‘Because you’re shipping it to Mar-a-Lago or wherever…’ says the former president to Sean Hannity. There is no need for a procedure.’
Donald Trump has asserted that presidents may declassify papers only via the power of thinking.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, he said: “Various people say different things, but as I understand it, if you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified, even by thinking about it.”
“Because you’re sending it to Mar-a-Lago or wherever you’re sending it. There doesn’t have to be a process. There can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be.
“You’re the president – you make that decision.”
In August, the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago. Prosecutors stated that around 100 papers discovered at Trump’s Florida club were classified. Some were classified as top secret. Some were allegedly concerned about nuclear weapons.
Many analysts believe an indictment is imminent. Trump has tried to stall the inquiry, but appeals courts agreed on Wednesday that it might continue while documents are reviewed.
The judge overseeing the review, Raymond Dearie, warned Trump attorneys this week that they must present evidence that the documents in question were declassified, or he will assume they were not.
Dearie said: “I guess my view is that you can’t have your cake and eat it.”
Trump has constantly claimed that he declassified the papers by executive order, whether physically, by bringing them to the White House residence, orally, or, as he now alleges, solely via the power of telepathy.
“In other words, when I left the White House, they were declassified,” he told Hannity.
Experts are sceptical. “Hypothetical problems like ‘What if a president decides to himself that something is declassified?'” said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists to the New York Times in August. Is that going to affect its status?’ are so theoretical that their practical significance is insignificant.
“It’s a logical mess. The system is not meant to be deployed in such an arbitrary fashion.”
When boxes were packed to be transferred to Mar-a-Lago from the White House in Washington, Trump said to Hannity, “there was nothing hidden.”
According to the previous president, he did not pack any boxes himself.
