White House chief of staff Mark Meadows wrote in a sworn statement to the court Tuesday that President Donald Trump told him his tweets he posted earlier this month about declassifying all documents in the Mueller investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections were not actually an order to declassify or release those records, CNN reported.
"The President indicated to me that his statements on Twitter were not self-executing declassification orders and do not require the declassification or release of any particular documents," Meadows wrote.
He added Trump's tweets "related to" authority the president delegated to Attorney General William Barr to decide what documents should be declassified.
Meadows made the statement in response to a judge's request the administration clarify why the Trump tweets appeared to directly contradict the White House's position not to declassify the Russia records after several groups brought a suit seeking an unredacted version of Mueller's report the administration refuses to release, according to NBC News.
Department of Justice lawyers had already argued Trump's tweets should not be seen as actual orders to fully declassify the report, but the judge said he wanted to hear directy from the president or one of his aides, according to The Hill.
The president tweeted earlier this month, "I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!"
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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