Fox News’ Judge Napolitano: Trump Ordering Declassified Docs Runs Risk of Revealing Confidential Sources

President Donald Trump ordering the declassification of some vital intel community documents could have potential consequences, as Fox News’ Judge Andrew Napolitano warned this morning.

Napolitano said on Fox & Friends even with Trump’s order there are documents that just can’t be made public, especially if there’s “an ongoing criminal investigation and the revelation of these documents would interfere with it.”

Brian Kilmeade asked, “Does the president know what he’s getting?”

Napolitano said this in response:

“I don’t think so, Brian. I doubt that the President has seen these materials. In fact, I doubt that any one person has seen all of them. So, it’s a bit of a gamble. The president is frustrated. We all understand that. A lot of us share his frustration. How and why and by whom did all of this start? Was the FISA court duped? Was this really a political undercover hit job under the guise of an intelligence operation? He feels that by revealing these documents we may get answers… I fear that revealing these documents is going to reveal confidential sources and the the way the intelligence community works. I have been a critic of the intelligence community, but I also respect that a lot of them risk their lives to get this information for us. And that cannot be made public without damage and harm to them.”

Ainsley Earhardt asked about the transparency argument, but Napolitano said with a laugh, “Might be a little bit too much transparency, we’ll find out.”

“I have been a harsh critic of FISA,” he emphasized. “It purports to change the constitutional standard. But if you’re going to expose what went to FISA in this case, then FISA will no longer be secret and no longer be helpful.”

You can watch the video above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]