Why Did Trump Take The Presidential Documents When He Left Office?

Flopper

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Why Did Trump Take The Presidential Documents When He Left Office?
Why didn't Trump return the documents to NARA when they asked for them in Feb. 2021?
And if he declassed documents, why didn't he stamp them declassified?
None of this makes any sense.
Having Top Secret Documents and Top Secret - Compartmentalize documents in your home is dangerous. This is the kind of stuff people kill to get.
Lastly, why would Trump destroy some of these documents and leave the pieces of them in boxes to be found?
 
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Why do fools post troll threads?
No, really I'm interested in why he did this. It doesn't make any sense. With the exception of classified documents, the NARA will give him copies of anything he wants. The NARA digitizes and cross reference documents for his presidential library.
 
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As for the president's power to declassify materials, here's some background on how it works, according to current and former intelligence officials familiar with the declassification process.

First, a U.S. president does have uniquely sweeping declassification abilities, though there is a process that involves written documentation and several other steps.

It's not the case that a president can declassify documents with just verbal instructions. His instruction to declassify a given document would first be memorialized in a written memo, usually drafted by White House counsel, which he would then sign.

Typically, the leadership of the agency or agencies with equities in the document would be consulted and given an opportunity to provide their views on the declassification decision. As the ultimate declassification authority, however, the president can decide to override any objections they raise.
Once a final decision is made, and the relevant agency receives the president's signed memo, the physical document in question would be marked — the old classification level would be crossed out — and the document would then be stamped, "Declassified on X date" by the agency in question.

Former Trump administration officials have claimed that Trump previously declassified the documents taken with him to Mar-a-Lago, but that the classification markings had not been updated.
 
Why Did Trump Take The Presidential Documents When He Left Office?
Why didn't Trump return the documents to NARA when they asked for them in Feb. 2021?
And if he declassed documents, why didn't he stamp them declassified?
None of this makes any sense.
Having Top Secret Documents and Top Secret - Compartmentalize documents in your home is dangerous. This is the kind of stuff people kill to get.
Lastly, why would Trump destroy some of these documents and leave the pieces of them in boxes to be found?
He probably just got in a hurry - the movers were there, and he still hadn't boxed everything up, so he grabbed stuff in a flurry.

Accidents happen.
 
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No, really I'm interested in why he did this. It doesn't make any sense. With the exception of classified documents, the NARA will give him copies of anything he wants. The NARA digitizes and cross reference documents for his presidential library.
Maybe based on how he has been treated by the 'government', he doesn't have any faith in the NARA.
 
No, you wrong thread.
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We all are and the types of documents and the status of their classification, but, I doubt we get much information since it is sensitive material.
You're probably rights. I don't think a jury considering an ex-president being tried for violation of secrecy acts, would accept his word that he declared them declassified particular when there is documented procedure for the president to follow when declassifying.
 
He probably just got in a hurry - the movers were there, and he still hadn't boxed everything up, so he grabbed stuff in a flurry.

Accidents happen.
That certain sounds plausible when you consider what was going on in the days and weeks before the Biden inauguration. After Jan 6, Trump staff members were resigning, failing to show up at work. Trump was telling his people we going no where and the NARA was going around trying to find all the documents. The place had to be mad house.

However, it that was case, then why didn't Trump give this stuff to the NARA in Feb 2021 when they asked for it. He could have told them that we got some of wrong boxes and that would have been the end of it.

I think the problem came about because Trump ignored the requests from the NARA and when they ship boxes and told that's all it, the NARA knew that was not correct. Then they discovered that Trump still had classified documents. That is when the NARA turned the problem over to DOJ.
 
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Why Did Trump Take The Presidential Documents When He Left Office?
Why didn't Trump return the documents to NARA when they asked for them in Feb. 2021?
And if he declassed documents, why didn't he stamp them declassified?
None of this makes any sense.
Having Top Secret Documents and Top Secret - Compartmentalize documents in your home is dangerous. This is the kind of stuff people kill to get.
Lastly, why would Trump destroy some of these documents and leave the pieces of them in boxes to be found?


You lie!

Shame on you!
 

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