” and that the act does not apply to classified and top-secret documents like those kept at his estate,”
He had ZERO classified documents. Some declassified documents had “classified” stamps on them that do not vanish with declassification.
He is NOT charged with possessing any classified document. The charges are all Espionage Act “national defense information” charges. That wide ranging charge can be anything and does not require something be classified.
This keeps getting passed as a “fact” that he had classified documents... but he did NOT.
Excellent point. The president, to my understanding, can declassify any classified document, and I don’t believe that any formal procedure is required to document this action.