Trump cracked the FBI wide open by declassifying these critical documents
Americans demand accountability. They’ve been in the shadows for too long.
Now Trump cracked the FBI wide open by declassifying these critical documents.
Trump Opens the Vault on Crossfire Hurricane
President Trump took a decisive swing on Tuesday, signing an order to declassify all FBI files tied to Crossfire Hurricane—the clandestine 2016 probe that hunted for ties between his campaign and Russia but came up empty.
The move, unveiled amid a flurry of executive actions, cracks open a chapter that shadowed his first term, promising to lay bare what his team calls a glaring misuse of federal power.
Standing beside him, White House staff secretary Will Scharf handed over the memorandum with a clear pitch: “We believe that it’s long past time for the American people to have a full and complete understanding of exactly what is in those files.”
Trump’s legal crew has long framed the investigation as a textbook case of law enforcement overreach, and this order doubles down on a campaign vow to shine a light on government weaponization—and shut it down.
Targeting a Firm and a Familiar Foe
The declassification wasn’t the only jab Trump landed. He also inked an executive order zeroing in on Jenner & Block, a law firm that once employed Andrew Weissmann—a former top deputy to Robert Mueller, whose two-year investigation into Trump-Russia links found no collusion.
The order yanks security clearances, bars the firm from government contracts, and restricts access to federal buildings. Scharf didn’t mince words, accusing the firm of “weaponization of the legal system against American principles and values.” Trump, meanwhile, branded Weissmann “a bad guy,” tying the firm to a narrative of bias that’s dogged him since day one.
Crossfire Hurricane, kicked off in July 2016 under Obama-era FBI Director James Comey, set the stage for Mueller’s sprawling probe. It morphed into a saga of secret surveillance and a dodgy spy warrant, fueled by the infamous Steele dossier—bankrolled by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
That dossier, packed with unverified claims like Trump’s alleged Moscow hotel antics, became the shaky backbone for a warrant targeting campaign aide Carter Page. Another staffer, George Papadopoulos, faced accusations of receiving Russian dirt on Clinton, though no solid proof ever surfaced.
A Probe’s Fallout and a Push for Answers
For months, leaks from the investigation fed Democrats’ charges of Russian collusion, painting Trump’s presidency as tainted. He didn’t hold back on Tuesday, calling it “total weaponization” and “a disgrace” without precedent.
“Frankly, the FBI should be ashamed of themselves, and so should the Department of Justice and so should Biden,” he said, pinning the blame on Obama and Biden, who knew of the probe while it stayed hidden from him. The Mueller report later confirmed Russian election meddling but cleared Trump’s campaign of coordination—a finding that didn’t stop the political firestorm.
Digging deeper, a Justice Department inspector general flagged “gross incompetence and negligence” in the FBI’s warrant process, though it stopped short of proving bias.
A 2023 report by U.S. Attorney John Durham went further, slamming the FBI for launching Crossfire Hurricane without solid footing. Trump, who axed Comey and later pushed out FBI chief Christopher Wray before his second term, once took flak for claiming Obama spied on him—only for evidence to prove him right. He’s since dubbed the whole ordeal “a witch hunt,” a label that’s stuck.
Now, with the files set to spill, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), a vocal critic of the probe, is champing at the bit.
“I think you need a reckoning. You need wrongdoing exposed. If you are ever going to fix these agencies, you’ve gotta expose the wrongdoing,” he said. As the dust settles, Trump’s order promises a raw look at a contentious past—whether it’s vindication or just more fuel for debate remains to be seen.
