Former Trump administration official Kash Patel told Fox News that as president, Donald Trump had the power to declassify any documents he wanted.
Patel’s comments were made on “Sunday Morning Futures,” where he noted that in October 2020, Trump declassified a number of documents related to “Russiagate” and Hillary Clinton. “This is a key fact that most Americans are missing: President Trump, as a sitting president, is a unilateral authority for declassification, he can literally stand over a set of documents and say, ‘these are now declassified,’ and that is done with definitive action immediately,” Patel claimed.
Kash Patel:
“President Trump, as a sitting president, is a unilateral authority for declassification, he can literally stand over a set of documents and say, ‘these are now declassified,’ and that is done with definitive action immediately.”pic.twitter.com/GlOYURvqLL
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) August 14, 2022
The legality of Trump’s ability to make “sweeping declassification” orders was brought into question after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago property, where they claimed they found a number of classified documents. The FBI left a warrant that indicated they were investigating the former president for potential violations of laws to do with the mishandling of classified material, NBC News noted.
Sources claimed that the FBI were looking for classified documents relating to nuclear weapons, the Washington Post reported. Trump has denied the report that he was keeping such documentation at the Florida residence, Politico stated.
“Merrick Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray have failed in their mission to uphold the law. They have become political hucksters and they are completely destroying our constitution and putting on a two-tiered system of justice,” Patel argued. (RELATED: ‘Isn’t It Almost Orwellian?’ Karine Jean-Pierre Fumbles Trying To Explain Misleading Inflation Bill)
Patel was part of a panel with his client, former Republican California Rep. Devin Nunes, whom he spoke about earlier this year in an episode of “Vince and Jason Save the Nation.” You can watch the full episode here: