New twist in FBI raid: Trump had 'standing order' to declassify documents taken to residence

…The official statement is likely to become the focus of the president's legal defense as the FBI and Biden Justice Department investigate whether he stole records covered under the Presidential Records Act or mishandled classified materials under the Espionage Act, allegations included in a search warrant released by a federal court in Florida on Friday.

The president's defense is rooted in the legal principal that the president and vice president are the ultimate declassifying authority of the U.S. government and through executive orders most recently issued in 2003 by George W. Bush and Barack Obama in 2009 that specifically exempt the president and vice president from having to follow the stringent declassification procedures every other federal agency and official must follow.

Trump has maintained for weeks that any documents still containing classified markings in his possession after he left office were previously declassified. On Friday night, the statement issued to Just the News explained exactly how that declassification occurred in his mind.

The very fact that these documents were present at Mar-a-Lago means they couldn’t have been classified," the former president's office stated. "As we can all relate to, everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time. American presidents are no different. President Trump, in order to prepare for work the next day, often took documents including classified documents from the Oval Office to the residence.

"He had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken into the residence were deemed to be declassified," the statement added. "The power to classify and declassify documents rests solely with the President of the United States. The idea that some paper-pushing bureaucrat, with classification authority delegated BY THE PRESIDENT, needs to approve of declassification is absurd."…

…Asked whether there was a standing order, one former official "I don't know anyone or anything that disputes that."…









read more: https://justthenews.com/politics-po...scribes-process-how-he-declassified-documents









I’m glad that Real Clear Politics carried this great article. Trumps defense against the allegations of the Bidenista regime are sure with this information. The witch hunt against Trump by the Regime as no evidence that based on his standing orders as well as Bush 43 and Obama executive orders.

 

Another great breaking news story regarding the actions of our fascist dictators Jack booted thug regime. Mr. demented depends dependent let’s go Brandon and handlers should have been aware of Obama’s 2009 EO.

 

Another baseless charge on top of baseless charge.........

 

Note that the article you posted never stated that the things were declassified. It stated that they were declassified "in his mind". There is a difference there.

 

No. It said that they were declassified by standing and executive order and that “in his mind” is an ironclad defense against what the Jack booted thug fascists are doing.

 

Your reply didn’t post…

 

The Bidenista regime sure keeps em coming…

 

Can you post the specific EO that declassified these specific documents?

Are you really asserting that a president can remove any document he wants to matter how sensitive and keep at their personal residence? Are you also asserting that that individual can impede investigations and alter / destroy these documents as they choose?

 

"Declassification occurred in his mind ..." you say.

Well, bless your heart.

-Ignorantia juris non excusat.

 

So he's so incompetent, he never completed the proper transfer of power protocol which would have avoided this entire situation?
And people wonder why we fired him.

This is looking more an more he wanted his massive mistake publicized by letting it get to this point. Maybe for the attention?

Do you think he thought he was immune from protocol, so he could just ignore the FBI?

 

In a previous thread, i gave supporting links that this will not fly. For starters, there is a process with certain documents, especially top secret, sensititive decompartmentalized information documents, one of the highest if not highest classified documents out there. In other words, top secret info that no one outside the need to know should be allowed to be seen by anyone. There is a process for this to happen. It is not as simple as if Trump said it then it must be true sort of thing.

The other argument is that it still violates the law, specifically the President Records Act. It is just lesser culpability than if they were not declassified. In essence, with this argument, you are admitting he had improperly stored them, ignored the subpoena and all other requests, and still got searched by a duly processed and presented search warrant.

 

Unless this was a written, "standing & executive order," or one that was at least known, to those who must necessarily be involved, after the fact, whenever the classification of government documents is changed (for the sake of remarking them-- so readers know the correct classification, of documents they see-- as well as for changing the security protocols safeguarding them, including what level security clearance is required, to access the information), then this is just a big pile of horse manure, masquerading as an excuse.
From the OP:

[Snip]
On Friday night, the statement issued to Just the News explained exactly how that declassification occurred in his mind.

The very fact that these documents were present at Mar-a-Lago means they couldn’t have been classified," the former president's office stated. "As we can all relate to, everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time. American presidents are no different. President Trump, in order to prepare for work the next day, often took documents including classified documents from the Oval Office to the residence.

"He had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken into the residence were deemed to be declassified," the statement added. "The power to classify and declassify documents rests solely with the President of the United States. The idea that some paper-pushing bureaucrat, with classification authority delegated BY THE PRESIDENT, needs to approve of declassification is absurd."…

[End]

With whom, did Trump have a " standing order?" Giving Trump the benefit of the doubt, that he'd actually mentioned this to anyone, it sounds as if he may have only said this to a secretary, or aide, who had no involvement in the declassification process, knew nothing about it, and probably disregarded what Trump had said, without investigating the matter, as higher officials in Trump's Administration are on record as having done (as when the former president asked members of his staff if we could have some foreign leader assassinated). If that turns out to be the case, there is no way, that excuse should fly.

 

Of course there is no written document, that can be fixed in time. And even if the President does have the power to change any document's classification, that does not give him the right to steal government property, which all files remain, regardless of their classification level.

 

Hey, Trump wrote the EO down on one of his McDonald's orders and his aide accidentally threw it out ... don't you know.

But don't worry MAGA folk - even if Trump is found guilty, he'll never spend a day in jail. He'll get fined and put under
house arrest, maybe - tops.


But this claim that ANY papers taken home for work related reasons would be declassified would only apply if they were taken home
for work related reasons ... so pray tell, if they were shipped to Mar a Lago AFTER Trump left office, how could they be "work related"?
C'mon, Jefferson - answer that one.

 

We must still wait, of course, to find out the exact nature of the documents taken. But if there was the sensitive type of information that has, thus far, been indicated, that would have been one hell of a ballsy gambit, on Trump's part. I almost feel I have to take my pants off, to him, for it.




It is a bit surprising to me (though I suppose, by now, it shouldn't be) that even the idea of Trump taking sensitive documents relating to nuclear weapons-- clearly nothing from his time as president, which he "took home from the office," and on which he is now, still working, pro bono-- has only increased the MAGA loyalty to him. So either he does have a genius, of sorts, when it comes to knowing how to control & manipulate people with a certain type of psychology, or he had only been recklessly trying to steal and then sell/trade U.S. government secrets, got caught, and yet has, amazingly, lucked out (due to the aforementioned psychology, of his followers).

That doesn't mean this is the end of the matter, though. For that, we will need to be patient, in living through to the suspenseful conclusion.

 

Do we know this to be the case? How would that have even occurred?

 

Nor, ignorancia in generali.

 

Donald Trump has a few very stupid lawyers advising him because that argument will fall flat on its face given that the 3 felony code violations being investigated, one of which is espionage, they do not depend on classification.

Moreover there is no such thing because his minions would have to restamp every document going in-and-out of maralago and that just isn't happening.

And documents pertaining too nuclear weapons technical stuff all of which require training which we know trump doesn't have in order to be reclassified so reclassifying those documents would require approval from the nuke authorities. I can show you the authority PDF on this if you want it