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 ...
Fair enough, in a general sense. But consider this:
Trump declassified documents (whether or not his directives were obeyed). Trump may have retained copies of those documents upon leaving office or the copies were later delivered to Trump by Biden subordinates. Biden thereafter confidentially re-classified the documents without notice to Trump.
You are on the jury, is/was Trump in lawful possession?
In any event, there may be enough smoke to enable bad actors obscure other significant events.
“What Garland and Wray have done is one of the worst breaches of public trust in the history of the country. It is absolutely an insurrection.”
Garland & Wray are like a couple of 10 year olds, in the summer, playing around with gasoline, matches, fire works, & lighters.
The most likely outcome for the youngsters is bad news. Which is exactly the direction Garland & Wray are headed.
If a President stands alone in a room looks at a classified document and say it’s now declassified. Writes nothing down, stamps nothing, records & documents nothing. Walks away the classified document is thus declassified. Yes, I guess by a pathological strict reading of the Constitution it is.
How would that be proven 2 years later, 1 year later, a week later, an hour later?
How would anyone know its classification status?
It doesn’t have to be proven. The President’s word is, according the Constitution and the SCOTUS’ decision on it, the law on the matter.
Are we going to say that Presidents can be trusted with the power and all the secrets of the government as long as they’re in office but as soon as they’re out of office they become suspect of being spies and traitors?
How about at least the slightest proof that he did something with the documents that would cause the nation some harm? Even something unintentional.
And who do you think would witness what a President does other than his own staff? Do they need to allow hostile opposition party actors to be present at all times?
Re:15 - Grow up. Stop being triggered because people have a differing viewpoint about the issue.
The mere act of Carter talking about it on TV automatically declassified the information.‘’
———-
Exactly. I believe this is why they are going with the mishandled angle - knowing it most likely has no chance and if no charges are pressed, they still took what they pleased
How would that be proven 2 years later, 1 year later, a week later, an hour later?
How would anyone know its classification status?
the president would..innocent till proven guilty..he says they are declass they are declass...iof his underlings don’t do it and dont notify him is that not fraud?
Again with the baseless accusations.
The article from 2017 doesn’t necessarily fully address the situation. We don’t fully know what the situation is, anyway.
Bingo! And easily proven.
(Unless somebody has new technology)
They are as guilty as Hades, and you and I both know it, but it remains to be seen if they get burned or they burn down the whole farm.
>Actually, if Congress passed such a law I think the current Supreme Court would find it unconstitutional. <
Yes, SCOTUS *could* find it unconstitutional.
But, at least, there would be statutory law from which they could render a ruling from.
Right now, there is nothing. No law whatsoever.
Trump is completely innocent.
Quite literally, Donald Trump, up to to 11:59 am on 20 January, 2021, could've waved a wand over every last box of documents within his possession and declassified every last one of them by fiat and he doesn't have to prove he didn't do this to anyone.
All he has to do is simply say he did.
Now, as I've posted elsewhere, we're in uncharted territory. The Presidential Records Act has never been enforced against a former president , --and certainly not in the manner of an FBI raid against the home of a former president.
Where does the power to classify or declassify documents come from? It flows from the inherent power of the president. Congress not have the power to constrain the president’s handling of information related to national security.
Again with libelous accusations.
Ever work in classified? Hhmmm?
NEED TO KNOW.
It’s a thing. And it applies to everybody - as it should.
me thinks you made that up....
EXACTLY.
He has to at least have it documented that he has declassified it or demoted it, etc.
YMMV but most people call the Constitution the "law of the land."
Yes.
Show me where in the Constitution are the procedures for the President of the United States to formally declassify documents?
Quick hint:
There aren't any.
And that's where we find ourselves now.
In theory you’re correct, in practice it would be foolish! I wouldn’t want to have to defend that in today’s legal environment. If Trump has to make a defense based on that he’s screwed! Far far better off if there’s documentation. The more and more thorough the documentation the shorter the challenge and the danger he will be in. Let’s hope he has enough that he can bury any challenger with it.
Where in the Constitution are the steps the President of the United States has to take to formally declassify documents?
Hint: There aren't any.
He can wave a wand.
We’re not in uncharted territory. The people who crossed the Rubicon are the ones in uncharted territory.
The Constitution is our territory in this matter.
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.