Trump says he can declassify documents just "by thinking about it".

[RDKirk]

Akita Suggagaki said: ↑
They are not his documents to take anywhere, classified or not.

Oh yes they are.

According to the Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C., those are not his documents to take anywhere, classified or not.

 

[RDKirk]

Not according to the DOJ, the 11th circuit appeals court, or Judge Cannon as she revised her special master ruling to exclude those classified documents.

Based on the Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978, 44 U.S.C.

 

[RDKirk]

Obama kept his documents at a defunct furniture store, Trump at his residence guarded by Secret Service.

You have already been told that the truth is otherwise in a different thread.

 

[RDKirk]

No, Obama did not keep his documents there. Instead, former Pres. Obama turned his documents over to the National Archives (NARA), as the law requires, and NARA rented out and secured a former furniture store to temporarily house the documents while they made copies and prepared everything for the Obama library. And, you'll notice that the article states, as NARA also has stated, that Obama turned over all his Presidential documents and records when he left office, as the Presidential Records Act requires.

I pointed out in another thread that it's very possible to secure a "warehouse" sufficiently to store classified information.

 

[RDKirk]

So nothing about the president not being able to declassify anything he wants? What does the law say about spreading classified information on the floor and posting a picture of it on social media?

The documents were covered or redacted in the photograph.

 

[RDKirk]

One thing I learned reading the posts here: It is not enough that a president unclassifies.

There is a procedure which safeguard the state against errors made by the president.

The president can start a declassification process, but it is not complete when he say a document is declassified.

While this will help against negligence, it does not help against a deliberately careless president, as Trump has outed himself.

But what can one expect from a guy who tries to steal an election, by telling lies, inciting his followers to an attempt of a coup d'etat?

Oh, we will start remarking documents as soon as we recognize that the president has revealed the information publically.

But...just because we've re-marked the information does not mean we immediately put it online and publicize it. We re-mark it and file it. You've seen that last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark of the government warehouse? There it is.

Someone who has figured out that it's been declassified would have to submit a formal Freedom of Information Act request, which will have to go through the system to whoever currently has control of the information (usually whoever originally created the document). That process, by law, must proceed very quickly by law...undue bureaucratic delays are illegal.

But the time between when the president declassified something and the FOIA request is received by the party that must respond to it, there will be plenty of time for advisors to have advised the president that the release was detrimental to national security.

 

[Hank77]

Is a paper trail often left on presidential decisions? Yes often, but not always.

If there is no paper trail there is no proof that it ever happened.
An ex-president takes documents that he has no authority to take. He gets into trouble with the DOJ and then he tries to claim that the documents that were classified are no longer classified. How convenient is that?
ALL of the documents that he took belong to the people of the US, not him. They aren't his to possess.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

On oath. He needs to make it on commitment. His lawyers could have already made promises on oath. That hasn't happened. You need to ask yourself why.

Why should he? Ask yourself why he hasn't been charged with anything yet. Ask yourself, why the DOJ waited two years to get their documents. Here is the reality, Biden and the rest of the Democrats know their policies are a failure, and Trump is their only hope of keeping their power. This is why all these so-called "bombshells" are dropping. Now, the mob is going after Desantis. The Democrats and the DOJ know Trump did nothing illegal. At least nothing that Hillary did not already confess and got away with.

The bottom line is this; the DNC overlords desperately depend on Trump to live rent-free in your minds because it is the only thing capable of distracting you from their failures and ulterior motives.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Considering that practically everything Donald says is a mistruth, I'll take that as confirmation that he has no excuse for having classified in his home. Along with all the other government documents that were illegal for him to possess.

Sure. Keep spreading the liberal talking points that we're spoon-fed to you via CNN and MSNBC. Nothing will come of any of this. Nothing will come from the NY AG lawsuit about Tumps business. Nothing will come about Desantis "human trafficking" migrants to Martha's Vinyard.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

This discussion. Especially these postings:
no 56
no 94.
no 96
These are my sources. If they don't satisfy you, click on the links to sources there (if any), and/or ask the posters for their sources.

Your sources a other members' posts? Not very credible.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

No, what I said was it was illegal to have some of the documents wether declassified or not, it's still a crime.

So you then concede my point that the president can declassify anything and the documents in his possession were declassified. Everything else was you beating the strawman. But since you are going there, what should have happened if Trump had kept those documents on a private email server? Dare I say, "Lock him up."?

 

[Yttrium]

Sure. Keep spreading the liberal talking points that we're spoon-fed to you via CNN and MSNBC. Nothing will come of any of this. Nothing will come from the NY AG lawsuit about Tumps business. Nothing will come about Desantis "human trafficking" migrants to Martha's Vinyard.

Reminder: I'm not a liberal. I get my opinions of Trump from what he says and what he tweets. I don't care whether Trump gets charged with anything or not. I just want those classified documents far away from Trump and back in secure facilities.

You keep bringing up the fact that Trump could declassify documents as president, as if that means anything. Yeah, he could. He didn't, because there's no record of him doing it.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

The president cannot declassify information that has been classified by legislation. It's that "separation of powers" thing.

Okay, I can go with that.

 

[Yttrium]

I suspect Trump was similarly motivated to get the classified documents as far away as possible, but the people buying the info hadn't gotten enough money for all of them. Just the empty folders.



Trump taught us all that American Presidents are GODS. They can, with a nod of their mighty heads, move mountains, declassify documents and change the laws of nature! Justice and laws don't apply to these immortal beings of light and brilliance.

Trump is a god. That's how he does all of the good things he does.

...

Poe's law - Wikipedia

 

[Oompa Loompa]

That will make Julius and Ethel Rosenberg feel bad...

I am sure they are not going to care. I assume they have more important things to worry about.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Reminder: I'm not a liberal. I get my opinions of Trump from what he says and tweets. I don't care whether Trump gets charged with anything or not. I want those classified documents far away from Trump and back in secure facilities.

You keep mentioning that Trump could declassify documents as president if that means anything. Yeah, he could. He didn't because there's no record of him doing it.

All he had to do was announce he had handed over all classified documents, which he did. The DOJ has the burden to prove that Trump didn't mean what he said. Good luck with that one.

 

[Yttrium]

All he had to do was announce he had handed over all classified documents, which he did. The DOJ has the burden to prove that Trump didn't mean what he said. Good luck with that one.

Fortunately it's a really easy proof. So he's not getting those documents back.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Fortunately it's a really easy proof. So he's not getting those documents back.

Trump never kept them away from the FBI. So I don't think he even cares about getting them back. Trump even offered the documents to the FBI and they told Trump to just simply secure the office. This is nothing but political theater so nothing will come of it. Speaking of political theater, have you heard of anything back about the Jan 6th committee hearings? I seriously have not spent one-minute paying attention to it. So I wonder if they got the goods on Trump and why nothing has been done about it.

 

[SimplyMe]

Trump never kept them away from the FBI. So I don't think he even cares about getting them back. Trump even offered the documents to the FBI and they told Trump to just simply secure the office. This is nothing but political theater so nothing will come of it. Speaking of political theater, have you heard of anything back about the Jan 6th committee hearings? I seriously have not spent one-minute paying attention to it. So I wonder if they got the goods on Trump and why nothing has been done about it.

Then why did Trump claim these documents were in his desk drawer (and not on the floor, as in the picture the FBI took)? They can't be locked in a basement and be in Trump's desk drawer.

Though, again, you also have the problem of Trump's lawyers claiming they had returned all classified information -- it was non-classified documents that he was supposed to turn over to NARA that were locked in the basement.

It is also worth pointing out that no charges have been filed because the investigation is not complete. At least part of the "delay" is due to the Trump-appointed judge that they used to get the Special Master appointed. If you recall, that judge claimed that the DoJ could not use the documents until after the Special Master completed his review -- so the DoJ has been unable to investigate. Of course, now that the appeals court overturned the Trump-appointed judges ruling, that should start to change (the investigation is restarting).

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Then why did Trump claim these documents were in his desk drawer (and not on the floor, as in the picture the FBI took)? They can't be locked in a basement and be in Trump's desk drawer.

Though, again, you also have the problem of Trump's lawyers claiming they had returned all classified information -- it was non-classified documents that he was supposed to turn over to NARA that were locked in the basement.

Letter Surfaces of Obama Foundation Admitting in 2018 They Keep Classified Documents in Unsecured Storage at Furniture Warehouse - The Last Refuge

So when is the Obama raid happening? I would wager that it won't because this was all political kabuki.