McMaster says he was never ‘uncomfortable’ about Trump handling classified information

Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster on Sunday said he “did not see any problems” while serving in former President Trump’s administration with how officials handled classified documents.

“There were systems in place. I don’t know what happened to those systems, but I was never uncomfortable with it while I was there,” McMaster told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan on CBS. “While I was there, I did not see any problems in handling of classified information.”

McMaster, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, served in the Trump administration from February 2017 to the spring of 2018.

The FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August and recovered boxes of documents and classified materials, including some labeled top secret.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) launched its investigation into Trump’s handling of classified records after the National Archives recovered a separate set of documents in February.

After bringing legal action in a Florida district court against the DOJ, Trump won the right for a special master to sift through classified and unclassified material to determine which documents are protected by attorney-client privilege or otherwise shielded from the DOJ’s review.

In the latest development of the ongoing legal feud, the National Archives last week said it was still missing some documents from Trump.

McMaster on Sunday insisted he was not aware of any problems with how the Trump administration handled the classified documents but acknowledged that “was a long time ago now.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.

Advertisement