Trump in Florida federal court today as his lawyers argue a motion to dismiss the first 32 counts of Florida....basically every charge about retaining documents.
The main thing to discuss is the Presidential Records Act.
Trump's lawyers boldly argued that the PRA gave Trump “virtually unreviewable Article II executive authority to designate the records as personal when, as alleged in the Superseding Indictment, he ’caused’ the materials to be transported out of the White House while he was still in office.”
Smith has countered by saying Trump simply had no such unilateral authority under the PRA.
But Charge 19 deals with Q clearance.
In their February motion to dismiss on grounds of unconstitutional vagueness, Trump lawyers argued the nineteenth willful retention of national defense information count, relating to an “Undated document concerning nuclear weaponry of the United States,” could not stand. They said the special counsel handed them Department of Energy records “indicating that President Trump maintained the ‘Q’ clearance that is relevant to the document charged.”
In his opposition, Smith called the “Q clearance” argument meritless because discovery actually shows the “Q clearance” went away “as a matter of law” when Joe Biden was inaugurated as president.
I'm not following you here. Can you elaborate?
When the AF1 was used or President Trump's Plane used...the SECURE COMPARTMENT INFORMATION FACILITY MUST ALSO BE CERTIFIED TO THE SAME STANDARD AS TOO WHAT WAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE...This would ALSO INCLUDE MAR-A-LOGO!!! THE CLASSIFICATION CANNOT CHANGE EN ROUTE TO THE FINAL DESTINATION SINCE HE IS A FORMER PRESIDENT AND STILL HOLDS HIS Q-CLEARANCE!!!
This is what Smith is alleging and that is where the confusion is coming...PDJT's security Clearance MAY HAVE BEEN PULLED BY SMITH BEFORE HE GOT TO MAR-A-LOGO...if it was pulled then Smith is the ONE on the HOT SEAT NOT President Trump!!!
If you still have questions just respond with you're questions and I will try to answer...
NOTE: Most people DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW CLEARANCES ARE GIVEN or people coming OFF the list for Clearances and this is where the obfuscation by the Special Council is coming into play...
OK there's several things going on here.
SCIF STUFF
The documents should have never been on Trump's plane. Trump's plane would have never have had a SCIF. While president he would have used AF1.
This is correct. However it's already been addressed. While he was president, there was a SCIF at Mar a Lago, but it was removed.
In fact, Trump's lawyers asked that a SCIF be reinstalled so they could review evidence at Mar a Lago. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/4146042-trump-seeks-to-reestablish-scif-at-mar-a-lago-to-review-classified-evidence/
The judge rejected this https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23973412-protective-order-mal?responsive=1&title=1
And Trump had to go to a SCIF at the federal court complex in Miami to view the evidence in the case.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-scheduled-visit-secure-facility-view-evidence-classified/story?id=104515489
They even had a closed hearing in a SCIF last month https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-expected-attend-hearing-classified-docs-case-held/story?id=107115581
Clearance Stuff
The Q clearance only applies to one document, the one in charge 19. Even if he still holds Q clearance, it would affect the other charges.
Smith doesn't have authority to pull anyone's clearance and I don't think he is claiming that. See page 24
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24467568/smith-response-to-trump-unconstitutional-vagueness-arg.pdf
This part is interesting because I just heard unlike most other folks with security clearances. Presidents are not read into their clearance or read out of their clearance.
That is a supposition, right there. How do you know that Trump Force 1 does not have a "SCIF"?
What does a President have to do to declassify documents? The general idea is that Obama took classified docs to his library. When he did so, WHILE in office (till jan.20 noon) would that mean these docs he took, where declassified by the sheer act of taking them?
This is an absolute power, isn't it? In the past, Trump has directed Barr to declassify the JFK files. Barr goes through with review by lower officials. But was that really necessary? When Trump says: these files are now declassed ....Are they declassed? Are they declassed even when the lower officials did not have their say and did not alter the signs on the documents themselves? Who' s power is tied to whom? Is the Presidents Power tied to the lower officials or is it the other way around?
The Deeps State tries to argue process. They argue that a doc can only be declassed IF and WHEN lower officials have had their say and there is consensus of such a doc being declassed by them. They argue the process and their part in it, is the absolute power of declass.
Interestingly, Q spent many posts pointing to the issue of declass. Remember the meme of nov.2018: DECLASS coming?
We are now in the thick of it.
SAM 28000 and SAM 29000 are technically SCIFs as they are EMP hardened and decoupled when in the air. That said, the conference room on those air frames is fully TEMPEST certified and rated for SCI processing.
Because as President Trump would always fly via Air Force One. Even when he did campaign rallies he used Air Force 1. AF1 has a SCIF.
I see no reason a SCIF would ever be installed on a private plane
No, these documents were not declassified.
The documents in presidential libraries are maintained by the national archives. The National Archives routinely deals with classified information. There is a classified reading room at the national archive in College Park, Maryland.
The documents for the Obama library and the documents for the Trump library are maintained by the national archives.
There are two parts to presidential libraries. One is the maintenance of the documents and this is done by NARA. The other is the museum piece which is done by a private foundation.
Trump did not set up a museum piece but there is a Trump presidential library. The files are maintained at the national archives in Maryland. For presidents who have set up museums, their documents are maintained at National archive facilities close to the museum.
Info on the Trump presidential library can be found here. https://www.trumplibrary.gov/
Here's info on how researchers with security clearances can go to the national archives and view classified information. https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/accessioning/research
Smith does not have the ability to adjudicate or revoke a clearance. All of that would be done through the cognizant issuing authority. In this case DoE.