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McCaul says “a different set of rules” applies to Trump regarding the declassification of documents.
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While on ABC, McCaul said he would not personally transport such materials to his hometown.
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Trump claimed last month that he had released the documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Texas GOP Representative Michael McCaul said on Sunday that while he would bring unclassified material to his personal residence, he claimed during an interview that “a different set of rules” applied to former President Donald Trump.
during a interview on ABC’s “This Week” with co-anchor Martha Raddatz, McCaul — a former federal prosecutor and the principal member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — said that while he had extensive experience dealing with sensitive documents, he never served as a commander either. had served -chef.
“You know, I’ve lived in the secret world for most of my professional career, personally I wouldn’t,” he said of transporting classified material to his residence. “But I’m not the president of the United States.”
He continued: “He has other rules that apply to him. I know they were taken out of the White House while he was president and whether or not he released those documents remains to be seen. He says so. I don’t know all the facts there.”
Last month, the FBI searched Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where federal officials retrieved several boxes of classified and top-secret documents.
The subsequent release of the search revealed that agents were looking for documents related to possible violations of the Espionage Act, which prohibits the unauthorized removal of defense-related information that could help a foreign government. Trump is also under investigation for possible obstruction of law violations.
The documents — regardless of whether they were considered classified or not — would be turned over to the National Archives upon the former president’s departure from the Oval Office under the Presidential Records Act.
Last month, Trump said the documents taken by agents had been “released,” but more than a dozen ex-Trump White House officials disputed his claims.
McCaul later noted in the interview that he “didn’t have all the facts” regarding the FBI search.
“I know they were taken out of the White House while he was president and whether or not he released those documents remains to be seen,” he said. “He says yes. I don’t have all the facts to hand.’
“There is a process for declassification. But again, the president is in a very different position than most of us in the national security space. We – the relevant committees on the Hill – have requested briefings on this to find out what is so important was here from a national security standpoint that would merit such an extreme measure to have a search warrant against a former president of the United States,” he added.
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