Trump: I could declassify documents by thinking about it

[post]

@Mycroft
@trouble13

Gonna come back and own it? Come back and explicitly state you believe Trump can declassify materials by just thinking it.

Second Circuit Saves Trump's Bacon — And His DNA! — In E. Jean Carroll Defamation Case - Above the Law

Wow. Gross. We hate it.

abovethelaw.com

"...“It follows that the President of the United States fits comfortably within the statutory description’s plain language,” wrote Judges Calabresi and Nardini, appointed by Clinton and Trump, respectively. “For, as Trump points out in his brief, the President is a government employee in the most basic sense of the term: He renders service to his employer, the United States government, in exchange for a salary and other job-related benefits.”

 

[Mika-El]

the term is "memorialized" . The question is what form that would take.is a witness enough?
But it looks like the courts want that documentation.

Im sure Trump wasn't scheming to use the documents for anything other then his own use
RW speculation is he took some stuff that shows the corrupt FBI's role in the Russian Hoax- but it's just speculation.
He would have to have malicious intent to qualify as Espionage act violations

Its a memo that states the full details of the original document and its classification, the date the document iss declassified and the reasons why, the new designation and any other details. It is signed by the President, an appropriate person from the agency that stores the documents and witnessed the change, the head of that agency and who will change the labels and when. There is at least one meeting to discuss the declassification with the head of the agency it pertains to and any agency that might be impacted on the change of classification. This is done to assure proper record keeping to assure no inconsistency in applying any laws or procedures and to assure no one is harmed by the declassification.

Its based on common sense something a deluded person like Trump has none of. You are sure Trump wasn't scheming? Why? If he wasn't scheming he would not have taken the documents with him and declassified them at all. Zip over your head. He did not have to declassify a damn thing to read them. He only came up with the declassification story because he has no reason to explain why he has declassified documents that say NEED TO KNOW BASIS. It was a half assed attempt to justify saying he could keep documents he no longer had a need to know basis connection to. You missed the point. Under the Presidential Records Act he was not allowed any documents after ge left.

His half assed they aint classified documents argument are in contemplation of trying to explain why he needed them. If he was not scheming why did he lie on his affidavit saying he no longer had them. If he was not scheming why 5 different explanations for why he kept documents he should not have including accusing the FBI of planting them, protecting the US from Biden by keeping them. How is that not scheming? Proving espionage is not about being malicious-the evidence is transfer of need to know basis materials to another person with no security clearance. It does not have to be malicious. As well if he kept top secret info, he has already caused maliciousness. By keeping such documents he has sent a message to allies of the US that there is a security leak and this has already harmed relations with US allies. The damage is already done. Whether he sold info, gave it away by accident or intentionally at this point will not keep him out of jail. We are past that. He kept top secret info on the French President and another country's entire nuclear arsenal. The fact he had such documents has damaged US relations already.

Next there are numerous top secret documents missing, You do not call that scheming? What is it? There is only so far anyone can do with the Trump didn't intend any harm defense. First off its not a legal defense and secondly the seriousness of what he did can not be excused with a he didn't mean any harm response.