knows the rules of reporters, and he knows if it needs to be off the record that they can't talk about it. So I think he was covering himself in that regard."
"I just want to say to your viewers, I don't think people understand how hard it is to get your classified permission. I remember when I was going through it to get all of mine. I got held up because of a $13 KinderCare bill that I did not know about, and so I couldn't get it," she continued. "They go through everything about it. It's very difficult to get a security clearance, and I think people miss that in the weeds, obviously. But to be showing it to people who haven't gone through the extreme vetting that you go through to get a clearance, it's a disservice to the country, but it also puts people in danger potentially."
When Witt asked Grisham asked if it was "offensive" that Trump allegedly showed documents to people without the necessary regard to their sensitivity, the longtime Republican aide agreed.
"It is," she replied. "And it's offensive to me. Sure. But again, there are sources and methods out there that could be put in danger."
"I can't stress enough how by being so loose with this stuff, he's potentially putting people in danger," she continued. "And yeah, I had a top security clearance and it's very, very hard to obtain. So it's very important and it's vital to our country and our national security. The only people with these clearances have access to any of these documents."
Last month, Grisham needled Trump over his handling of classified documents during a CNN interview.
"Why didn't he give them back? It's because he thinks those are his," she said at the time. "He's like a child holding on to his little toy train and nobody is going to take it from him."
Grisham resigned as the chief of staff and press secretary to Melania Trump after the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
She has since been a vocal critic of Trump, and in October 2021 released her bombshell memoir, "I'll Take Your Questions Now," where she gave a damning indictment of the former president's administration.