Politics

Trump Flips The Script On Declassifying FBI Documents

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump reversed course on declassifying documents relating to the 2016 FBI and DOJ investigation of his campaign and instead will refer them to the DOJ inspector general in a Friday tweet.

Trump ordered the documents released Monday with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying:

“The President has directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to provide for the immediate declassification of the following materials: 1. pages 10–12 and 17–34 of the June 2017 application to the FISA court in the matter of Carter W. Page; 2. all FBI reports of interviews with Bruce G. Ohr prepared in connection with the Russia investigation; and 3. all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all Carter Page FISA applications.”

Sanders continued, “In addition, President Donald J. Trump has directed the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to publicly release all text messages relating to the Russia investigation, without redaction, of James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and Bruce Ohr.”

The move is a blow to conservative lawmakers who have long alleged that the documents will reveal widespread abuse of the FISA system by the highest levels of the FBI during the 2016 campaign. Lawmakers also point to the documents relating to Ohr’s contacts with salacious dossier author Christopher Steele, along with his wife’s connections to Fusion GPS.