Jordan defends Trump: A president can control access to classified material ‘however he wants’
The president of the United States, “can classify and he can control access to national security information however he wants,” Rep. Jim Jordan said Sunday in defense of former President Donald Trump.
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,“ Jordan (R-Ohio) supported Trump, who faces 37 federal charges stemming from an investigation into a cache of classified documents he had stored at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort.
The indictment alleges that Trump violated the Espionage Act through “willful retention” of classified records. Photos included in the 49-page charging document appear to show boxes of documents stored in a bathroom and a ballroom at Trump’s Florida property.
"If he wants to store material in a box in a bathroom, in a box on the stage, he can do that," Jordan said.
On Sunday, Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary committee, contested that the documents the former president held onto were actually classified.
“He said time and time again he declassified all this,” Jordan told host Dana Bash.
When asked if he had any evidence that Trump had declassified the material, which prosecutors say included intelligence about defense and weapons capabilities, Jordan said: “I go on the president's word, and he said he did.”
“He said he declassified this material,” Jordan added. “He can put it wherever he wants and handle it however he wants.”