U.S. judge accepts White House statement as rescinding Trump tweet calling for full declassification of Russia probe

By Spencer S. Hsu, Wash. Post, Oct. 21, 2020

A federal judge on Wednesday accepted a White House statement as rescinding President Trump’s tweets that called for the “total Declassification” of all documents in the government’s investigation of Russia’s intervention in the 2016 U.S. election.

But U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton in D.C. chided the president for his carelessness, saying the commander in chief’s words caused confusion on a matter of national security.

“It is unfortunate that we are in this situation because, obviously, whenever there’s a reference to the declassification of classified information, the words spoken should be artfully spoken so there’s no ambiguity as to what the intention was,” Walton said. “Obviously that’s not what occurred here.”

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