Trump claims presidents can declassify documents ‘even by thinking about it’

Source: The Hill | September 21, 2022 | Brett Samuels

Former President Trump in a new interview asserted presidents don’t have to go through a formal process to declassify sensitive documents and can do so “even by thinking about it.”

The former president’s comments came as he has repeatedly argued that he declassified secret and top-secret documents he took with him to his Florida home after leaving the White House in 2021 amid a Justice Department investigation into his handling of classified materials.

“There doesn’t have to be a process, as I understand it,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, ‘It’s declassified.’ Even by thinking about it.”

“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,” Trump added. “I declassified everything.”

Though presidents have broad power to declassify records, doing so sets off a chain of events, as the intelligence agencies that manage such records must take additional steps.

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  • Consistent #55707

    EVERYDAY #55708

    He alluded to a process for declassifying documents but said going through that process wasn’t necessary. Uh…yes, it is.

    And all this controversy over declassification is really unnecessary. Classified or not, the documents Trump took were not his to take. In taking those documents, he already broke the law. The big question is going to be whether he violated the Espionage Act. It’s likely just by his mishandling of the documents, he already has violated the Act. Even worse will be if it’s found he sold the documents to a foreign power or allowed foreign agents to review/copy those documents.

    Consistent #55715

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