Skeptical Judge Presses Trump Lawyers for Proof He Declassified Documents

In a Brooklyn courtroom Tuesday, the walls seemed to be closing in on Donald Trump. Senior federal judge Raymond Dearie, the special master recommended by Trump’s lawyers, expressed skepticism of the former president’s intimation that he might have declassified documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The documents are indisputably marked classified. Absent evidence to the contrary, that means that they are classified, and were classified when the FBI found them on August 8. If Trump wants Judge Dearie to question the government’s claim that the documents are classified, he will likely have to produce proof that he declassified them.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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In a Brooklyn courtroom Tuesday, the walls seemed to be closing in on Donald Trump. Senior federal judge Raymond Dearie, the special master recommended by Trump’s lawyers, expressed skepticism of the former president’s intimation that he might have declassified documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The documents are indisputably marked classified. Absent evidence to the contrary, that means that they are classified, and were classified when the FBI found them on August 8. If Trump wants Judge Dearie to question the government’s claim that the documents are classified, he will likely have to produce proof that he declassified them.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.