- Former President Donald Trump said presidents can declassify documents “even by thinking about it.”
- A political analyst said in an earlier interview that “he may have thought of sending boxes of materials.”
- Trump’s claim contradicts the idea that the documents got into his home by accident.
CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman said former President Donald Trump may be unaware of the narrative that classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago got there by accident.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump made unsubstantiated allegations that presidents can declassify documents simply by saying “it’s declassified” or “even thinking about it.”
“Because you’re going to send it to Mar-a-Lago or wherever you’re going to send it,” Trump told Hannity on Wednesday. Trump added: “You’re the president, you make that decision. So it’s going to be explained when you send it, I’ve explained everything.”
On Friday’s episode of CNN’s New Day, Haberman corrected Trump’s “sending him to Mar-a-Lago” phrase.
She argued the statement “seems to indicate that he intended to send boxes of material to his private club and home. Despite this line from those around him that it was all a coincidence, the items were sent out.”
Two sources familiar with the Mar-a-Lagoon raid and the DOJ’S investigation into the documents told NBC News in August that Trump aides were rapidly sealing documents near the end of his presidency — one of several possible reasons for the case.
“So they tried to lean on the idea that this was some kind of accident, and now he seems to be suggesting that this was intentional,” Haberman added.
Trump has said the FBI planted information on Mar-a-Lago during the August raid, but has since downplayed the allegations.
“There seems to be a confusion about the ‘photo’ of documents being thrown on the floor and released in a photograph. 1 True Social Post: “Wrong!”
He added: “They took them out of the cardboard and laid them out on the carpet, making them look like a big ‘get’.” They threw it without me – very deceitful… And remember, we could not have any representatives, including lawyers, present during the Raid. They were told to wait outside.”
Haberman is a White House correspondent for The New York Times and a political commentator for CNN, and has followed Trump throughout his career. Her upcoming book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breakdown of America,” details how Trump handled his 2020 election defeat, including his attempts to seek advice from White House aides about his refusal to resign. Office.
Haberman and CNN co-hosts John Berman and Brianna Keillor continued to discuss Trump, including the civil suit filed against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
