Mark Meadows Reportedly Says He Can’t Back Up Trump’s Classified Documents Defense
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has reportedly told federal prosecutors that he cannot substantiate a key aspect of Donald Trump‘s defense in his classified documents trial.
Meadows, according to ABC News, told Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigators that he could not recall Trump ever ordering or discussing declassify broad amounts of classified materials before leaving office — a claim Trump and his defenders have made repeatedly. Meadows further stated that he was not aware of any order from Trump ordering the automatic declassification of material taken from the Oval Office, ABC News reported.
Moreover, it is now being reported that an early draft of the book, The Chief’s Chief by Meadows wrote that Trump had a classified war plan on the couch at his office at his Bedminster resort during a meeting attended by Meadows’ ghostwriter and publicist, but that passage was then removed before publication.
Meadows reportedly told FBI investigators for that passage in his book to be changed because it would be “problematic” if it became known Trump possessed the classified war planning material. However, he informed Smith’s team that he did not discuss those edits with Trump.
The former president faces multiple criminal charges in Florida from the Department of Justice for his handling of classified material after leaving the White House. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
From ABC News:
Meadows also told investigators that he was not involved in packing the boxes that Trump took to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, sources told ABC News, largely distancing himself from the removal of government documents, including classified materials. The sources said Meadows told investigators he did not witness Trump himself packing boxes and was unaware that Trump had taken any government records, including classified documents.
The former chief of staff also told investigators that shortly after the National Archives first requested the return of the official documents taken to Mar-a-Lago in 2021, he offered to Trump that he would go through the former president’s boxes to retrieve the official records and send them back to Washington. Meadows told investigators Trump did not accept his offer, according to sources.
