Trump declassifies documents related to 'Russia Hoax,' Clinton's email server
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he declassified all documents related to the FBI investigation into Russian election meddling and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
Trump’s decision to release came hours after John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, released CIA memos that suggest Russian operatives had intelligence showing Clinton personally approving a plan to tie the president to Russia hacking Democrats during the 2016 election.
“I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!” Trump tweeted Tuesday night. He has teased releasing the documents in the past.
Republicans are nervous that any information about the intelligence community’s activities related to the Trump campaign would never be revealed. There is now only 28 days until Election Day and former Vice President Joe Biden is leading by large margins in some polls.
"All Russia Hoax Scandal information was Declassified by me long ago," Trump wrote in a follow-up tweet Tuesday. "Unfortunately for our Country, people have acted very slowly, especially since it is perhaps the biggest political crime in the history of our Country."
Recently declassified documents revealed that the FBI obtained evidence in 2017 that Russian intelligence officers likely gave disinformation to dossier author Christopher Steele, who investigated the Trump campaign leading up to the 2016 election on behalf the Clinton campaign.
Ratcliffe shared declassified information last week with the Senate Judiciary Committee that showed U.S. intelligence agents forwarding an investigative referral on Clinton supposedly signing off on “a plan concerning U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering U.S. elections” to divert the public from her email scandals.
The allegations are “baseless bull*hit,” Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said during a Politico interview last week.
