Indictment confirms Garland's indictment of Trump is political:
1. Presidential Records Act, not Espionage Act, controls former president's handling of his presidential records
2. Generally, legally impossible to obstruct investigation into non-crime, per binding 2019 OLC memo — 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) June 9, 2023
Those are great arguments, but let me give both more heft with the third point, which applies whether the Espionage Act or the Presidential Records Act is at issue: A president’s power whether or not to treat documents as essential to national security supersedes anything either Congress or his own employees in the administrative state can do.
Normally, of course, the president is subject to the duly passed laws of the United States Congress. However, regarding national security, the president cannot be subject to Congress. He has plenary, or absolutely, power in that area.
The president’s authority over national security matters has been recognized at least since the end of WWII, when, as the court explained in National Federation of Employees v. United States, 688 F.Supp. 671 (D.D.C. 1988), Truman exercised that authority to classify documents:
Long before nuclear weapons, satellites, and orbiting laser defense systems, the President, pursuant to his Article II powers, undertook to defend national security by limiting access to and disclosure of sensitive information. See National Security and Civil Liberties, [citation]. After World War II, President Truman laid the foundation for the current system of classifying information possessed by the Executive Branch. [Citation.]
In other words, national security and the classification system are the president’s bailiwick, and Congress, as a co-equal branch of government, cannot constrain that authority.
They couldn’t find a crime so they had to invent one.
The documents in question were all in Trump’s possession while he was President, therefore he had full control over the documents when he took them to Mara Lago. Any secret documents “For Eyes Only” would have been first and foremost “For Trump’s Eyes Only.”
So it would be impossible for Trump to misuse the documents by holding them or even destroying them. He might be in trouble if he sold them to an enemy, but that would be treason, and Trump is not being accused of treason. He is being accused of mishandling documents which he alone had authority to possess.
Bringing these charges is Treason. We are dealing with domestic enemies of the United States.
This pretends to he a defense of Trump, bit it’s really a defense of Biden, the Clinton’s, and Obama.
It’s telling how often Sundance is right. He formerly was a member here. Care to elucidate, anyone, on how that changed?
From the indictment: (capitaliztion done by me for emphasis) Page 27 of 49
74. On August 8, 2022, the FBI executed a court-authorized search warrant at The Mar-a-Lago Club. The search warrent authorized the FBI to search for and seize, among other things, all documents with CLASSIFICATION MARKINGS.
75. During the execution of the warrant at The Mar-a-Lago Club, the FBI seized 102 documents with CLASSIFICATION MARKINGS in TRUMP's office and the Storage Room.
CLASSIFICATION MARKINGS is NOT the same as CLASSIFIED. I have documents with classification markings on them right now on my computer (some Venona docs ). They were previously classified, but were then declassified. When something is declassified, the previous classification markings are not removed. So Trump has DECLASSIFIED documents with CLASSIFIED MARKINGS. Not surprising and not a crime
Great piece. Very clear and convincing.
Meanwhile, for anyone thinking RFKJ could be a possible alternative as prez, who wants a liberal Hollywood first lady calling the shots?
“Mr. Kennedy said that he would “love to go on Steve Bannon’s show, but Cheryl just can’t bear that,” so he has not.”
Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on federal charges in an investigation into his handling of classified documents, according to an indictment unsealed on Friday.
The indictment comes after more than 100 documents with classified markings were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in August 2022.
Trump has been charged with 37 counts: 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information; one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheme to conceal; and one count of false statements and representations.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/trump-indictment/?id=99913217
ping
Trump correctly handled documents under the Presidential Records Act, which is not a criminal violation.
He’s dealing with democrats law is not included in their actions they will make up the law as they see fit to accomplish their agenda.
With the support of the MSM they may damned well get away with it.
Stalin raps box