What did the declassified documents reveal?

Cold Open: This is a Memorandum from the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, dated January 20, 2021, regarding the review of declassified materials related to the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The document is part of a larger collection released by The Black Vault, a non-profit organization that provides access to declassified government records. The document can be found on the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/download/210120-meadows-declass/210120-meadows-declassdjvu.txt. Provenance: The document was released by The Black Vault, with no specific FOIA case number or declassification authority cited. The document was likely declassified in accordance with the President's Memorandum dated January 19, 2021, which declassified certain materials related to the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The Document: THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON January 20, 2021 MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FROM: The Chief of Staff MAb SUBJECT: Privacy Act Review of Certain Declassified Materials Related to the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation By Memorandum dated January 19, 2021, the President declassified certain materials related the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The President's Memorandum specifically stated: “My decision to declassify materials within the binder is subject to the limits identified above and does not extend to materials that must be protected from disclosure pursuant to orders of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and does not require the disclosure of certain personally identifiable information or any other materials that must be protected from disclosure under applicable law.” Based on directions provided to the Department of Justice and our understanding that a review for protecting privacy interests had been conducted by the Department of Justice and that additional redactions to protect privacy interests had been applied to the materials, the President also stated: “[A]t my direction, the Attorney General has conducted an appropriate review to ensure that materials provided in the binder may be disclosed by the White House in accordance with applicable law.” We understand that the Office of Legal Counsel has advised that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House and thus would not apply to any disclosure of documents by the White House. Nevertheless, we do not intend to disclose materials that would violate the standards of the Privacy Act and, in particular, materials the disclosure of which would constitute “an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Accordingly, I am returning the bulk of the binder of declassified documents to the Department of Justice (including all that appear to have a potential to raise privacy concerns) with the instruction that the Department must expeditiously conduct a Privacy Act review under the standards that the Department of Justice would normally apply, redact material appropriately, and release the remaining…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

Meadows Declassified Trump Documents

◆ BLUF — The short version

Cold Open: This is a Memorandum from the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, dated January 20, 2021, regarding the review of declassified materials related to the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The document is part of a larger collection released by The Black Vault, a non-profit organization that provides access to declassified government records.

Date: JUL 31 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

↯ Dispatch — press play2:54

0:002:54

↯ Share

X in r/

Episode notes

View the primary source document

Questions about this case

What was Meadows Declassified Trump Documents about?: Cold Open: This is a Memorandum from the Chief of Staff to the Attorney General, dated January 20, 2021, regarding the review of declassified materials related to the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The document is part of a larger collection released by The Black Vault, a non-profit organization that provides access to declassified government records.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

the-unexplained

Related cases

✉ Dispatches

A short dispatch when a new file is released — narrated, answer-first, and linked straight to the primary source. No spam; unsubscribe anytime.

↯ Subscribe to the feed

RSS feed Browse all cases

Meadows Declassified Trump Documents

Questions about this case

Related cases

Declassified Assessment On Covid 19 Origins

Army Conducted Germ Warfare Tests. In Washington's National Airport | By Stacy Young And Andy Lenarcic (declassified)

Declassified Documents About The Iran Iraq War

Communist Insurgency In Thailand

The Report Of "a"

Questions about this case

Related cases

Declassified Assessment On Covid 19 Origins

Army Conducted Germ Warfare Tests. In Washington's National Airport | By Stacy Young And Andy Lenarcic (declassified)

Declassified Documents About The Iran Iraq War

Communist Insurgency In Thailand

The Report Of "a"

Get the next declassified case in your inbox