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Presidential record-keeping laws may be overhauled after Trump indictment: Congressman Turner

The House Intelligence Committee is eyeing an overhaul of presidential record-keeping laws in the wake of Donald Trump’s indictment, according to its chairman.

Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) cited “grave concerns” about Trump’s handling of classified documents, but underscored that every administration has been mired by careless handling of sensitive material.

“What my committee is doing on a bipartisan basis is looking at how did this occur [and] what laws need to be changed,” Turner told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday morning.

“What we heard from the Archives [is that] every administration since Reagan has delivered to them documents, including classified and unclassified documents, mixed. And 80 members of Congress have sent documents to libraries where the library had to subsequently get in touch with them and say, ‘We’ve found classified documents,'” he added.

Turner did not elaborate on the specific changes his panel is considering.

Presidents are required to relinquish documents to the National Archives and Records Administration under the President Records Act, but the law has very little teeth.

Former President Donald Trump was arraigned on a 37-count indictment largely revolving around his Alleged Illegal Hoarding of sensitive intelligence documents.Shutterstock

Trump, 77, was pressed by the National Archives repeatedly to turn over documents he held following his departure from the White House. The agency subsequently found classified material in the stash, prompting an inquiry from the Justice Department.

Trump was formally arraigned last week on a 37-count indictment largely revolving around his alleged illegal hoarding of sensitive intelligence documents from his presidency.

Trump has vehemently denied wrongdoing and decried Special Counsel Jack Smith’s inquiry as a “witch hunt.”

Rep. Mike Turner underscored that every administration has been mired by careless handling of sensitive material in the decision to overhaul presidential record-keeping laws.CNN

“With respect to this litigation, it’s going to go forth and I’m certainly not going to defend the behavior that is listed in that complaint, but they’re going to have to prove it,” Turner said of the indictment against Trump.

As the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Turner has seen some of the documents that Trump held at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Members of the so-called “Gang of Eight” which includes includes the chairman and vicemen of the House and Senate intelligence committees, as well as congressional leaders, got access to some of the classified material earlier this year following a protracted fight with the intelligence community.

That batch also included the classified documents that were recovered from President Biden’s think tank in Washington, DC, and Wilmington, Del., residence.

Biden is facing an ongoing inquiry led by special counsel Robert Hur on the matter.

“I can tell you that from having looked at both of those documents, I have grave concerns about both of those type of documents being out in unsecured plates — both of them included details of national security,” Turner said, referring to both the Trump and Biden caches.

Turner also revealed that his panel is mulling reforms to the FISA court process in the wake of the Durham report, which was released last month.

Former Special Counsel John Durham’s report concluded there were a number of flaws in the FBI’s investigation of alleged links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

His report noted that “neither US law enforcement nor the intelligence community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,” referring to the inquiry of alleged Trump-Russia links. 

It also flagged FISA wrongdoing by Trump-Russia investigators over the reliance on the controversial and heavily disputed dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele.

“What we have found is that there are problems in the entire process with the FISA courts,” said Turner. “I’ve spoken to him directly. [He agreed] to give us his insight as to what changes he thinks should be made. And that’s the work that our committee is doing.”



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Presidential record-keeping laws may be overhauled after Trump indictment: Congressman Turner

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