Donald Trump Thinks Presidents Can Declassify Documents ‘By Thinking About It’

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, former President Donald Trump said that presidents can declassify documents “by thinking about it.”

“Different people say different things but as I understand it, if you’re the President of the United States you can declassify just by saying it’s declassified, even by thinking about it,” he told Hannity in an interview that marked his first TV appearance following the FBI raid of his Florida home last month. “Because you’re sending it to Mar-a-Lago or wherever you’re sending it. There doesn’t have to be a process. There can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be. You’re the president, you make that decision.”

His comments come just a day after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Trump, his company, and his three eldest children over alleged business fraud. Speaking with Hannity, Trump called the lawsuit a politically motivated “witch hunt,” in a comment that echoes one he’s maintained against many of his critics over the years. He said that if there was any discrepancies in his business finances, then the banks should have done their job better. Trump has been accused of either inflating the value of his properties in order to gain more favorable loan rates, or deflating the value in order to pay less taxes.

Following the FBI raid, it has been alleged that Trump mishandled classified documents. However, he told Hannity that he “declassified everything” and that he did not personally pack boxes of documents as he left the White House, pinning the blame on the General Services Administration employees. 

CNN reports that several top Republican senators have fought back against Trump’s handling of classified documents. Senate GOP Whip John Thune said there’s already an official process for declassifying documents, despite Trump’s claims any president could do it even by just “thinking about it.” Thune added, “I think it ought to be adhered to and followed.” Senator Thom Tillis of the Senate Judiciary Committee said that every president must adhere to the proper procedure for declassifying documents.

Even Senator Lindsey Graham, a big supporter of Trump, was critical of his latest comments. “The process is probably more complicated than that,” he said.