William Cohen labels Trump a ‘clear and present danger to democracy’

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday that former President Trump is a “clear and present danger to democracy.” 

Cohen, a Republican who led the Pentagon under former President Clinton, pointed to remarks that former federal judge Michael Luttig made before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in which he said Trump was a threat to democracy. 

Cohen told Will Geist of MSNBC that the recent revelations about the documents that Trump had at his Mar-a-Lago residence confirmed Luttig’s portrayal of the former president “over and over.” 

“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,” he said. “So, I think there’s no justification.” 

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that FBI agents found a document that details a foreign nation’s nuclear capabilities and military defenses during the search. 

Cohen said no one can say that the documents being present at Mar-a-Lago is a mistake at this point, and anyone who claims that is “flat-out lying.” 

The former Pentagon chief said he would be “in handcuffs” if he had possession of the documents that Trump had at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. He said the question of why Trump had the documents in his possession is not relevant to whether he broke the law.

Cohen added that the Justice Department is going about its investigation methodically and deferentially.

A federal judge granted Trump’s request on Monday to have a special master appointed to review documents the FBI obtained during its search of his Palm Beach, Fla., property last month. The ruling effectively pauses the investigation while the special master examines documents to determine if they are protected by attorney-client or executive privilege. 

The Justice Department is investigating if Trump violated three federal statues — including the Espionage Act — for continuing to possess documents, some of which are classified, that he should have turned over to government record-keepers when he left the White House. 

Trump allies have said the former president declassified the documents he had, but classification status of the documents is not a determining factor in some of the potential violations of the law.