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Trump’s new explanation for the Mar-a-Lago documents is that “everyone will have to bring their work home from time to time.”
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Trump claimed he had a “standing order” to declassify the documents “the moment” he left the Oval Office.
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DOJ is investigating whether Trump violated three laws when bringing government records into Mar-a-Lago.
Former President Donald Trump Tried To Develop A New Line To Explain Why Top-Secret Government Documents Are Stored In Florida’s Mar-a-Lago Mansion, So Everyone Can Bring Work Home said.
“As we all can relate, everyone ends up having to bring their work home from time to time.
Trump also claimed he had a “standing order” to declassify the documents “the moment” they left the Oval Office.
“President Trump would often bring documents, including classified documents, from the Oval Office to the official residence to prepare for work the next day. They will be declassified the moment we remove them,” the statement said.
It claimed that only the president had the power to classify and declassify the documents, and that he did not need approval from “bureaucrats pushing the paper.”
This new apology portrays Trump as just a hard-working American who the FBI planted evidence while on site.
The president has the power to declassify documents, but legal experts say documents must follow established procedures. It is not clear whether Trump did so.
“He can’t just wave his cane and say he’s been declassified,” said Richard Immerman, a historian and deputy assistant director of the Obama administration’s National Intelligence Service. NBC news. “We need a formal process. It’s the only way the system works.”
Immerman pointed out that the declassified documents bear the declassification date. According to NBC, some of the documents returned to the National Archives from Mar-a-Lago this year are not.
When reports of classified documents in Mar-a-Lago emerged in May, former Trump administration official Kash Patel declassified the files shortly before Trump left office, but the classified markings were removed. claimed no.
Searching Mar-a-Lago Recovers FBI Agent 11 sets of confidential documentssome of which were marked top secret.
The Ministry of Justice Investigate whether Trump violated three lawsWhen he took government records to Mar-a-Lago after he left office, including espionage laws, opening warrant On Friday.
One law deals with the deletion of information about US national defense, and the other two deal with the concealment or destruction of government records.
Crimes that may be investigated do not depend on document classification.
“Because the Espionage Act speaks in terms of national defense information, it is open to the possibility that such information will not be classified as long as the agency takes steps to protect it from disclosure,” the government said. Stephen Aftergood, who runs Confidential Projects, said: at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, New York Times.
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