Trump authorizes ‘total declassification’ of Russia probe documents
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett, Trump 2020 campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie react on ‘Hannity.’
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., slammed President Trump’s announcement to fully declassify all Russia investigation documents as a sloppy sleight of hand meant to distract from his own problems.
“Donald Trump could declassify every single secret in America’s vault but he can’t erase that he asked Russia to help him win and they complied,” Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News.
Fresh out of the hospital from coronavirus treatment, Trump late Tuesday tweeted that he authorized the declassification of all documents related to Russia collusion and the Hillary Clinton email probe. “No redactions!” he tweeted.
Trump’s GOP allies on Capitol Hill immediately praised the announcement as a step toward transparency and urged FBI Director Chris Wray and CIA Director Gina Haspell to carry out Trump’s directive.
TRUMP AUTHORIZES DECLASSIFICATION OF ALL RUSSIA COLLUSION, HILLARY CLINTON EMAIL PROBE DOCUMENTS
“I truly hope Directors Wray and Haspell follow their commander in chief’s order,” Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said. “The American people deserve the truth. What will they continue to hide?”
But Democrats have long viewed Trump’s quest to investigate the investigators as a deflection from documented foreign interference in the 2016 election. Reps for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Senate Intelligence Committee vice chair Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The president’s tweets come after Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe declassified documents that revealed former CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Obama on Hillary Clinton’s purported “plan” to tie then-candidate Trump to Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server” ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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