President Trump has promised to declassify “everything” that will shine a light on misconduct by federal officials.
During an interview Thursday evening, the President told Sean Hannity that “everything” will be declassified so that the truth can be exposed.
Washingtonexaminer.com reports: “Yes. Everything is going to be declassified and more, much more than what you just mentioned. It will all be declassified,” Trump said after Hannity asked if he would declassify FISA applications, Gang of Eight material, and FBI 302s, all elements of his “five buckets of information.”
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Trump suggested the timing is now perfect following the completion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
“I’m glad I waited because I thought that maybe they would obstruct if I did it early and I think I was right. So I’m glad I waited,” Trump said. “Now the attorney general can take a very strong look at whatever it is. But it will be declassified and more than what you just mentioned.”
Trump already ordered certain documents to be declassified last year that relate to the federal Russia investigation, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process for obtaining spy authority against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page, and text messages from current and former officials who have been critics of Trump, including ex-FBI Director James Comey. He also directed the declassification of all FBI reports of interviews, known as “302s,” with DOJ official Bruce Ohr, who served as an unofficial backchannel between the FBI and British former spy Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous Trump dossier.
Following the order, the documents had to be examined by the Justice Department, FBI, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Trump and Republicans had long questioned the credibility of the Russia investigation, specifically how much the dossier, which was paid for in part by Democrats, was used by top federal law enforcement officials in its early stages. Democrats have decried the GOP efforts, characterizing them as a means to discredit Mueller’s investigation.
Mueller concluded his probe last month, after which the Justice Department released a redacted version of the special counsel’s nearly 450-page report. It said Trump’s campaign had “numerous links” to the Russians but “the evidence was not sufficient to support criminal charges.” The special counsel also described several instances of possible obstruction of justice but did not make a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed the investigation. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein instead made the conclusion, determining the president did not obstruct justice.
Earlier this month Hannity said his sources were telling him information that could soon be released regarding alleged corruption at the Justice Department and FBI will be “extraordinarily damning.” He made the bold prediction about the “five buckets of information,” bringing up the upcoming criminal referrals focusing on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.
“There are going to be — the president, I interviewed last week — there will be the FISA applications released. There will be [FBI] 302s released, [and] there will be Gang of Eight material. We’ve identified five buckets of information that will be extraordinarily damning. I know that to be the case, based on all of my sources,” Hannity said.
Despite all the excitement over the coming declassification of documents Trump and his allies claim will show a politically motivated campaign by Justice Department and FBI officials to undermine his campaign and presidency, there is no guarantee the public will see all of it.
Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano warned last fall that some of the documents may not be seen by the public, including if there is information “presented to a grand jury, if it shows the government’s impressions of how to approach a criminal case, if it’s about an ongoing criminal investigation that’s still going on, if it would reveal the identity or methods involvement of confidential sources.”
