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- Fox News host Peter Doocy wondered aloud why Trump kept "all that secret stuff at Mar-a-Lago."
- Doocy said he couldn't recall any president "carting off" so many files during their time in office.
- He also questioned why Trump didn't simply hand the documents over, given their classified nature.
"Fox & Friends" host Steve Doocy is the latest media ally of former President Donald Trump to call him out over the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago.
During a Wednesday episode of the show, Doocy asked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, another Trump ally, for her take on the Mar-a-Lago raid — but not before wondering aloud why Trump didn't hand over the documents to the government and instead took them to Florida home.
"Well, ultimately it comes down to — why did he have all that secret stuff at Mar-a-Lago?" Doocy asked.
He referenced Trump's claim about declassifying the files through a standing order and pointed out that this defense didn't hold up as the supposed move was also "news to the agencies that those documents belong to."
"He had, apparently, three classified documents in his desk," Doocy said, referring to the DOJ's court filing on the raid.
Doocy also referred to a photo released by the DOJ of the top-secret documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
"It shows five yellow folders marked 'top secret,' and another one with that says 'secret SCI' which means 'sensitive compartmentalized information,'" Doocy said. "Those are the biggest secrets in the world."
Noem attempted to defend Trump, calling for more transparency in the DOJ's investigation. However, Doocy sidestepped her argument and stated: "I don't think any President has ever carted off that many documents to their house after they left the presidency."
Doocy is just one of many members of Rupert Murdoch's media empire who appear to have shifted their stance on supporting Trump in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Fox News host Eric Shawn asked aloud during a live broadcast if Trump could have tried to "sell or share" classified information with Russia or Saudi Arabia.
In July, Trump also expressed his unhappiness with "Fox & Friends," a talk show he was known to do nearly weekly calls with during his presidency. In a Truth Social post, he called the talk show "terrible" and said it had "gone to the dark side" after Doocy questioned his poll numbers.
These rumblings from Fox News hosts may signal a shift in Murdoch's empire's attitude toward Trump. This week, for one, the former president raged against the Murdoch-owned New York Post over an opinion piece it published titled "Republicans are lucky to have Mitch McConnell: Trump's gripes are beyond ridiculous."
The Post also denounced Trump in an editorial piece in July, calling him "unworthy to be this country's chief executive again." Additionally, the Wall Street Journal — another Murdoch-owned publication — called Trump "The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6" while praising former Vice President Mike Pence.
Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating whether Trump broke three federal laws, including the Espionage Act, by keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The agency removed 11 sets of classified documents — some of which were marked top secret and concerned nuclear weapons, according to The Washington Post — from the property while executing a search warrant on August 8.
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