Top GOP senators reject Trump’s declassification comments and call for proper storage of secret records

(CNN)- Several GOP senators raised new concerns Thursday about former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, rejecting his claim that he could simply declassify the secret records by “thinking about it.”

In interviews with CNN, the senators broke from Trump’s claim that everything was handled appropriately, diverging from many in the party who have sidestepped questions about the matter or have vigorously defended the former President.

Asked about Trump’s claim on Fox News that he could simply declassify documents by thinking about it and there’s no process for him to follow to do that, Senate GOP Whip John Thune told CNN there’s a process for declassifying documents.

“And I think it ought to be adhered to and followed. And I think that should apply to anybody who has access to or deals with classified information,” Thune said.

“I think the concern is about those being taken from the White House absent some way of declassifying them or the fact that there were classified documents removed — without sort of the appropriate safeguards,” the South Dakota Republican continued, adding, “I think that is what the Justice Department is getting at.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, a two-term Republican from North Carolina who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told CNN that he believes there’s a process that must be followed by a President to declassify the records.

“I believe there’s a formal process that needs to go through, that needs to be gone through and documented,” Tillis said “And to the extent they were declassified, gone through the process, that’s fine. … As I understand the Executive Branch requirements, there is a process that one must go through.”