Trump claims presidents can declassify documents ‘even by thinking about it

[rightwinger]

No, because When Trump was president and declassified them,it was perfectly legal to declassify them.

I know TDS Democrats like you hate this, but in the U.S. of A., we don't prosecute people for things that were only illegal after we made them illegal, but not when they did them.

If Trump declassified anything, there would be a lengthy record
There isn’t

 

[frigidweirdo]

Trump claims presidents can declassify documents ‘even by thinking about it’

Former President Trump in a new interview asserted presidents don’t have to go through a formal process to declassify sensitive documents and can do so “even by thinking about it.” The former president’s comments came as he has repeatedly argued that he declassified secret and top-secret...

www.yahoo.com

“There doesn’t have to be a process, as I understand it,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, ‘It’s declassified.’ Even by thinking about it.”

So, do you all agree with this? Is just the mere thought of something being declassified enough to make it so?

Then Biden can classify things by just thinking about them. Which means all those documents in Mar al Lago can have been classified by Biden. Prove it's not so.

 

[Seymour Flops]

If Trump declassified anything, there would be a lengthy record
There isn’t

I'll ask you for the umpteenth time to show me the clause in the constitution, the court ruling, the law, or any other record of this requirement for a lengthy record - or any record at all - that a president must create for his declassification to "count."

For the umpteenth time, you will be unable to, because no such requirement exists. You just think that it should.

 

[Seymour Flops]

But on day one of his presidency Biden could have thought all those things were classified and they would be again. Now Trump would be guilty of having classified documents in his possession, so you should be good with Biden having the same power that Trump did

Good. I was hoping that someone would at least understand the point about classification and declassification authority enough to make that argument.

If Biden had thought that all the documents in Trump's possession with classification marking - are now re-classified, they would have indeed been classified again from that moment. Because like it or not, think it's crazy or think it's really crazy, that is the president's power.

But that would not mean that Trump is guilty of any crime. A crime requires intent, as James Comey so carefully explained to us, especially in the matter of mishandling classified information. If Biden re-classified Trump's documents in his mind, that does not make Trump automatically guilty of the crime unauthorized possession of classified documents, because he does not know that they are classified, and has ever reason to believe that they are declassified.

 

[TNHarley]

No, they're government documents and he's a civilian.

He did that whenb he was prez, genius

 

[Couchpotato]

Then Biden can classify things by just thinking about them. Which means all those documents in Mar al Lago can have been classified by Biden. Prove it's not so.

If Trump had declassified them then Biden certainly could have made the classified again. That's true.

 

[Seymour Flops]

No other president thought they could declassify documents via telepathy

Look, Golfing, I get it.

If it were Biden who was caught with classified documents post-presidency and he claimed to have mentally declassified them, I would say "yeah, right, show me where he so much as wrote that on a post-it."

But I would have researched it, same as I did for Trump. Especially if I had a Biden supporter who kept annoyingly asking for proof that there is a requirement for a president to write it down if they declassify something. If I could not find that requirement anywhere - and no one has - I would have to realize that Biden actually was correct in his claim that he could declassify something without writing it down.

That's the difference between really disliking a president and his policies and joining the mass derangement syndrome about a guy who "wasn't supposed to," run for president and win. If you just dislike a president, you can still think critically about reasons to dislike him.

 

[Seymour Flops]

If there is a requirement that a president put it in writing when he declassifies something, wouldn't that requirement be in writing?

Where is it?

Or is that requirement mental?

 

[Couchpotato]

If there is a requirement that a president put it in writing when he declassifies something, wouldn't that requirement be in writing?

Where is it?

Or is that requirement mental?

Allegedly there's a list of all the declassified and classified documents....

 

[Seymour Flops]

Casino story, may be true or apocryphal, but I didn't make it up myself:

Croupier in training at the roulette wheel. Ball lands on fourteen. A guy who hadn't even bought chips hands the Croupier a twenty dollar bill. "I made a mental bet on twenty-one," he says, "and I'm no welcher."

The veteran croupier chuckles and shakes his head, but the trainee doesn't see this and takes the money. "You idiot," whispers the veteran," The trainee shrugs and puts the money down the slot.

Next roll the ball drops on three. The guy who made the mental bet the last time whoops and announces that this time his mental bet was on three. Pit boss is called over and the trainee counts out the guy's payoff as his last act in that casino.

Moral to the story: Precedent is important, and so are rules. The rules in a casino are that you put your money down to bet. The rules for making book are that you can verbally make a bet and you better hand it over if you lose. The rules for classification and declassification are that the president makes the rules.

Bend those rules once for momentary gain and it will haunt you in a big way.

Easy for the Dems to announce a "mental rule" that presidents must write something down when they declassify something and every president in the future will be subject to mental rule changes by the opposing party.

Imagine Gavin Newsome trying to be president with a GOP congress, senate, and supreme court in place under those conditions.

 

[Seymour Flops]

Allegedly there's a list of all the declassified and classified documents....

I actually think they believe that there is such a list, maybe in a database.

 

[MagicMike]

President Biden has the authorization to reclassify the Shit-A-Lago docs.

They were never declassified.
Just ask Trump's lawyers.

 

[Couchpotato]

I actually think they believe that there is such a list, maybe in a database.

They want those lists to exist that's for certain.

 

[Couchpotato]

They were never declassified.
Just ask Trump's lawyers.

Why would Trumps lawyers have any idea whether a document was declassified or not? Seriously. What reasoning would there be for them to necessarily have that knowledge?

 

[Seymour Flops]

How do you know that is what Trump had in his home?

And if those are what Trump had in his home, why did he not make them public so we all could see them and know the truth?

Now, that is a good question.

I think Trump let his ego get in the way. I think that he envisioned a dramatic release of the information at a strategic time during the 2024 election cycle. Maybe right after the sixty day mark when the DOJ would have been constrained from going after him for releasing the information.

That information in the Crossfire Hurricane binder was declassified even by the made-up standard that the president can only declassify things in writing. The DOJ refused to release them, so Trump should have. But by that point, the 2020 election was over, so Trump decided to keep the documents until needed - is my theory, which is what you asked for.

Don't forget that we now know that of the 10,000 approx documents the FBI took, only about a hundred were even marked classified. That sounds like the Crossfire Hurricane binder, and nothing else.

 

[iceberg]

Correction: NARA Kept Classified Docs in a Furniture Warehouse, Not the Obama Foundation

pjmedia.com

 

[Seymour Flops]

IDK. If this goes to the courts, we will find out.
Of course, there could be witnesses and they just havent come forward.

One has so far. But he is brown, so the Democrats have no more regard for him than the asylum seekers of Martha's Vineyard.

Then again, if there was, big mouth would have said so.

Trump is the accused. He doesn't have to speak until he chooses.

 

[Seymour Flops]

You would think that if Trump would declassify TOP SECRET information to no longer classified, that he would have a damned good reason.”

Yes, "you would think that," I would think that, it makes a lot of sense, "come on, man," etc.

But in fact, there is no such requirement. If there were, you would be showing it instead of saying "you would think . . . "

 

[dblack]

I wonder why Democrats think it's a good idea to keep Trump's name in the headlines? Clearly they enjoy their "two minute's hate", but can't they see he's just playing them?

Don't feed the troll.

 

[Care4all]

No I don't think it should be that easy.

But if what he, had was raid worthy, why did they leave in June without taking any?

In June they had a sworn affidavit from Trump's attorneys that Trump returned all classified documents.

Trump staff would not let the FBI open the govt boxes of records in the storage room, the FBI asked Trumpers to lock.

Afterwards an informant came to them, telling them they did not get all classified security risk documents and trump attorneys lied, under oath.