Ag with kids said:
eric76 said:
AgGrad99 said:
eric76 said:
Im Gipper said:
I thought these were all declassified? Why is security clearance needed?
If Trump can declassify them with his imagination, then Biden can surely reclassify them with his imagination.
That's a funny way of framing things...
But if we assume that's a proper line of reasoning...doesn't it reiterate the point?
If they are reclassified, wouldn't we need someone with the proper clearance to review them? Otherwise, there is no issue, because they weren't' improperly taken to begin with.
I suspect that the reason that they haven't "reclassified" them just to be sure is that they don't want to give any credence to the notion that Trump ever "declassified" them.
In any event, if Trump really did declassify them and then Biden reclassified them, then Trump would have no legitimate right to keep them.
And it would be a document dispute between NARA and Trump, not the DOJ...
Which is my understanding of how this all began, a dispute between NARA and Trump. NARA contacted Trump concerning Presidential records he took when he left the WH in Jan 2021. Most notably it had been reported in the news that Trump had been displaying a letter from Kim Jung-un to visitors to Mar-A-Lago, so NARA began communications with Trump for the return of any and all such documents. This started in May 2012, I believe. For months there were communications between NARA and Trump concerning these records.
As a result, in January 2022, Trump transferred 15 boxes of documents to NARA, who asked, and received, a waiver on executive privilege to review these records from President Biden. When reviewing these records, NARA discovered there were some documents that contained national defense information (NDI) in the boxes, mixed with other documents. This is when NARA referred these documents to the DoJ. The DoJ then made a formal request to Biden that the FBI investigate these records. This is a requirement of the PRA, that only the president can authorize law enforcement to investigate presidential records.
So, this started as a dispute between NARA and Trump. After 7 months, Trump sent some records to NARA, as requested. When looking at these records, NARA discovered NDI along with some of the other records, so they referred the matter to DoJ. The DoJ got permission from Biden to allow FBI investigate the matter, which resulted in the evidence used to obtain the search warrant, as the FBI found credible evidence that documents that were marked classified were still present at MaL.
In don't believe that in any of the communications between Trump and NARA, in response to any subpoena, or in or response to any motions filed associated with the search warrant has Trump made the assertion that he declassified any of the documents.
It is much easier to fool someone than it is to convince someone that he has been fooled.