Trump in Palm Beach: Mar-a-Lago's SCIF, JFK's bunker and keeping national security secure
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, (sitting down facing camera), is surrounded by aids after he and President Donald Trump, right, (blocked from view), were notified of a missile launch by North Korea during their visit to The Mar-a-Lago Club Saturday February 11, 2017, in Palm Beach. (Shannon Donnelly / Daily News / The Palm Beach Post)
The recent "storming" of a Capitol Hill hearing where sensitive information was to be presented raised awareness of secure rooms used by federal officials. There's such a SCIF at Mar-a-Lago.
The recent "storming" of a Capitol Hill hearing where sensitive information was to be presented raised awareness of secure rooms used by federal officials to safeguard national security information and discussions.
On October 24, Republican members of Congress entered and disrupted a Ukraine hearing being in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, in the Capitol. What raised eyebrows, if not rung alarm bells, is that many of the congressmen brought their iPhones with them, which is against the rules.
That's because photographing or video in SCIFs is prohibited so as not to giveaway information about what makes SCIFs so secure.
>>READ: Chaotic scene as Republicans disrupt impeachment deposition
But, it turns out, SCIFs are not just found in the nation's capital.
There is a SCIF at Mar-a-Lago, which is used when President Donald Trump is in town.
Ironically, the existence of the SCIF at the president's private club in Palm Beach was first revealed in a White House press briefing on February 14, 2017, to rebut criticism Trump himself had put sensitive discussions at risk.
That was days after Trump held an impromptu security gathering in a Mar-a-Lago dining area with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and their aides moments after a North Korea missile test.
>>READ: Yujing Zhang trial: Last witness says Chinese woman offered ticket to event with Clintons
But during a press briefing three days later, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed the discussion, and said Trump had been briefed in a secure area before dinner.
"The president was briefed in a SCIF ahead of dinner," Spicer said. "He went with his national security team. They briefed him on the situation in North Korea."
Spicer said people wrongly jumped to "nefarious conclusions" about the famous photo of Trump, Abe and their aides huddled around a table with Mar-a-Lago members and guests seated nearby.
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"At that time, apparently there was a photo taken, which everyone jumped to nefarious conclusions about what may or may not be discussed," Spicer told the media that day. "There was simply a discussion about press logistics, where to host the event. And then after the dinner, the president went back into the SCIF to get a further update from his team. So I'm not really sure where people jumped to conclusions. There is a SCIF there. It was utilized on two occasions that evening to convey to the president by his national security team the situation in North Korea."
Mar-a-Lago security came under intense scrutiny this year after a Chinese woman was arrested and charged with lying in order to gain entry to the club.
In September, Yujing Zhang was found guilty of lying to a federal agent and gaining access to a restricted building. She faces a maximum of six years in prison when she is sentenced on November 22.
The Zhang trial did little to answer why the 33-year-old self-described business consultant attempted to enter Mar-a-Lago, an incident that initially sparked suspicion and speculation of espionage.
That a president who spends a lot of time in Palm Beach has access to a secure room is not ahistorical. In 1961, a secure bunker on Peanut Island that served as a shelter and command post became operational for President John F. Kennedy.
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