Donald Trump's office told Just the News on Friday that the classified materials the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate were declassified under a "standing order" while he was president that allowed him to take sensitive materials to the White House residence at night to keep working.
Trump has maintained for weeks that any documents still containing classified markings in his possession after he left office were previously declassified
- On Friday night, the statement issued to Just the News explained exactly how that declassification occurred in his mind
- "The very fact that these documents were present at Mar-a-Lago means they couldn't have been classified," the former president's office stated.
- Trump had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken into the residence were deemed to be declassified
Obama's executive order no. 13526, issued in 2009, laid out the stringent process all federal officials and agencies needed to follow for declassification, but explicitly exempted the sitting president and vice president from having to follow those procedures.
- The president's detractors in Congress, the DOJ, and the intelligence community are likely to contest the president's arguments. But officials familiar with national security law said courts generally have held the president’s power to declassify is far-reaching and that the process for how that happens can be more happenstance.
FBI to seek witnesses
- It is likely the FBI will seek to find any officials or witnesses who knew or can confirm there was a "standing order" as described by the Trump statement.
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