“There can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be. You’re the president. You make that decision. So when you send it, it’s declassified,” he asserted. “I declassified everything.”
The interview came just hours after a federal appeals court ruled that Justice Department attorneys could continue looking at the documents marked as classified that were taken from Mar-a-Lago during the August raid.
The emergency ruling overturned a trial judge’s order, which blocked federal investigators’ work on the documents until they could be reviewed.
During the interview, Trump threatened to release security camera footage of agents ransacking his house but intimated he would pixelate their faces to protect their identities, according to the Daily Mail.
Presidents have broad power to declassify records. In this case, it triggered leftists in the intelligence agencies who saw an opportunity to go after him. Other former presidents have never been treated in such an outrageous manner but Democrats are desperate to stop Trump from running in 2024 in any way they can and the raid is seen by many as yet one more attempt to accomplish their goal.
right before his interview with Trump, Hannity appeals to Garland and Chris Wray and says, ominously, "we are headed down a very dark path." Trump praises his comments and thanks him. pic.twitter.com/Ez5aGq4hWH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 22, 2022
Trump’s legal team has noted the former president’s right to declassify records. The media is making a huge deal of his attorneys not actually stating that he did so which is a weak contention at best.
The Department of Justice also seized on the issue and pointed out that the attorneys were insinuating he had the right to declassify documents, not fully contending that he actually carried through doing it, according to The Hill.
According to Trump. the General Services Administration (GSA) and other White House staff were responsible for packing up boxes at the end of his tenure with pictures, newspaper articles, and other materials included in the mix.
Hannity interviewing President Trump tonight! He said the FBI took his medical records, attorney/client documents and his Will! What the hell!! This is disgraceful!
— New York Deplorable🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@DeplorableNew) September 22, 2022
