Donald Trump

Cropduster-80 said:

Halifax2TheMax said:

Cropduster-80 said:

Halifax2TheMax said:

Cropduster-80 said:

PJNB said:

Cropduster-80 said:

PJNB said:

The point is though if there are ways around it plenty of people would have to be involved and the FBI would be aware of the declassification. 

They are looking for classified documents.

The point is his staff said in may he did declassify them before leaving office. There isn’t any paperwork needed according to many. That’s kind of the problem.  It all goes back to presidents not following historical suggestions of what they should do and processes they should follow. You can call them classified or unclassified and it doesn’t matter. That’s up to the Supreme Court as to if they are or aren’t as it goes to authority/process to declassify 

They are looking for documents that belong to the national archives for sure. Either way, they are theirs  

as big of a POS trump is, If I was betting my money goes on no conviction and probably no charges filed as it’s not even clear to me what crime he committed that  both has a criminal enforcement component and will survive a Supreme Court challenge. You need not only a unanimous jury verdict but also 5 Supreme Court votes.

The Atomic Energy Acts say he can not declassify though. It is very clear. 

Has it been challenged? Not that I’m aware of 

a law is meaningless if a challenge to the presidential authority to declassify is brought. It’s an unconstitutional law in that case. It’s the legislative branch taking power from the executive branch. National security is primarily a function of the executive 

Unitary executive theory rooted in the constitution says the president can, as he controls the entire executive branch.  

It’s a legal theory many support including several on the supreme court 

we are way too caught up in laws while ignoring the fact congress can pass a law that makes observing taco Tuesday mandatory.  Doesn’t mean it won’t get tossed at the Supreme Court.  It could be a law though 

We're, general we, are too caught up in giving POOTWH a pass with the "what if's," "maybes," "its never been challenged," etc., etc., etc. Hold the POS accountable and make him defend himself or sue or go to court to get what he believes is rightfully his. Stand up to the fucking guy and when he wins and the US becomes a fascist state with a string of authoritarians at the helm, we'll, well, some of us, will know who to blame and how we got where we are. Otherwise, we, general we, might as well just roll the fuck over. Let Clearance Thomas and Brett Kavanaught destroy democracy.

It’s not a what if.

the standard shouldn’t be the atomic energy act,  it should be can the constraints the atomic energy act puts on a sitting president pass a Supreme Court challenge.  It’s clearly a separation of powers issue 

that’s exactly where it’s going if you bring that case 

you cannot point to a law and then not ask where using that law will end up 

if they feel they can win at the supreme court, great. I’m not sure the do or can though 

It’s a “what if,” until it’s decided by SCOTUS. Doing nothing is not an option. There is history and protocol, as well as past practice by all previous administrations since the birth of the bomb. Let the constitutional purists own it. Like the Founders envisioned nuclear weapons but okay. Let them be responsible for the ensuing shit show to follow if 87 years of precedence gets tossed aside because POOTWH decides to break another norm.

All I’ve been saying since the beginning is they got the documents back.

 In whatever legal/political calculation they are now making getting the documents may have been enough.  None of the possible roads lead to a good outcome.  You are choosing between multiple terrible options all of which will have negative long term consequences 

it’s entirely possible and more than a bit likely it ends here 

to me all this “it’s a slam dunk case” stuff is far more speculative and “what if” because it puts it in a neat little box and skips over the profound and complex constitutional concerns that are real

As Charlie Savage at The New York Times summarized:

The search warrant for Trump's residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified.

HughFreakingDillon said:

PJNB said:

that's fucking disgusting if true. 

Halifax2TheMax said:

mickeyrat said:

https://apnews.com/article/florida-donald-trump-mar-a-lago-merrick-garland-government-and-politics-f63c018b600e1539ff3660a896a132d0

 

FBI seized 'top secret' documents from Trump home

By MICHAEL BALSAMO, ZEKE MILLER and ERIC TUCKER

39 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI recovered documents that were labeled “top secret” from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorized the unprecedented search this week.

A property receipt unsealed by the court shows FBI agents took 11 sets of classified records from the estate during a search on Monday.

The seized records include some marked not only top secret but also “sensitive compartmented information,” a special category meant to protect the nation's most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause “exceptionally grave” damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

The property receipt also shows federal agents collected other potential presidential records, including the order pardoning Trump ally Roger Stone, a “leatherbound box of documents,” and information about the “President of France.” A binder of photos, a handwritten note, “miscellaneous secret documents” and “miscellaneous confidential documents” were also seized in the search.

Trump’s attorney, Christina Bobb, who was present at Mar-a-Lago when the agents conducted the search, signed two property receipts — one that was two pages long and another that is a single page.

In a statement earlier Friday, Trump claimed that the documents seized by agents were “all declassified,” and argued that he would have turned them over if the Justice Department had asked.

While incumbent presidents generally have the power to declassify information, that authority lapses as soon as they leave office and it was not clear if the documents in question have ever been declassified. And even an incumbent's powers to declassify may be limited regarding secrets dealing with nuclear weapons programs, covert operations and operatives, and some data shared with allies.

Trump kept possession of the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over presidential records in accordance with federal law.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trump’s home earlier this year. The Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records.

continues.....

Arrest the traitor.