On January 20, 2021, as Joe Biden was about to be sworn in as president in Washington, D.C., cries of “my president!” rang out in the streets of sunny Florida. Hundreds had gathered to watch Donald Trump’s motorcade drive off to his posh Mar-a-Lago resort for life after the White House.
I reported for CBC News from the U.S. on that day and throughout the Trump administration. I saw how the country was still reeling from the events of January 6th and Trump’s ongoing efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
As you’ll see tonight, the seeds were being planted for a controversy that would eventually lead to the FBI taking the unprecedented step of searching the home of the former president.
What started with a group of archivists looking for presidential records has now led to a special-counsel investigation.
While the focus has been on the legal troubles for Trump and what the documents reveal about American secrets, we wondered, given Canada's intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States, did those documents reveal secrets close to this country? And, if so, what or who might have been left vulnerable?
Our search for answers led us to the prime minister’s former national security advisor who gave us unique insight into what sort of discussions may be happening at the highest levels of Canadian intelligence.
We also hear from a former FBI investigator, a former Department of Justice prosecutor, and a former CIA spy — all of whom are well-versed in the behind-the-scenes discussions taking place to assess if high-stakes intelligence operations are at risk because of what’s in those files.
“The Trump Files” airs tonight at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV, CBC Gem and YouTube.
Steven D’Souza
Co-host, The Fifth Estate |
