A CNN legal analyst stated Monday that Trump used “very wide” authority to release documents taken during the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago. He said his decision could not be overturned even though paperwork was incomplete.
“Constitutionally, yes, okay?” Elie Honig said. The chief executive has the declassification authority. The president is that person. He is more than the head of executive branch. The president is also the head of the executive branch. You should use all the forms, protocols, and worksheets to ensure that it is done properly so everyone knows what’s classified. But if we’re talking about just the law and constitutionally, the president has the power.” (RELATED: ‘You Have Martyred Donald Trump’: CNN Guest Rips Raid)
Agents from the FBI executed a search warrant at the Florida estate owned by Trump on Aug. 8 as part of a probe into allegations that classified material had reportedly been taken when the former president left office in January 2021. Trump claimed that the documents had been declassified.
It cannot be — pun intended — because one agency in the executive branch came up with a sheet that was not filled out,” Honig said. We need to remember that. The law allows very broad — perhaps even broader than we like — but the reality is very broad declassification authority.”
WATCH:
“While Trump could have declassified whatever he liked while president, his apparent inability to produce any credible evidence that he actually did so is a genuine problem–particularly against the backdrop of an incumbent president who clearly sees the documents as still classified,” Scott R. Anderson wrote at Lawfare Blog.
Honig did not respond immediately to requests from the Daily Caller News Foundation for comment.
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