President Trump formally declassified a large trove of Russiagate documents Tuesday evening over objections from the FBI.
The declassified documents are expected to be released by Wednesday.
President Trump said he received the materials in a binder on December 30 and decided to declassify and publicly release the documents.
“I determined that the materials in that binder should be declassified to the maximum extent possible,” the president said.
According to investigative reporter John Solomon, the binder is about a foot tall.
The FBI objected to a complete release of the documents and Trump agreed to light redactions.
“As part of the iterative process of the declassification review, under a cover letter dated January 17, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation noted its continuing objection to any further declassification of the materials in the binder and also, on the basis of a review that included Intelligence Community equities, identified the passages that it believed it was most crucial to keep from public disclosure. I have determined to accept the redactions proposed for continued classification by the FBI in that January 17 submission,” Trump said in a memo.
“I hereby declassify the remaining materials in the binder. This is my final determination under the declassification review and I have directed the Attorney General to implement the redactions proposed in the FBI’s January 17 submission and return to the White House an appropriately redacted copy.”
John Solomon reported on Just The News that the documents will include an FBI memo outlining interviews agents did with dossier author Christopher Steele.
Just the News has already reported the materials include an FBI memo summarizing an interview agents did in fall 2017 with anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele, in which he acknowledged his motives for leaking the Russia collusion narrative during the 2016 U.S. election as well as tasking orders for another confidential human source to spy on the Trump campaign by posing as someone seeking a job.
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