If he took them while he was still President it was perfectly legal to do so in any manner he chose. His mere act of doing it made it official policy because that was his unique Constitutional power. The next President can create new policy, re-classify information, etc. The only real risk is if Trump perjured himself or something about the docs when asked. All of his property is secured by the secret service. The idea that anything at Mar-a-Lago was stored in an insecure way is preposterous on its face.
If you think it's a good idea to allow a former POTUS to retroactively and implicitly declassify information he is caught with after leaving office, or to issue a sweeping declaration that any documents he takes out of the Oval Office are automatically declassified, I suspect you won't be as blasé when someone of the opposing political party does it.
Turns out the raid was conducted with respect to the words “marked classified,” and in response to a subpoena. To be clear, “marked classified” documents remain so, because the president doesn’t personally operate the declassification stamp, nor is there any formal process for declass if one holds the authority. Even this DoJ doesn’t want to engage such an obviously specious argument about classification status.
This is pure sophistry, and in addition it is factually incorrect. You should look carefully at the word 'authority' and diversify your information sources.
Varied, mostly practitioners. High value on non-partisans, demonstrated by inclination to make and entertain counterargument, and an extensive history of demonstrated preference. By the way, I cannot help but notice that your “former NSA counsel” remains anonymous. Susan Hennessey, nor anyone affiliated with Lawfare or Brookings meet the minimum criteria.
Glenn seems fair, and he appears to answer a legitimate question reasonably. He's staying within his lane, which is narrow, and responding to a lead question. Both articles are tortured with journalistic misinterpretation. Frankly, you have to be able to contextualize with broader experience. Nothing to do with Trump or SCOTUS. I would bet if you asked Glenn 'Are claims necessarily retroactive or invalid from the get-go,' he would say, 'Absolutely no.' If you have a chance, ask him.
Any ideas you have about the President having to follow any sort of official process regarding classification are nothing but illusions. The most you're going to get here is he's irresponsible in a way people don't like but is not criminal.
Even if I were to imagine he were technically breaking the law with some of these documents, look at it from a practical standpoint. At one point he could've done whatever he wanted to with any documents, including tweeting them publicly. He may or may not have taken some sensitive information and stored it in a building wholly owned (secured) by the secret service. There is not really any risk here, any crimes would be mere technicalities.
Of all the crimes every President in my lifetime has committed, including Trump, mishandling some secret documents in this way is a total nothingburger. It's almost certainly not a crime and even if it is a crime it's a paperwork technicality crime.
I could've written down the correct numbers for the lottery but I didn't, therefore I don't get to claim any winnings.
I think it's kind of ironic that - speaking generally - the "patriots" don't seem to care at all that a former president took state secrets after leaving office.
I wonder how big the "nothingburger" would be if it turns out he actually did leak them.
I doubt I will be disappointed by the outcome. I've already been enjoying popcorn while watching the show. I recommend you review the laws cited by the FBI in the search warrant, and note that they do not require the documents to be classified for the penalties to exist.
This is not a true statement. The AEC has its own Restricted Data classification which is not under the purview of the president to declassify. There are other cases of classification but this is one that is not easily debatable.
> The AEC has its own Restricted Data classification which is not under the purview of the president to declassify.
They can certainly say that, but since the executive power is constitutionally vested in the president in Article II, it can't be true barring a constitutional amendment. I believe there are court cases already establishing that Congress does not have the authority to limit the President's power to classify and declassify[1]. In this particular case a constitutional argument isn't even necessary since Trump's conduct appears to be protected by the Presidential Records Act.
Of course this is Trump we're talking about, so half the country will happily shred the constitution to "get" him, including many federal employees.
> They can certainly say that, but since the executive power is constitutionally vested in the president in Article II, it can't be true barring a constitutional amendment.
Re: that case; yes for executive classification [The Supreme Court determined in its 1988 decision on Department of the Navy v. Egan that the president’s power over classified information comes from executive authority granted by Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which says, in part, that the “President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.”]. However, Restricted Data is under the SOLE authority of the Department of Energy[1] to declassify, even if the DoE is under the executive branch. The law is specifically written, in fact, so that the president is not explicitly given the authority to declassify materials, yet does play a role in declassification once the DoE initiates the process, which implies that Congress did not wish to grant the presidency that power. But I'm not a lawyer, and my opinion means little.
Trump's duty as a civil servant, whose role included "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" -- that ended on January 20, 2021. Along with the end of his duty, ended all of the power he wielded. In terms of real legal powers, he's just like you and me.
Yes, Trump definitionally cannot have leaked secret documents while he was president, because he had the authority to declassify them and the act of distributing them would have been a form of that declassification.
Reality Winner had no such authority to declassify documents.
The former president[T] could absolutely leak secret documents in violation of existing law. The former president[O] signed Executive Order 13526, which was never [publicly] rescinded nor modified by TFP[T], and that EO defines how classified material is to be handled. Agree that Reality Winner had no authority to declassify documents.
