In an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Donald Trump claimed that all the documents he stole were verbally declassified.
Hewitt tweeted:
Former President Trump told me this AM that everything he took to Mar-A-Lago was declassified, and that he has done nothing wrong in connection with alternative slates of electors and cannot be indicted as a result. Audio and transcript will post soon.
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) September 15, 2022
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Trump claimed during the interview that he “verbally declassified” all of the documents he stole from the United States government and that presidents have the “absolute right” to declassify anything they want.
Presidents can’t verbally declassify documents, and there are written and formal processes that must be legally gone through for a president to officially declassify a document.
A president does not have an absolute right to declassify anything, and some of the highest classification documents can only be declassified through a panel review process.
Trump declassified documents the way Michael Scott declared bankruptcy:
Trump’s Lawyers Refuse To Argue That Trump Declassified The Documents
It is telling that despite Trump’s claims that he did nothing wrong and declassified the documents, the former president’s lawyers will not state that he declassified the documents in court. Trump’s lawyers know they could be criminally charged if they falsely state that Trump declassified the documents.
There is no evidence that Trump declassified anything. If Trump had declassified the documents, there would have been a paper trail, and he would not be under criminal investigation.
The documents were not declassified, and Trump’s only defense appears to be a lie.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
