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Special master questions Trump's claims about Mar-a-Lago docs being declassified
CNN ^ | 09/20/2022 | Kara Scannell, Marshall Cohen and Tierney Sneed,

Posted on 09/20/2022 8:26:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Judge Raymond Dearie, the special master overseeing the seizure of documents from Mar-a-Lago, signaled on Tuesday to lawyers for former President Donald Trump that if they don't make a case that any of the documents were declassified, he would determine that they're classified.

Out of court, Trump has pushed the claim he declassified all the documents, and his lawyers have raised that possibility in court papers, though they have never explicitly argued that anything was declassified.

Federal prosecutors have argued for weeks that documents seized from Mar-a-Lago that contain classification markings -- like "top secret" -- should be treated as if they are classified.

During a hearing Tuesday, Dearie essentially called Trump's bluff by pointing out that Trump's lawyers haven't yet provided any proof of declassification. "If the government gives me prima facia evidence that they are classified documents, and you don't advance any claim of declassification, I'm left with a prima facia case of classified documents, and as far as I'm concerned, that's the end of it," Dearie said.

Trump's lawyer Jim Trusty said they are not in a position to fully disclose their defense or specifically address the declassification issue until they see the documents. Trump is before the special master after successfully suing to obtain the review.

His team had put forward Dearie as a potential candidate for the job, and he was not opposed by the Justice Department.

Since Dearie stepped into the role, however, the Trump team has signaled some objections to how he had planned to approach the review.

On Monday, Trump's lawyers signaled in a letter to Dearie their resistance to making certain disclosures about any moves to declassify the documents in question. The letter also suggested pushing back some of the interim deadlines Dearie had proposed.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: 2022election; billbarr; brucecampbellschin; classified; cnn; creepstate; dearie; declassification; deepstate; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; doj; election2022; fakenews; fbi; fbiakastasi; fib; globalistpropaganda; karascannell; maralago; marshallcohen; mediawingofthednc; merrickgarland; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; policestate; ronklain; singlepartystate; specialmaster; tierneysneed; trump
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1 posted on 09/20/2022 8:26:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; BraveMan; cardinal4; ...
CNN Partisan Media Shills and Stooges alert.

2 posted on 09/20/2022 8:31:30 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SeekAndFind

When a president declassified there is nothing to show that

Even if it goes through regular channels all that shows is the paper work. They don’t go in and cross out the stamped classification

Having a stamp is j my eankngless. I gave reports stamped Top Secret that were declassified decades sho ( always made me feel special)


3 posted on 09/20/2022 8:35:17 PM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds )
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To: SeekAndFind
This analysis, I think, is about right. This is not what CNN is trying to make it look like.

https://rumble.com/v1krtch-hype-and-hyperbole-new-trump-doj-filings-before-dearie.html

4 posted on 09/20/2022 8:36:02 PM PDT by pepsi_junkie ("We want no Gestapo or Secret Police. FBI is tending in that direction." - Harry Truman)
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To: SeekAndFind

Well...the judge is right. You have to actually make an argument in court if you expect the Judge to recognize it. Trump’s lawyers have to make a case that Trump declassified the documents at issue. An affidavit from Trump might well be enough, but you still have to submit it.


5 posted on 09/20/2022 8:36:33 PM PDT by Bruce Campbells Chin
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To: SeekAndFind
His team had put forward Dearie as a potential candidate for the job, and he was not opposed by the Justice Department.

Since Dearie stepped into the role, however, the Trump team has signaled some objections to how he had planned to approach the review.


Judge Dearie was one of the judges who signed off on the FBI's spying efforts on Trump aide Carter Page. Trump asked for Dearie to be appointed special master - a guy who he already knows has no love for him or for the rule of law. It was either a move of stupidity or some sort of 4D chess thinking. So far, stupidity seems to be the more likely choice.
6 posted on 09/20/2022 8:45:38 PM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: SeekAndFind

the Special Master has no right declaring that everything was classified- as apparently all it takes is for a president to state that something is declassified, and that is that- no written proof needs to be made according to some- and if so- the SM has no right to reclassify, simply by declaring it so, what a president has declassified-


7 posted on 09/20/2022 8:47:02 PM PDT by Bob434 (question)
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To: Bruce Campbells Chin
Well...the judge is right. You have to actually make an argument in court if you expect the Judge to recognize it. Trump’s lawyers have to make a case that Trump declassified the documents at issue. An affidavit from Trump might well be enough, but you still have to submit it.

Yep. Absent any other information provided by Trump's lawyers, the classification assigned by the classifying authority remains. In other words, the Judge has NO AUTHORITY to declassify. If Trump made the order verbally, he will have to attest to that, as will those who he ordered to declassify the documents. For the SM to override the classifying authority without such evidence would place himself in legal jeopardy.

8 posted on 09/20/2022 9:31:29 PM PDT by ETCM (“There is no security, no safety, in the appeasement of evil.” — Ronald Reagan)
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To: pepsi_junkie

Agreed. Thanks for posting the video.


9 posted on 09/20/2022 9:46:15 PM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)
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To: pepsi_junkie

i watched the video

a mountain out of a molehill as usual


10 posted on 09/20/2022 9:50:03 PM PDT by joshua c (to disrupt the system, we must disrupt our lives, cut the cable tv)
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To: Bruce Campbells Chin

but he does not have to at this stage of the investigation

let dearie do his job


11 posted on 09/20/2022 9:51:03 PM PDT by joshua c (to disrupt the system, we must disrupt our lives, cut the cable tv)
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To: joshua c
but he does not have to at this stage of the investigation

Sure he does. If the documents are classified they’re unquestionably government property and the FBI can have access.

It’s the whole point of the special master.

12 posted on 09/20/2022 9:59:39 PM PDT by semimojo
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To: SeekAndFind

I am interested what the docs are abt. I heard they might be docs incriminating the FBI and DOJ and CIA into Russia Hoax. THAT would be great to know.


13 posted on 09/20/2022 11:13:25 PM PDT by Singermom
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To: pepsi_junkie

HYPE AND HYPERBOLE! New Trump-DOJ Filings Before Dearie

https://rumble.com/v1krtch-hype-and-hyperbole-new-trump-doj-filings-before-dearie.html

Yep. Leftwing CNN and NeverTrump are misinterpreting what was said as usual.


14 posted on 09/20/2022 11:20:44 PM PDT by conservative98
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To: semimojo
Your post is absolutely incorrect.

The purpose of the special master isn’t to determine what is and is not classified. It’s to determine which information seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago is covered by Trump’s executive privilege or attorney-client privilege, and/or is inadmissible in any legal proceedings because it is not covered by the original warrant that was issued for the Mar-a-Lago raid.

15 posted on 09/21/2022 3:15:49 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("It's midnight in Manhattan. This is no time to get cute; it's a mad dog's promenade.")
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To: Bruce Campbells Chin

Yes but the headline makes it seem like he’s guilty of not classifying the documents at his house


16 posted on 09/21/2022 4:33:33 AM PDT by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: Alberta's Child
The purpose of the special master isn’t to determine what is and is not classified. It’s to determine which information seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago is covered by Trump’s executive privilege or attorney-client privilege, and/or is inadmissible in any legal proceedings because it is not covered by the original warrant that was issued for the Mar-a-Lago raid.

If it's classified it's government property by definition and doesn't fall into your other categories.

The documents are marked as classified and Trump's lawyers aren't claiming they've been declassified.

The SM has no basis to deny the government access to classified documents.

17 posted on 09/21/2022 5:15:33 AM PDT by semimojo
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To: semimojo
The documents are marked as classified and Trump's lawyers aren't claiming they've been declassified.

That's because the issue of whether a document is classified or not isn't relevant to the role of the special master. It's also why Trump's lawyers have been silent on the matter. It's not the classified (or non-classified) documents that are the issue at hand here. It's the whole trove of other items and documents that have nothing to do with the search warrant but were taken by the FBI.

18 posted on 09/21/2022 5:27:42 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("It's midnight in Manhattan. This is no time to get cute; it's a mad dog's promenade.")
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To: SeekAndFind

The stupidity and slowness of the government’s work is frightening.


19 posted on 09/21/2022 5:31:51 AM PDT by Vision (Elections are one day. Reject "Chicago" vote harvesting. Election Reform Now. Obama is an evildoer.)
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To: Alberta's Child
That's because the issue of whether a document is classified or not isn't relevant to the role of the special master.

Nonsense. The SM is to determine which, if any, siezed documents should be withheld from the DOJ.

If a document is classified he has no basis to keep it from the FBI.

There may be other documents that he chooses to protect but not if they're classified.

20 posted on 09/21/2022 5:38:53 AM PDT by semimojo
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