“If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying it’s been declassified,” the former president added.
“You are the president. You make the decisions.”
Trump’s comments came ahead of an appeals court’s decision Wednesday that documents seized by the FBI can be used in criminal investigations. His appearance also saw New York Attorney General Letitia James file a lawsuit accusing him and his three children of manipulating property values to defraud lenders, insurance brokers and tax authorities. It was followed by an announcement that it was happening.
On Hannity’s show, Trump called the lawsuit part of a politically motivated “witch hunt” that has been brewing since he first ran for president. He argued that the bank should have paid more attention to any discrepancies in the value of his assets, adding that his company provided a disclaimer on its financial statements.
Regarding the FBI investigation into possible mishandling of classified documents, Trump said he had “declassified everything.” He also said he did not personally pack the boxes when leaving the White House. I mentioned my office.
Trump’s defense team has so far not provided evidence that the Mar-a-Lago documents were declassified, an appeals court panel of three judges said in Wednesday’s ruling. The attorney resisted doing so before U.S. District Court Special Judge Raymond Deary, who pressured the team to provide such evidence this week, the panel wrote.
“On our part, we cannot identify the reason [Trump] There is a personal interest or need in any of the 100 documents bearing the classification mark,” the court wrote.
The president has the power to declassify information, but there is usually a process for doing so. This may include coordinating with the agency or minister to whom the information originated to prevent potential national security risks.
Following the court-sanctioned Mar-a-Lago search on August 8, the former president’s office said in a statement: President Trump Issues Standing Order While in office, any documents brought into his residence are to be immediately declassified. But Trump’s lawyers have avoided making similar allegations in court or in legal papers, saying on Tuesday that addressing the issue would open up a potential defense that could be used if a criminal investigation were to be prosecuted. He said he meant to clarify.
in an interview with CNN in AugustTrump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, called claims from the former president’s office about a standing order to declassify the documents “complete fiction.”
Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.
