WASHINGTON Donald Trump s haphazard storage of sensitive documents at his Florida country club could have endangered the lives of American intelligence officers as well as their foreign sources, according to experts and legal filings, contrary to the claims by some Republicans that the withheld papers posed a minimal threat to national security.

As the former president and his allies complain about Trumps unfair persecution by the Department of Justice, getting lost in the noise are the potentially grave consequences that may have already been suffered by actual human beings working abroad on behalf of the United States.

When I look at the complaint, I dont just see an itemization of particular documents. I see the people who gather this information in the U.S., our allies, our intelligence assets who put their lives at risk, said Norm Eisen, a former ambassador who held a top security clearance and who, as a White House lawyer in Barack Obama s administration, also helped draft classification rules.

The notion that Donald Trump could store those in ballrooms and bathrooms, where these secrets might spill onto the floor, as depicted in one photo, is horrifying to anyone who has any national security experience, Eisen said.

Its difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding the damage caused by Trumps brazenly careless handling of the documents, stored in disorganized cardboard boxes left on a ballroom stage, in a storage room and in a bathroom. The legally mandated secrecy of the intelligence communitys work, and a reluctance by President Joe Biden s administration to fully engage on the matter, leaves many questions about what the easily accessible documents may have ultimately done to American national security. However, experts say what we do know is alarming.

One former top Trump White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the language in the indictment unveiled last week led him to believe actual humans have already been put at risk by Trumps actions. Its a very good conclusion. And its logical, but I dont think its certain, he said.