Politics
JUST IN: Trump Signs Memo Declassifying Crossfire Hurricane Files
President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping presidential memorandum ordering the immediate declassification of all FBI files related to the now-infamous Crossfire Hurricane investigation, a probe that the 47th president has long described as politically motivated and corrupt.
The announcement came from White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf, who presented the memo for Trump’s signature. The directive orders federal agencies to release all documents surrounding the FBI’s 2016 investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russian officials—an operation many critics have dubbed a blatant abuse of government power.
“This was total weaponization,” Trump said. “It’s a disgrace. It never happened in this country. But now you’ll be able to see for yourselves, all declassified.”
Scharf confirmed that the memorandum includes “all FBI files,” noting that the only remaining classified materials involve a separate annex. “Other than that, this will put everything in the public eye,” he said.
President Trump didn’t hold back in his criticism of federal law enforcement. “The FBI should be ashamed of themselves, and so should the Department of Justice, and so should Biden,” Trump said to the media. “You probably won’t bother [to read them] because you’re not going to like what you see.”
WATCH:
The Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which began in July 2016 under the Obama administration, became the centerpiece of a years-long narrative pushed by Democrats and the corporate press—claiming Trump colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election.
That narrative fell apart after the Mueller report failed to find evidence of a criminal conspiracy, and further scrutiny, including the Durham investigation, revealed glaring misconduct, misrepresentations, and the use of discredited sources to justify surveillance on Trump campaign officials.
In a separate announcement from the same meeting, President Trump also issued a pardon to Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business associate turned whistleblower. Archer, who had testified before Congress about the Biden family’s foreign business dealings, had been convicted in a securities fraud case.
According to Scharf, Archer’s prosecution took a sharp turn after he began cooperating with congressional investigators and publicly linking Hunter Biden to questionable overseas ventures. “The tone and tenor of that prosecution changed dramatically,” Scharf told the president. “We believe that was an injustice.”
Trump agreed, stating, “He was treated very unfairly. I looked at the records, studied the records—and he was a victim of a crime, as far as I’m concerned.” Signing the pardon, Trump joked, “Congratulations, Devon.”
Both moves—a full declassification of what Trump calls a “witch hunt” and a pardon for a man who helped expose potential corruption at the highest levels of the Biden family—signal a bold approach from Trump’s newly inaugurated administration.
Archer is best known for his involvement with Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company, where both he and Hunter served on the board of directors starting around 2014. Archer has been at the center of controversy due to his business ties with Hunter and allegations that the Biden family leveraged political connections for financial gain.
These issues became a focal point during congressional investigations, especially among House Republicans probing potential influence-peddling by the Bidens. In 2023, Archer testified behind closed doors to the House Oversight Committee, stating that Hunter would occasionally put his father on speakerphone during business meetings to impress clients.
