After complaining that President Trump is being “lawless” by ordering the declassification of certain Russia-related documents, a Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee backed off a question on whether a broader effort that would encompass even more documents was more acceptable.
Speaking to CNN, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., accused Trump of “only putting forward to the American people what he believes helps him completely and recklessly risking sources and methods who could be put at risk and have their lives at risk.”
He also griped: “So you know, transparency is great, but he doesn’t want to put out the full story or all of the evidence that exists against him.”
When asked whether sources and methods would be taken out by the relevant intelligence agencies — a national security concern that reportedly is under consideration — Swalwell said “I hope” he’s been told about the importance of protecting sources and methods and then moved on to how he is “more concerned about the precedent of a person being investigated, being able to order declassification selectively because he thinks it helps him.”
On that selectivity point, Swalwell was asked if a more broad declassification, to which the Democrat said once again the problem is Trump himself.
“Well, the problem with how he views transparency is he thinks an ongoing investigation should have the facts that came forward so far put out in the that’s not how investigations work. And you don’t let subjects of investigations dictate the terms of investigations,” he replied.
[Related: John Brennan hopes ‘individuals of conscience’ will block Trump’s declassification order]
