A week ago, FBI agents raided the residence of former US President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, to search for missing secret government documents that he refused to hand over after leaving the White House, which Trump considered attempts to prevent him from running for the upcoming presidency.

This step comes to double the troubles of Trump, who is still subject to two criminal investigations, the first of which relates to his interference to change the results of the 2020 presidential elections, and the second is related to charges, financial crimes and tax evasion, in addition to what the investigations can reach in the case of his supporters storming the Congress building and the possibility of accusing him of incitement personally.

Judicial documents revealed that FBI agents found a number of "highly classified documents" during the raid on the former president's house, in an operation that is the last link in a series of accusations of the former president of recklessness and violating confidential information even while he was in power, before he lost in the presidential elections. which took place in late 2020 against his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.

As president of the United States, Trump has been given the powers to unilaterally declassify information, but some of his actions have shocked the American intelligence community.

On August 30, 2019, he revealed in a tweet what is believed to be a secret high-resolution image of an Iranian missile launch site, and said in the tweet, "The United States of America was not involved in any catastrophic accident during the final preparations for the launch of the Safir missile, which carries a satellite from the Semnan site." in Iran".

In April 2017, Trump told Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte that two US nuclear submarines were located off the coast of North Korea, boasting "great firepower", according to the transcript of the call released by the Philippines, although the Pentagon does not disclose the locations of its submarines. It is essential to the US strategic defense force.

After the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a US operation in Syria in October 2019, Trump revealed, in the context of bragging about the attack, many details that the Pentagon usually retains, such as the number of helicopters that participated and how special forces entered al-Baghdadi's residence.

In fact, Trump was not the first US president, whether in power or outside, to be subject to investigations by federal agents. He was preceded by US presidents, most notably Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, on various charges, including political, intelligence, and even morality.

Richard Nixon resigned before his dismissal over the Watergate scandal (Reuters)

Nixon.. Watergate

On August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, resigned to avoid impeachment following the outbreak of the scandal known in the media as "Watergate", after the arrest of 5 people at the Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, while they were installing hidden recording devices. The finger was pointed at Nixon personally.

Because of the difficulty of his critical political situation and the dwindling of his chances of winning a new term, President Nixon decided to spy on the offices of the rival Democratic Party in the Watergate Building, so that the scandal took its name from this building after the threads of the game were revealed.

Investigations indicated that there were suspicious amounts of money in the possession of the arrested persons, and when tracing the financial accounts, it was found that they are related to institutions funding President Nixon's re-election campaign.

Subsequently, the Washington Post published information it received from an unknown person - it later turned out to be Mark Felt, Deputy Director of the FBI - that there is a relationship between the espionage process and the attempt to cover it up and high-ranking official bodies, such as the Ministry of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, all the way to the White House. .

After a period of tension and attraction, the final verdict was issued in the case, in which President Nixon was referred to as a participant in that case, so that Congress then began discussions in preparation for his removal from office, and after it became certain that the majority of members of Congress would vote to impeach the president, Nixon decided to resign, to announce that Officially in a televised speech on the eve of August 8, 1974.

Reagan.. Iran Gate and Contra

As for the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, who ruled in the 1980s, his name was associated with the case known as "Iran Gate" and also as "Iran Contra", which is also one of the most famous political scandals in the United States during the Cold War period with the Soviet Union. Previously, US investigation committees concluded that former President Ronald Reagan was involved in it.

The scandal took its name from a secret deal in which the administration of President Ronald Reagan sold weapons during his second term to Iran mediated by Israel, despite the decision to ban arms sales to Tehran and the US administration's classification of it as an "enemy of America" ​​and a "sponsor of terrorism."

The US administration used the deal's money and profits to covertly fund the opposition movement known as the "Contra" that was fighting to overthrow the leftist government and the "Sandinista" party that ruled Nicaragua, which has the support of both the former Soviet Union and Cuba.

Ronald Reagan (right) during the signing of a nuclear treaty with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (Reuters)

The secret agreement between America and Iran - which was at war against Iraq at the time - provided Tehran with advanced weapons, including spare parts for "Phantom" aircraft and about 3,000 TOW anti-armor missiles and HAWK surface-to-air anti-aircraft missiles. In exchange for the release of American citizens who were detained in Lebanon.

At that time, an agreement was reached between George Bush Sr., who was serving as Vice President Reagan, and Iranian Prime Minister Abul-Hassan Bani-Sadr in the French capital, Paris, in the presence of Ari Ben-Menashea, representative of the Israeli foreign intelligence "Mossad".

The deal contravened the laws of Congress, which at the time prohibited the financing of the "Contra" movement, as well as the sale of arms to Iran, in addition, it constituted a violation of United Nations sanctions on arms sales to Iran.

The scandal began to appear to the public after the publication of the Lebanese magazine Al-Shiraa on November 3, 1986, an investigation on the matter, in which it stated that this secret operation was discovered after dropping an air bridge of weapons over Nicaragua, and on November 25, the US Attorney General admitted Edwin Mays claims that the profits of the operation were illegally transferred to the Contras.

After President Reagan faced great pressure, he announced on November 26 the establishment of a presidential commission to conduct a special review into the scandal known as the "Tower Commission." In its report, it did not specify in its report the degree of Reagan's involvement, but criticized him on February 26, 1987, because "He didn't control his national security team."

Although Reagan denied knowledge of the operation, it became clear on January 1, 1986 that he was aware of the deal after looking at his diary of notes, and on November 18, 1987, Congress announced its final report on the issue, holding Reagan fully responsible for what His aides did the case, accusing his administration of practicing secrecy, deception, and contempt for the law.

Clinton.. Whitewater and Monica

In the 1990s, scandals returned again, with the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, being investigated in the famous case known as Whitewater related to real estate investments, and he was also investigated in a sexual harassment case brought by White House employee Monica Lewinsky.

President Clinton and his wife Hillary stood before investigators in the Whitewater case, which relates to their real estate investments in Arkansas, before either of them reached the Oval Office in 1993.

Bill Clinton stood before investigators in tax evasion and sexual harassment cases (Reuters)

The Whitewater case sparked a great political debate at the American domestic level, and began with investment projects in the real estate sector by Bill and Hillary Clinton and their partners Jim and Susan McDougall, through the establishment of a company known as Whitewater Development before it declared bankruptcy in 1980.

This issue came to light after an article in the New York Times during Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 stated that he and his wife, Hillary, had invested and lost money in a whitewater development project, and were accused of pressuring a banker in Arkansas to provide their partner McDougall with an illegal loan, as well as using money illegally in Clinton's campaign for state governor.

An investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission resulted in the conviction of McDougall for his role in the Whitewater project, and the Clintons were not prosecuted, while 3 separate investigations resulted in sufficient evidence linking them to others in this conviction related to real estate deals, and Jim Tucker Khalifa was also convicted. Clinton served in Arkansas and was sentenced to prison for his role in fraud in the case.

Subsequently, Susan McDougall was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, and after numerous investigations by specialized US agencies, Congress and the special prosecutor regarding these allegations, Clinton was acquitted in this case, but his name remained associated with her in the American public opinion.

In addition to Whitewater, President Clinton is also under investigation in two sexual harassment cases brought against him by former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones and White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Despite accusations by the House of Representatives of perjury and obstruction of the judiciary after the revelation of his sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky, the Senate acquitted him after being impeached in the Jones and Lewinsky cases in February 1999.