Donald Trump Fires Back at FBI Mar-a-Lago Raid Controversy: ‘Nuclear Weapons Issue Is a Hoax’
Donald Trump fired back at the Washington Post report that stated he kept documents related to nuclear weapons at his home at Mar-a-Lago. In a statement via his social media platform, Truth Social, he said that the report was just a hoax.
He then went on to suggest that the FBI planted information. He called the officials involved "sleazy," according to the Independent.
Trump also accused former President Barack Obama of also taking home documents, including nuclear-related documents. However, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) refuted his claims and revealed that the agency has the Obama documents which are heading for his presidential library, and none of them are classified information.
According to NBC News, the NARA maintains the classified Obama Presidential records in a facility in the Washington, DC area. It then reiterated a rule by the Presidential Records Act that no president has control over how the NARA stores the presidential records of his administration.
Donald Trump Says He Declassified the Documents in the FBI Search
One of the biggest concerns was that former President Donald Trump may have brought home some sensitive documents which are classified information. However, Trump said that the documents he brought with him to his Mar-a-Lago estate had already been declassified.
NBC News noted that the Justice Department has had a long history of prosecuting cases that involved mishandling classified information. However, they have never had one where it was a former president who mishandled information, as a president is the only government official who can declassify information at will.
Trump and his allies, including former-Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, argued that "there is no approval process for the president of the United States to declassify intelligence." Trump himself posted on Truth Social, claiming that all the documents the FBI took were declassified.
National Security Experts Argue That Trump's Declassification Argument Will Not Hold Up
However, former Obama Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence Richard Immerman said that while the president does have the authority to declassify documents, there is still a formal process to do so. He pointed out that there is no indication Trump went through that process. Immerman argued that "[h]e can't just wave a wand and say it's declassified."
Many of the documents seized from Trump last February were "marked as classified national security information," but former Pentagon chief of staff for the Trump administration Kash Patel argued that the markings were not updated and have already been declassified.
A source close to the matter told NBC News that Trump was already told that there is formal protocol in declassifying information. However, Trump was not concerned with it.
National security expert Bradley Moss argues that "[t]hat's not how it works" and that nobody is allowed to touch those records until the markings were removed, even if the president himself says they have been declassified. He added that the Trump administration should have been aware that more was needed to declassify documents, as these contain sensitive information.
Another expert, University of Texas School of Law professor Stephen Vladeck, argued that the apparent lack of paper trail that showed Trump declassified those documents will be causing some problems for the former president.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: Trump's Declassification Defenses Won't Hold Up In A Criminal Trial Says Katyal - MSNBC
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