SCREENSHOT: CNN
Posted on 06/13/2023 9:21:24 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
SCREENSHOT: CNN
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan broke down the major “flaw” in the indictment against former President Donald Trump Sunday on CNN with Dana Bash.
Trump announced the indictment Thursday, ahead of the official indictment being unsealed Friday. The charges against Trump include 31 counts of alleged violation of the Espionage Act or the willful retention of national security information, as well as one count of “conspiracy to obstruct justice,” one count of “withholding a document or record,” one count of corruptly concealing a documents or record,” one count of “concealing a documents in a deferral investigation,” one count of “scheme to conceal” and one count of “false statements and representations.”
Bash asked Jordan to comment on part of the indictment.
“The indictment said: ‘TRUMP directed NAUTA,’ who’s his personal aide, ‘to move boxes before Trump Attorney 1’s June 2 review, so that many boxes were not searched and many documents responsive to the May 11 Subpoena could not be found and were in fact not found by Trump Attorney 1.’ [sic] In plain English, this alleges that Trump instructed his aide to help him remove sensitive documents in defiance of a federal subpoena. A), Does that trouble you? And B) If he thought he had the right to have these documents, why was he trying so hard to hide them?” Bash asked.
“No, it doesn’t bother me because again, you can’t have obstruction of something when there was no underlying crime. The standard is set. The standard is what the Constitution says. The commander-in-chief — the president of the United States — has the ability to classify and control access to information. That’s what the Constitution and the court have said. So you can’t obstruct when there is — you can’t obstruct when there is no underlying crime,” said Jordan.
“He is not the president of the United States — ”
“That is the fundamental flaw,” Jordan shot back.
“And you’re just taking him at his word?” Dana asked.
“And when he was president, he declassified the material. He’s been — he’s been very clear about that.”
“He says point-blank, on tape, ‘As president I could have declassified it. Now I can’t.’ He says, in his own words, it’s on tape as part of this indictment, that he did not declassify the material. Therefore, it is classified.”
“Dana … saying he could have, saying he could have is not the same as saying he didn’t,” Jordan pushed back.
“He said, ‘now I can’t’,” Bash said.
“Now he can’t — right — because he’s not president now. But when he was president, he did declassify it. He said that,” Jordan said.
“Which means that what he was holding was classified,” Bash argued.
“Not if he declassified it when he was president of the United States, for goodness sake!”
“But he’s saying point-blank in this audio tape that he did not declassify it,” Bash said. “What you’re saying just doesn’t make sense on its face.”
“Dana, what this truly is, Dana, is an affront to the rule of law. It’s an affront to consistent application of the law. You have Secretary Clinton — who had classified material on a server — she was not president of the United States. She was Secretary Clinton. You have that happen, nothing happens to her,” Jordan continued before the duo moved on to other issues.
Bash was referencing was a July 2021 call which alleged Trump showed a “plan of attack” to a writer, a publisher and two staffers, which he said was prepared for him by the Department of Defense, according to the indictment. “As president, I could have declassified it,” Trump allegedly said at the time, and “now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”
Is that the altered recording?
Getting to the point: Read Article II, Section 1, sentence 1 of the U.S. Constitution. Case closed.
.
RE: Is that the altered recording?
Has that been established as a fact?
The rumor is that there is no audio. Just a written transcript.
who do the liberals believe - think
Donald Trump is
Vladimir Putin
That person could have declassified it and Trump was MORE LIKELY THAN NOT talking about something that was already in the circular file.
Where is the "secret" now?
this was an illegal leak from the smith investigation?
One interpretation (including mine) is that Trump ineloquently tried to say ‘As president I could have declassified documents like it. Now I can’t.’
Who said the recording was altered?
He didn’t say he didn’t declassify it. It sounds like he’s trying to explain how declassification works...and this paper he’s holding...was an example....but it could have been a grocery list for all anyone knows.
I explained the same...a little differently at post 12.
It’s just a way of talking.
If I say, “this is bombshell stuff” that doesn’t mean I didn’t declassify it. It just means I’m speaking in the dramatic present tense.
It’s also possible, since it was supposed to be an ignorant warplan that he rejected, that he was saying without the inflection of intent, “THIS is secret” (This stupid stuff gets labeled secret)
Or this is SECRET. (This is the kind of stuff they label secret)
RE: He didn’t say he didn’t declassify it.
What I’d like to understand is this -— what should be the *DEFAULT status of those documents in dispute* when they are at Mar-a-Lago? I can only see the following possibilities:
1) ALL DECLASSIFIED
2) ALL CLASSIFIED
3) SOME CLASSIFIED, SO DECLASSIFIED
How is a jury to know which is which?
Typo:
3) SOME CLASSIFIED, SOME DECLASSIFIED
No, not case closed. Like it or not, politically motivated or not, the charges relate to actions taken after he was president. The mere fact that he was president and chief executive does not mean anything he took with him after he left office was automatically declassified. It’s different to argue that he could legally have them since he retained his security clearance and under the PRA he is to have access to his presidential records after leaving office. But that is not the same as them being declassified. He could have declassified before he left office, but he is on tape talking to an aide about getting the documents in question declassified, and how he could no longer do it because he wasn’t president.
RE: If I say, “this is bombshell stuff” that doesn’t mean I didn’t declassify it. It just means I’m speaking in the dramatic present tense.
______________________
What I’d like to understand is this -— what should be the *DEFAULT status of those documents in dispute* when they are at Mar-a-Lago? I can only see the following possibilities:
1) ALL DECLASSIFIED
2) ALL CLASSIFIED
3) SOME CLASSIFIED, SOME DECLASSIFIED
How is a jury to know which is which?
Their side gets away with “depends on what the meaning of is is”.
The president can declassify with a thought. Get him under oath. “Did you declassify it?” “Yes, I did.” That weighs more than any recording or transcript.
The double standards are infuriating.
Truthfully, the documents we’re more secure in DJT’s possession, that at the national archives. Sandy Berger could attest to that if he were here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.