Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump White House adviser on national security matters, told Newsmax Sunday morning that all living U.S. presidents — from Jimmy Carter to Joe Biden — maintain lifetime "top secret" security clearance with the United States government.
And that includes former President Donald Trump.
As such, the FBI and Department of Justice had "no justification" in raiding Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last week, especially since the national security documents in question had already been declassified, says Gorka.
Trump had a "standing order on specific documents that were to be declassified," said Gorka, while appearing on "Wake Up America" with hosts Carl Higbie and Christina Thompson. "The idea of this raid being justified is just bogus."
Gorka went on to explain that process: "The classification of documents pertaining to national security exists for [only one person], the commander-in-chief. The president can declassify. The president can give clearances like that [snaps fingers]."
There's another alarming element to the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid, said Gorka: This wasn't an amicable search of a retired president. Trump is an active politician who, by all accounts, will pursue another White House run in 2024.
The FBI's raid, from Gorka's perspective, was akin to "Gestapo-like tactics" of Nazi Germany from the 1930s and ’40s, or a modern-day, "state-sanctioned burglary."
"You're raiding the residence of a future presidential candidate," said Gorka.
When asked if Trump was ready to make a formal announcement in the coming days, Gorka's responded that Trump would "absolutely" be running. It just hasn't been determined if the public notice will occur before or after the November midterm elections.
"Several people I know have already counseled [Trump] to announce it before the midterms, and I think an illegal raid on Mar-a-Lago is even more reason to do so," said Gorka, adding, "stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen, and Newsmax viewers."
Prior to joining the White House, Gorka had been responsible for training approximately 5,000 FBI agents on various ISIS threats.
Back then, Gorka said, the FBI had a "pristine" reputation among law enforcement agencies.
But now, the FBI has morphed into a "Gestapo-like police state," said Gorka. "It's galling. It's shocking. It saddens me, and I don't think it's salvageable."
Gorka said trust with the FBI vanished after "armed agents [went] into a president's private residence ... demanding the security cameras be turned off."
Gorka added, "I am disgusted by the FBI," and unless the every-day field agents stand up and call for substantial reform, "the whole thing's going to be dismantled."
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