BREAKING: Details Of Documents Seized During Trump Search Revealed
(conservativebrief.com)
😷 DEM PANIC 💉
You're viewing a single comment thread. View all comments, or full comment thread.
Comments (91)
sorted by:
I would expect each declassified document to bear an ink stamp on the title page stating "Declassified on [date] by [signature]" with maybe some boilerplate about statutory declassification authority. That is the "banish, banish, banish" of declassification. Then all classification markings would be struck through.
The President has the authority under the Constitution to declassify any document, at any time, for any reason. He is the ultimate authority on declass. This was reaffirmed by SCOTUS in 1987. If he has it at Mar a Lago it is assumed to be declassified. He is the ultimate authority. Even Congress can not write a law that would diminish this power.
But doesn't the President still have to go through some legal process to have them declassified?
It seems like people are arguing that the President can just say the words, "This is declassified" and it magically happens.
There has to be some record of when it was declassified, because how else would anyone know if it was declassified or not? How else would anyone know they could access something previously classified?
What would stop former Presidents just willy nilly declassifying documents after their term ended, if there was no documentation of when it was declassified?
The simple act of removing them to Mar a Lago declassifies them. The President has the ultimate authority over declass. He doesnt need to say a word. They dont need to be re-marked. It was reaffirmed by SCOTUS in 1987. Clinton kept docs in his sock drawer and the Courts ruled in his favor. Neither the executive branch, the judicial nor Congress can change this in any way. They cant reclassify.
This is True!
Didn't he hire a guy to do all that for him? Was it patel?
If he did, there doesn't seem to be any record of it.
No objection to the President's authority. But I think it would be true that any declassified material must be so marked, dated, and signature-authorized. This can all be manual or mostly stamped. Otherwise, you have a problem establishing the fact of declassification.
Again the President is the ULTIMATE AUTHORITY. The simple fact he removed the docs from the WH is proof enough they are declassified.
A policeman shows up on my doorstep. He claims to have the authority to enforce the law. "That's great," I say. "Can I see your badge?" He has to show his badge. Authority must always be confirmed upon request.
There is no such thing an an undocumented declassification. How else can it be established that the thing WAS declassified---and by the proper authority? It is simple to do: date, authority, signature. Declassification removes the document from the requirements of classified control, possession, custody, storage, and destruction.
In point of fact, Trump---himself, personally---did NOT remove the documents from the White House. He had them packed and shipped by GSA. Doesn't matter. If documents are classified, they must be in inventory and stored in a secure container. Period.
This is, for me, the more convincing reason to think that Trump had the documents declassified in the White House. Then, where and how they were shipped afterward would be a non-issue.