ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump ordered Tuesday the immediate declassification of documents related to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, marking the latest move in his ongoing battle against the probe into alleged Russian ties to his 2016 campaign.

"I have determined that all of the materials referenced in the Presidential Memorandum of Jan. 19, 2021 (Declassification of Certain Materials Related to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation), are no longer classified," Trump said in a presidential memorandum released by the White House on its official website.

Trump’s directive follows his initial order on Jan. 19, 2021, to declassify materials from the investigation.

However, those documents were never fully disclosed. Now, with this new order, the Department of Justice must release them to the public.

Yet, the president specified that materials marked for redaction by the FBI in a cover letter dated Jan. 17, 2021, "remains classified."

Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the move in a statement, calling Crossfire Hurricane "an example of weaponized government against President Trump at its worst that must never be allowed to happen again."

Additionally, documents subject to orders from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or containing personally identifiable information will not be disclosed.

The memorandum instructs Attorney General Merrick Garland to "make declassified materials described in this memorandum available to the public immediately."

Crossfire Hurricane was the FBI’s investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russian operatives.

The probe led to the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose 2019 report found no conclusive evidence of collusion but outlined instances of possible obstruction of justice.

Trump’s allies, including FBI Director Kash Patel, have long advocated for full disclosure.

"Put out the documents. Put out the evidence," Patel urged in a Fox News appearance last November, arguing that Americans need to see how the investigation was conducted.

Trump has long criticized the investigation as politically motivated, while his opponents argue that the inquiry uncovered significant concerns about foreign influence in US elections.

The FBI previously released some redacted materials under a Freedom of Information Act request, but conservative journalist John Solomon, whom Trump designated as his representative to the National Archives, has pushed for full access, even filing lawsuits to obtain the binder of documents.

The declassification order is expected to reignite debates over the handling of the probe and its political implications.