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Trump authorizes declassification of Russia 'collusion' and Hillary email probe papers, says 'no redactions!'

The president came up with tweets announcing the same a day after returning from the hospital where he received treatment for Covid-19

Ever since President Donald Trump has returned from the Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday, October 5, where he spent three nights receiving treatment after testing positive for Covid-19, he has been more intense in his actions. Less than a month before the next presidential election, the embattled Trump announced on Tuesday, October 6, that he had "fully authorized" declassification of all the documents that pertain to Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential poll and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server for official emails. 

While Trump himself has faced the heat over the first issue, he has tried to corner the Democrats over the second involving his opponent in the election four years ago. "I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax," the president said in one of his several tweets posted during the day. "Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!"

Trump's tweet was actually a response to a post by conservative author Paul Sperry, a former DC bureau chief for Investor's Business Daily and Hoover Institution media fellow, who sided with Trump saying: "When all the documents are finally declassified, and all the redactions removed from reports, the nation will see that the FBI and CIA not only knew the Russia "collusion" allegations against Trump were a political dirty trick, but that they were in on the trick."

In another fiery tweet, Trump said: "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." He then said: "Act!!!"

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who brought the president’s ire last weekend for contradicting the version of White House physician Sean Colney's on Trump's health, said on Monday that the commander-in-chief gave him the job of "getting some declassification rolling" since he himself was undergoing treatment. The officials started releasing the documents on Tuesday.

"Today, at the direction of President Trump, I declassified additional documents relevant to ongoing Congressional oversight and investigative activities," National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement to Fox News on Tuesday.

Trump asked AG Barr last year to declassify documents

Trump's latest announcement was not a sudden one. In May last year, he authorized Attorney General Bill Barr to declassify any document that was related to the alleged surveillance of his 2016 campaign. Then, he also asked the intelligence community to help Barr in his probe. Trump's allies, including Republicans on Capitol Hill leading their own probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, slammed top officials like the FBI and CIA directors saying they were trying to block the release of the documents. 

The president’s latest tweets came after Ratcliffe’s declassication revealed notes in which former CIA chief John Brennan spoke about an alleged plan "approved by Hillary Clinton" seeking to "vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service." The notes were taken after Brennan had a conversation with former president Barack Obama. 

According to the friends of the embattled president, the push for declassification could reduce the voters' concern over whether Trump had indeed colluded with Russia and better his re-election prospects.