overturning an executive order that s been in place since president reagan that said these intelligence leaders and only these leaders have the authority to declassify information. so much to unpack there. let me follow-up with you on two points. one, two former intelligence officials likened this move to the one that put secretary mattis over the edge. ultimately a lot of officials believed secretary mattis finally resigned not because he disagreed with the president s syria policy but he feared people s lives were at risk. they said that there might be a parallel concern in the intelligence community, that allies, informants, intelligence sharing agreements could be at risk if the attorney general, who has staked out ground for himself as an ally of the fringeiest kind of beliefs that the president and his allies and conservative media voice about the intelligence community. do you share that concern? i do. it s a bad thing, but it s one
of the power of the president. both presidents barack obama, bill clinton used their authority to declassify information. obama declassified hundreds of c.i.a. records in 2015. former president clinton declassified thousands of confidentialal documents surrounding the military.as but according to top democrats tonight, president trump hasou no authority to declassify these important fisa-related documents. we got shifty schiff calling it an abuse of power to put the country at risk. he joined three other democrats, demanding to be debriefed on the declassification before anything is released to the public. john brennan and others are calling on bureaucrats to defy the rule of law, the clear intent of the constitution andg disobey a president s direct executive order on this. not release documents. that will precipitate a massive constitutional crisis. as they try to take power constitutionally away from your elected president.
this constitutional investment of the power of the president. both presidents barack obama, bill clinton used their authority to declassify information. obama declassified hundreds of c.i.a. records in 2015. former president clinton declassified thousands of confidential documents surrounding the military. but according to top democrats tonight, president trump has no authority to declassify these important fisa-related documents. we got shifty schiff calling it an abuse of power to put the country at risk. and he demanded other democrats to be debriefed before it s released to public. john brennan and others are calling on bureaucrats to defy the rule of law, the clear intent of the constitution and disobey a president s direct executive order on this. not release documents. that will precipitate a massive constitutional crisis. as they try to take power constitutionally away from
by the way, i want a full investigation. why don t you? when senator grassley says he won t even call or compel supposedly the third party in the room there, won t do anymore due diligence he doesn t want a full investigation. then we get all tangled in the midterms. here s a woman who, you know, is a victim and now her situation is being tangled in the timing of an election. one last point. she s being victimized a second time by the process. yesterday we had the president declassify information in a current investigation in the name of transparency. but you don t want to have any kind of transparency with somebody who s going to be on the supreme court of the united states by doing a full investigation? i call that hypocrisy. welcome to the age of hypocrisy. michael, some democratic aides are floating the idea that some people, democrats should boycott the hearing on monday. is that a good strategic move? i don t know what the hearing on monday is going to be. that s entire
show. coming up next, the surprise move from the west wing. the president opting to declassify information. the deal with the special counsel investigation. why he did it. what s inside the documents and why the president s legal team might not be as in the know as you might think. i m ray and i quit smoking with chantix. i tried cold turkey, i tried the patch. they didn t work for me. i didn t think anything was going to work for me until i tried chantix. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. i needed that to quit. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get