Meadows says Trump did not order declassification of Russia documents

By Morgan Chalfant, The Hill, Oct. 20, 2020

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Tuesday that President Trump’s tweets about declassifying documents related to the Russia investigation were not an order to declassify or release further documents.

Meadows said in a sworn declaration in federal court that Trump’s tweets earlier this month instead merely referred to the authority given to Attorney General William Barr by the president last year to declassify material related to the Russia investigation.

“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 in the declaration filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.

“The President’s statements do not require altering any redactions on any record at issue in these or any other cases, including, but not limited to, any redactions taken pursuant to any discretionary FOIA exemptions,” he added.

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