Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN anchor Jake Tapper that he can’t defend former President Donald Trump’s behavior as described in the federal charges made against him and his handling of classified documents while insisting that prosecutors will have to “prove” if he truly broke the law.
“Now, with respect to this litigation, it’s going to go forward. 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. And it’s a legal process that’s going to have to go forward,” Turner, who has repeatedly defended Trump over the last year, said on CNN’S “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Tapper questioned Turner about the classified documents that federal authorities seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and how Republicans have struggled to defend Trump. The investigation into Trump’s handling of the documents led to his arrest and arraignment last week.
“You care about national security. When you saw the insecure way those documents were stored at Mar-a-Lago, did it make your stomach churn?” Tapper asked Turner.
“Well, it’s certainly of grave concern,” Turner replied. He explained that he and leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees looked over the documents that Trump and Biden each respectively held on to.
“And I can tell you that, from having looked at both of those documents, I have grave concern about both of those type of documents being out in an unsecured place. Both of them included details of national security issues that should not have been outside of a controlled environment,” Turner added.
Still, Turner has previously defended Trump’s mishandling of the documents.
In August, Turner suggested the documents found in the investigation were “not necessarily things that are truly classified.” That same month, he questioned the FBI’s investigation altogether and demanded in a letter that FBI Director Christopher Wray explain why the agency searched Trump’s residence.
“There must be something higher on the national security level for him to do this. Remember, President Trump has more classified material in his head than he’s going to have in his desk. But yet they raided his home to see what he had in his desk. I think the American public wants answers,” Turner explained to CNN’s Pamela Brown in August.
Turner previously said he would not have held on to classified documents. In a February interview with Tapper, the Republican said he was “stumped” as to why an elected official would do so.
“I don’t get it with Biden, Pence or Trump,” he said.