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Does the president have 'the ability to declassify anything at any time'?
PolitiFact ^ | May 16, 2017 | Louis Jacobson

Posted on 08/12/2022 4:33:46 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA

One of the members of Congress who commented after the newspaper’s revelations was Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho. According to CNN, he told reporters, "The minute the president speaks about it to someone, he has the ability to declassify anything at any time without any process."

The majority ruling in the 1988 Supreme Court case Department of Navy vs. Egan -- which addressed the legal recourse of a Navy employee who had been denied a security clearance -- addresses this line of authority.

"The President, after all, is the ‘Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States’" according to Article II of the Constitution, the court’s majority wrote. "His authority to classify and control access to information bearing on national security ... flows primarily from this constitutional investment of power in the President, and exists quite apart from any explicit congressional grant."

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


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Idaho
KEYWORDS: creepstate; declassification; deepeststate; deepstate; idaho; jamesrisch; louisjacobson; policestate; politifact; scotus; singlepartystate; trump
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Game. Set. Match.

Suck on that glorified librarians and DOJ/FBI scumbags.

1 posted on 08/12/2022 4:33:46 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA
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To: ConservativeInPA

The ‘Law Offices of Merrick Garbage & Sting Wray’ will rely on the media to keep this QUIET.


2 posted on 08/12/2022 4:36:31 PM PDT by CivilWarBrewing (Get off my back for my usage of CAPS, especially you snowflake males! MAN UP!)
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To: ConservativeInPA

It won’t matter. Just like the actual facts did not matter in the Russia probe. The optics will be milked by the Democrats.


3 posted on 08/12/2022 4:36:44 PM PDT by nwrep
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To: ConservativeInPA

Oh I forgot. Biden OUTED SEAL TEAM 6 when he wasn’t even President.


4 posted on 08/12/2022 4:37:35 PM PDT by CivilWarBrewing (Get off my back for my usage of CAPS, especially you snowflake males! MAN UP!)
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To: ConservativeInPA

If Trump declassified something while he was president, and then Biden gets in the office and classifies the same thing again, it is classified. The fact that it was declassified for sometime becomes ineffective.


5 posted on 08/12/2022 4:37:36 PM PDT by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
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To: ConservativeInPA

Oh that darned old Constitution keeps getting in their way.


6 posted on 08/12/2022 4:40:46 PM PDT by McGavin999 (To shut down the border tell the administration the cartel is smuggling Ivermectin )
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To: dayglored

And former Presidents retain their clearance status until the day they die so having classified docs from their own terms in office is in no way illegal.


7 posted on 08/12/2022 4:41:04 PM PDT by TigersEye (The Democrat Party is criminal, unAmerican and illegitimate )
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To: dayglored

... and anyone without a sufficient clearance level that has already seen it has to now unsee it.


8 posted on 08/12/2022 4:41:21 PM PDT by farmguy
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To: ConservativeInPA

Sorry, having been in the classification process, I find it hard to believe a president can unilaterally declare something declassified. Any more than they can just “turn the key” for nuclear missiles. And then just walk away with whatever info that was in the next breath (which, BTW, is supposed to be part of “need to know” as well, even if you are qualified to handle the classified level).

That’s a dangerous precedent. Checks & balances of various kinds have been built into the system.


9 posted on 08/12/2022 4:41:48 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.)
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To: ConservativeInPA

“when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal”

Our presidents must have the ability to do what is best for our nation and we all know the President Trump acts only in the best interest of the American people.


10 posted on 08/12/2022 4:43:03 PM PDT by Round Earther
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To: dayglored

I just posted an article about this:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4085214/posts

If this is true, Trump declassified the documents, now he thought they were public record so he took copies or originals.

Then they were immediately reclassified but the reclassification was never made public, so he didn’t know he was doing something illegal.

It’s about Russiagate, there must be a reason why the material Trump declassified was never made public.


11 posted on 08/12/2022 4:43:53 PM PDT by packagingguy
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To: CivilWarBrewing

Raid explanation

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fx80mNm2Ns


12 posted on 08/12/2022 4:44:13 PM PDT by cuz1961 (USCGR Veteran )
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To: ConservativeInPA

Even Politifact admits the President’s power is total and complete and Constitutioal based.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/may/16/james-risch/does-president-have-ability-declassify-anything-an/

Quoting from the article:
The majority ruling in the 1988 Supreme Court case Department of Navy vs. Egan — which addressed the legal recourse of a Navy employee who had been denied a security clearance — addresses this line of authority.

“The President, after all, is the ‘Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States’” according to Article II of the Constitution, the court’s majority wrote. “His authority to classify and control access to information bearing on national security ... flows primarily from this constitutional investment of power in the President, and exists quite apart from any explicit congressional grant.”


13 posted on 08/12/2022 4:46:14 PM PDT by iontheball
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To: ConservativeInPA
In any event, simple lawful possession of classified documents by a former president would not logically seem to constitute an attempt to declassify.

The Dems, of course, are not above arguing there is evidence Trump handled such documents in an improper and chargeable manner.

14 posted on 08/12/2022 4:46:26 PM PDT by frog in a pot (Why again did they decide to change the label from Red to Blue for the Democrat party.?)
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To: the OlLine Rebel

You sound like a deep stater. You are saying an unelected bureaucrat has powers that the chief executive and commander in chief does not. Scalia says you are wrong. He sided with the majority in the opinion. You should defend Trump using Supreme Court decisions instead of working against America like typical lazy ass government employees.


15 posted on 08/12/2022 4:46:28 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (Scratch a leftist and you'll find a fascist )
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To: TigersEye

“Need to know”.

Also applies to “need to possess”.


16 posted on 08/12/2022 4:50:10 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.)
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To: ConservativeInPA; All
This should interest anyone who has questions about a President's clearances. Sebastian Gorka on Bannon's War Room. The video is 11 minutes long and worth hearing all of but the relevant statements about clearances is in the first four minutes.

‘You Have No Integrity FBI’: Seb Gorka Stands Up Against The FBI For Declaring War On America

17 posted on 08/12/2022 4:53:27 PM PDT by TigersEye (The Democrat Party is criminal, unAmerican and illegitimate )
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To: TigersEye

I saw that live. Seb was on fire.


18 posted on 08/12/2022 4:54:17 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (Scratch a leftist and you'll find a fascist )
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To: the OlLine Rebel

I’ll take the SCOTUS’ decision on it instead of yours if you don’t mind.


19 posted on 08/12/2022 4:54:19 PM PDT by TigersEye (The Democrat Party is criminal, unAmerican and illegitimate )
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To: the OlLine Rebel

My husband reminded me of a video we were shown during our time working for a defense contractor where we both had top secret clearance.

It was of Carter talking on TV about some surveillance that had been classified. The mere act of Carter talking about it on TV automatically declassified the information.


20 posted on 08/12/2022 4:54:21 PM PDT by luckystarmom
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