One of scandal-ridden ex-President Donald Trump’s most fervent defense claims in the infamous Mar-a-Lago stolen document case just went to Hell in a handbasket after damning new evidence was obtained in the DOJ Special Counsel investigation, suggesting that Trump knew full and well the correct procedure to declassify government materials and just simply chose not to adhere to those guidelines, according to bombshell new reporting from CNN.
CNN reports that the National Archives and Records Administration penned a letter to Donald Trump on May 16th, in which NARA informed the disgraced ex-president that it possessed 16 records that would prove that Trump and his advisors were fully aware of the appropriate procedure for declassifying federal government documents and materials. NARA further confirmed in that letter that it would be providing those damning records to Garland-appointed Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is running point on the DOJ’s numerous investigations into the 45th president, including their probe into the stolen document scandal.
In the letter, obtained and reported on by CNN, acting NARA Archivist Debra Steidel Wall wrote to Donald Trump:
The 16 records in question all reflect communications involving close presidential advisers, some of them directed to you personally, concerning whether, why, and how you should declassify certain classified records.”
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These mere 16 presidential records could prove to have damning consequences for Donald Trump and his inner circle, as they’re all but certain to prove that the ex-president, along with his advisors, were competently knowledgeable of the correct declassification process. This is pivotal information in the Special Counsel document investigation, as it would essentially prove that Trump knew the correct way to handle these materials and just blatantly chose not to follow the correct legal procedure.
A source with knowledge of recent grand jury testimony by former top Trump officials spoke with CNN on the topic and confirmed that this evidence could serve to prove that the ex-president intentionally acted with willful disregard for what he knew was well-established legal protocol pertaining to classified, top-secret government documents and materials.
Trump has repeatedly and very publicly asserted that his position as President of the United States made him exempt from declassification protocols. In fact, Donald doubled down hard on this defense claim during the recent CNN town hall event, where he declared to the world: “And, by the way, they become automatically declassified when I took them.”
The ex-president has continually invoked claims of “constitutionally based privilege” in a desperate effort to bring the DOJ document probe to a screeching halt, as noted in NARA’s letter. However, Wall vehemently disputes Trump’s 11th-hour defense claims before going on to further confirm that the DOJ Special Counsel’s office “is prepared to demonstrate with specificity to a court, why it is likely that the 16 records contain evidence that would be important to the grand jury’s investigation.”
Trump’s legal team has been contacted with regard to the bombshell development but has vehemently declined to disclose what sort of specific information is contained in the 16 documents now serving as evidence in the case.
The report did note that Donald Trump’s legal team could attempt to challenge the release of the 16 records to the Special Counsel on the basis of principle, and not necessarily because the documents contain anything incriminating against the ex-president.
Read the full bombshell report from CNN here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
