‘That’s Not How It Works’: Former Trump Official Throws Cold Water on Claim He Declassified Docs at Mar-a-Lago
Former White House Communications Director Stephanie Grisham dashed Donald Trump’s claim he declassified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate last month.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at the residence in August, where they found thousands of government documents Trump was supposed to give to the National Archives upon leaving office. Some of the materials were classified.
Trump claims he declassified all documents at his residence. However, his attorneys have not dared to echo this claim in court as they wrangle with lawyers from the Department of Justice in the case.
Grisham, who served in the Trump White House, joined Norman Eisen as guests on Tuesday’s OutFront with Erin Burnett on CNN.
The host referenced remarks made by Judge Raymond Dearie, the special master appointed by a federal judge to review the documents in question. During a hearing earlier in the day, he told the parties if the government says him the documents are classified and Trump does not dispute this in court, “as far as I’m concerned that’s the end of it.”
Eisen underscored Dearie’s remarks.
“As the Department of Justice has pointed out, Erin, there’s no indication that Trump actually ever declassified these documents,” Eisen said. “The reason those lawyers have never said in a court filing that the documents were declassified is because they would be subject to penalties themselves, ethics penalties, penalties of the court if they said something that isn’t true.”
Burnett turned to Grisham and played an audio clip of Trump claiming that “everything was declassified.”
“What do you expect Trump is doing right now?” she asked.
“Well, I expect that he’s probably yelling at whoever suggested Judge Dearie,” Grisham replied, noting Trump had requested Dearie specifically. “He’s going to double down, double down, double down, as you know. So it’s going to be interesting to see how this all plays out.”
Grisham went on to explain it’s unlikely the documents are classified because there is a formal process that needs to happen before material becomes unclassified.
“But I think it’s important for just your viewers, the country, to understand that that’s not how it works,” she continued. “You don’t just say the words, ‘These are now declassified,’ and it’s done. There is a process. And more importantly, people, agencies would need to be told, right? The CIA, the DOJ, the FBI, the people who have sources and methods out there. They would need to know that, ‘Hey, these documents are suddenly declassified,’ so that they can move those sources around.”
“I like how you said there’s a process. You don’t just go with a magic wand, ‘Doo, doo, doo, declassified,'” Burnett replied in a singsongy tone. “You just can’t do that.”
Watch above via CNN.
