Trump didn't order declassification of Russia docs despite tweets to the contrary, Meadows says

President Donald Trump told White House chief of staff Mark Meadows his tweets about declassifying all Russia documents weren't an order to declassify or release those records, according to a sworn statement filed in court on Oct. 20. By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

(CNN) -- President Donald Trump told White House chief of staff Mark Meadows his tweets about declassifying all Russia documents weren't an order to declassify or release those records, according to a sworn statement filed in court on Tuesday.

"The President indicated to me that his statements on Twitter were not self-executing declassification orders and do not require the declassification or release of any particular documents," Meadows wrote.

He added that Trump's tweets "related to" authority the President delegated to Attorney General William Barr to decide what records should be declassified.

The statement comes after a judge asked for clarity on why the Trump tweets appeared to be in direct opposition to the White House's position not to declassify the Russia records. But Meadows and the White House on Tuesday maintained that no more records needed to be released.

Trump tweeted earlier this month: "I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!"

He also wrote, "All Russia Hoax Scandal information was Declassified by me long ago. Unfortunately for our Country, people have acted very slowly, especially since it is perhaps the biggest political crime in the history of our Country. Act!!!"

CNN, BuzzFeed and the transparency group Electronic Privacy Information Center are suing for access to more records from the Mueller investigation, and raised the President's tweets about declassification in court.

A federal judge plans to hold a court hearing about the potential release of more records from the Mueller investigation and declassification tweets on Wednesday.

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