- Trump claimed that he could immediately declassify documents while he was in office.
- Trump stated that he could just think about classified documents and get them classified as president.
- Declassification requires paperwork to be filed — even if it’s ordered by a sitting president.
Fox News host Sean Hannity was wrongly told Wednesday by former President Donald Trump that he could have classified top-secret documents if he had only thought about it while a president.
Hannity asked Trump during a long sit-down interview on Wednesday night if there was any “process” he used to declassify documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump is currently the subject of an FBI probe into whether he broke any of three federal laws — including the Espionage Act — by keeping the documents at his Florida residence. The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, Florida on August 8. 11 sets of classified documents were seizedAll, even some that are “top secret.”
Trump said to Hannity that he understood the process and didn’t believe it needed to be.
“But as I understand, it doesn’t have. You can declassify if you are the president of the United States by simply saying “It’s been declassified.” You can even think about it. Trump stated that you are sending it to Mar-a-Lago or wherever else you want it.
He claimed that he understood that declassification documents could be done, but that it wasn’t necessary for him as he was president back then.
“You are the president. You make that decision. When you send it, it is declassified. Trump claimed that he declassified all documents and said that he believed that the National Archives and Records Administration was controlled by a radical left group.
—Acyn (@Acyn) September 22, 2022
Trump’s claim about Hannity is false. Even though sitting presidents have the right to declassify documents in certain cases, it is not allowed for current presidents. A process to get these documents declassified that involves proper documentation.
Leon Panetta, an Obama-era defense secretary, told CNN’s Jake Tapper in August that There is a procedure involving paperwork from multiple agencies to get confidential information — like the files found in Trump’s Florida residence — declassified.
Panetta said to CNN, “If presidents wish to declassify they must follow that process which basically demands that it be referred the agencies that are responsible to classifying that material.” “They can make a decision about whether or not the material should be classified.”
“So, there’s nothing I know that suggests that the president has taken a formal action to declassify any information. He said that this was “pretty much BS” right now.
Trump’s lawyers try to avoid having information on whether the documents were officially declassified be given to them.
In a letter to Judge Raymond Dearie — who was appointed, At Trump’s requestAs An impartial third-party investigator — the former president’s lawyers asked that he not have to hand over evidence about declassification in case such information becomes part of his defense in a subsequent indictment. This refusal to provide evidence earned Dearie offers a strong rebukeTrump’s lawyers were told by a stern-looking he, that they could not “have their cake and eat it.”
In the meantime, a federal court gave the green light to Investigators to resume review of classified documentsAfter a successful appeal by the Department of Justice against District Judge Aileen Conn’s decision to halt the investigation into the documents, the documents were seized from Mar-a-Lago
