Oh boy - I wondered what this whole Mar A Lago thing was about

disciple Clint said:

Are they? Has any one of us seen them? I have not nor do I know if Trump declassified them while he was president, he had that power.

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It’s a pretty lame defense given the risk to national security.

"He had to identify the specific documents he was declassifying, he needed to memorialize the order in writing for bureaucratic and historical purposes, and he needed to have staff physically modify the classification markings on the documents themselves," Moss said. "Until that was done, the documents, per the security classification procedures, still have to be handled, transmitted and stored as if they were classified."

It's pretty funny to me the AG is saying Trump spilled the beans about the raid taking place, as if it would have been a secret otherwise.

MMXX said:

It's pretty funny to me the AG is saying Trump spilled the beans about the raid taking place, as if it would have been a secret otherwise.

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Trump being incapable of remaining silent is not Garland’s responsibility.

cow451 said:

Trump being incapable of remaining silent is not Garland’s responsibility.

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All the live breaking news coverage of the raid and people filming it on their phones and posting to social media wouldn't have given it away?

MMXX said:

All the live breaking news coverage of the raid and people filming it on their phones and posting to social media wouldn't have given it away?

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Again, Trump’s inability to shut his mouth is not the DOJ’s problem.

On Monday evening, Trump said in a statement that "a large group" of FBI agents was searching his Mar-a-Lago home and accused the bureau of prosecutorial misconduct and suggested the raid was politically motivated to prevent him from running for president in 2024.
Trump did himself a favor announcing the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago home, allowing him to energize his base and reclaim the spotlight, experts on political and media framing said

disciple Clint said:

He could have while he was president so that needs to be checked before we jump to conclusions

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If the reports are accurate and the FBI was searching for Restricted material, he actually does not have the power to declassify it. Nuclear information is automatically classified by the Atomic Energy Act, and that same Act gives power to declassify not to the President but to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

MMXX said:

Germany yes, but about fifteen years earlier.

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Ah, FBI = Gestapo, not Stasi. Thanks for the lesson.

Arcangl86 said:

If the reports are accurate and the FBI was searching for Restricted material, he actually does not have the power to declassify it. Nuclear information is automatically classified by the Atomic Energy Act, and that same Act gives power to declassify not to the President but to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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Given the number of times even Trump’s lawyers have been in trouble with the law, it would not be wise to let him walk around with atomic secrets. Roy Cohn was indicted, but died of HIV. Michael Cohen was convicted and imprisoned. Rudi Guiliani lost his license to practice law.

Trump people wanted to sell nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia. People worried the Arabs might get a bomb. 19 of the 9-11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
U.S. approved secret nuclear power work for Saudi Arabia

cow451 said:

Again, Trump’s inability to shut his mouth is not the DOJ’s problem.

On Monday evening, Trump said in a statement that "a large group" of FBI agents was searching his Mar-a-Lago home and accused the bureau of prosecutorial misconduct and suggested the raid was politically motivated to prevent him from running for president in 2024.
Trump did himself a favor announcing the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago home, allowing him to energize his base and reclaim the spotlight, experts on political and media framing said

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It's something everyone would have known about anyways. I know, I know, it's not the DOJ's problem.

durangodawood said:

Ah, FBI = Gestapo, not Stasi. Thanks for the lesson.

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I was being coy.

The overall record in wiki does not show any US dealing with Saudi Arabia with nuclear energy.

Nuclear power in Saudi Arabia - Wikipedia

MMXX said:

It's something everyone would have known about anyways. I know, I know, it's not the DOJ's problem.

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Correct. The FBI and DOJ are not Trump’s mommy.

HTacianas said:

Now we know where and how it began. This is a report on the origins of the "Presidential Records Act" violations reported by the National Archives and the person who initiated them.

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Yes, we know a former president ignored a subpoena to turn over documents.

Fantine said:

It's arithmetic. It's about an ex- president leaving with 27 boxes, giving back 15 and calling that cooperation.

Would you like to have someone in charge of the federal budget who was asked to return 100% of the boxes and only returned 55 5/9%?

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If true....he's roughly guilty of the same thing Hillary was when she used her personal phone for classified information.

I thought they were looking for something more serious. He's probably not going to jail for this. Is there nothing more they were after?

Ana the Ist said:

If true....he's roughly guilty of the same thing Hillary was when she used her personal phone for classified information.

I thought they were looking for something more serious. He's probably not going to jail for this. Is there nothing more they were after?

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They don't seem to realize they are helping him if they don't have anything that would prevent him from running again.

BPPLEE said:

They don't seem to realize they are helping him if they don't have anything that would prevent him from running again.

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I suspect "they" (FBI) have a very good reason for going after him that has nothing to do with whether Trump runs again. We'll learn soon enough....at which point, all the talking heads casting shade on the FBI will have moved on to another target...

wing2000 said:

I suspect "they" (FBI) have a very good reason for going after him that has nothing to do with whether Trump runs again. We'll learn soon enough....at which point, all the talking heads casting shade on the FBI will have moved on to another target...

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Their record with Trump gives me reason to be skeptical.

BPPLEE said:

Their record with Trump gives me reason to be skeptical.

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I have multiple reasons not to trust Trump, on anything.

As for the US government, trust but verify is my approach.

Of course, we as citizens may never be able to verify the government's reasons if, say, the reports are true that some of the documents contain US nuclear program information. We would have to trust the US government as there is no way the government will every reveal those details (and for good reason). At most, they may hint at the nature of the information...

disciple Clint said:

Are they? Has any one of us seen them? I have not nor do I know if Trump declassified them while he was president, he had that power.

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It's a mistake to think that a president has the authority to unilaterally declassify anything he chooses to.
Can you imagine if a president declassified the nuclear codes or the names of all the CIA and Secret Service agents around the world and posted them on tweeter?
There are safeguards against that type of thing happening.

BPPLEE said:

They don't seem to realize they are helping him if they don't have anything that would prevent him from running again.

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If they find materials that he shouldn't have they have done exactly what they set out to do whether it means he can run again or not.