CNN’s Gangel: 18 Trump Officials Dismiss Declassification Standing Order Claim, ‘Bullsh-t,’ ‘Ridiculous’

CNN reporter Jamie Gangel said Thursday on “The Lead” that 18 former Trump administration officials disputed the former president’s claim he had a standing order that allowed him to declassify documents.

Gangel said, “It wasn’t just a couple of people. We reached out to 18 former very senior Trump officials. White House, intelligence community, NSA, Justice Department, even his former chiefs of staff. Many of these people either would have been involved in the process or would have been aware of the process. And each and every one, all 18, dismiss the notion that there was any standing order for a sweeping declassification. Some of them even laughed at it, and this doesn’t happen often. They even went on the record.”

She continued, “So let’s start with former chief of staff John Kelly said, ‘Nothing approaching an order that foolish was ever given, and I can’t imagine anyone that worked at the White House after me that would have simply shrugged their shoulders and allowed that order to go forward without dying in the ditch trying to stop it.’ Another chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, flatly dismissed the idea.”

Gangel added, “Another senior official laughed and said, ‘it’s ridiculous.’ And a very, very senior Trump administration official called it ‘bullshit.’ And there were a couple of other officials who said that.”

She concluded, “A couple of others said it was BS.”

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