In a direct move against Donald Trump's main narrative in the Mar-a-Lago case — in which he claims to have been in rightful possession of sensitive government materials because he declassified them himself — former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told special counsel Jack Smith's investigators that he can't recall an instance where that ever actually took place.
According to ABC News, which received info from sources close to the matter, "[Meadows] could not recall Trump ever ordering, or even discussing, declassifying broad sets of classified materials before leaving the White House, nor was he aware of any 'standing order' from Trump authorizing the automatic declassification of materials taken out of the Oval Office."
In the outlet's reporting of this shoot-down of Trump's main defense in this case, they also mention getting a first look at an early draft of the prologue to Meadows' book, "The Chief's Chief," which makes mention of Trump just casually displaying a classified war plan in his Bedminster, New Jersey during a meeting attended by Meadows' ghostwriter and publicist. The reference to that document was later removed.
