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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to direct the Justice Department to declassify Crossfire Hurricane files related to false allegations that Trump campaign members colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
The FBI investigation records are expected to be released soon, following the order and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan’s request for the records.
“Except as provided below, I have determined that all of the materials referenced in the Presidential Memorandum of January 19, 2021 (Declassification of Certain Materials Related to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation), are no longer classified,” the order stated.
“My decision to declassify the materials described above does not extend to materials that must be protected from disclosure pursuant to orders of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and does not require the disclosure of certain personally identifiable information or any other materials that must be protected from disclosure under applicable law,” the order continued.
The records are to be released “immediately” according to Trump’s order.
“Subject to the exceptions identified above, the Attorney General shall make declassified materials described in this memorandum available to the public immediately,” the order included.
Trump shared additional comments with reporters during the Tuesday signing.
“You probably won’t bother because you’re not going to like what you see,” Trump said. “But this was total weaponization. It’s a disgrace. It should have never happened in this country. But now you’ll be able to see for yourselves. All declassified.”
White House staff secretary Will Scharf also shared comments about Trump preparing to sign the order at the White House.
“We believe that it’s long past time for the American people to have a full and complete understanding of what exactly is in those files,” Scharf said.
The FBI launched the Crossfire Hurricane investigation in July 2016 to determine whether members of Trump’s campaign were collaborating with Russian officials. This inquiry took place before Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel.
Mueller’s report concluded that there was no established coordination or conspiracy between Trump or his campaign and Russian officials to influence the 2016 election. However, his team chose not to determine whether Trump obstructed justice.
For years, Trump and his supporters have criticized the FBI’s investigation, claiming it was driven by political motives.
