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Trump is Falling into DOJ's Trap with Claims he Declassified Documents [1]
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Date: 2022-09-20
The Ex Commander in Thief and his minions have made public statements that he unilaterally and secretly declassified the documents that he had stashed at Mar-a-lago — but he has carefully avoided stating that he did so in legal filings. He seems to be heading in the direction of putting his declassification fairy tale on the record, and I believe the DOJ would like nothing better.
Despite all the hubub, the classification status of the documents has little legal relevance. The documents sought by NARA are the property of the US Government, classified or not, so Drumpf’s absconding with them constitutes theft, plain and simple. Moreover, the Espionage Act violations he is accused of stem from the documents containing national security related information, and make no mention of classification. The fact that the documents are classified mainly serves to shape the perception of the public and the DOJ as to if and how aggressively the Treasonous Tangerine should be prosecuted.
However, disgraceful corrupt clown of a judge Aileen Cannon made classification a big issue when she pretended to believe that the marked documents are not necessarily classified, and ordered that their security be compromised by disclosing them to the Special Master and TFG’s legal team.
When “Come on Aileen” Cannon issued this ruling, I wondered why the DOJ and Biden administration didn’t simply reassert the classified status of the documents, e.g. issue a filing stating “we don’t believe that Mar-a-Lardo declassified these documents, but even if you accept that he did, we are declaring them classified now”. It seems like it would be a simple way to decapitate TFG and Cannon’s argument that the documents might not be currently classified.
I think the reason the DOJ has not done this is that they WANT the Slobfather to formally assert that he declassified the documents. In the court of public opinion, his having declassified documents that contain the most sensitive national security information may be more damning than his having stolen them.
Imagine this possible line of questioning:
Cross Examination of TFG Regarding Document Declassification Here are expert declarations stating the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago contain secret military strategy, the names of undercover foreign spies, closely held information about adversary nuclear weapons, isn’t that right?
Are you aware that declassified documents are publicly available to anyone that requests them through FOIA?
What made you think you were not putting the entire American public and our allies at risk by making this information publicly available?
TFG’s attorneys have so far refused to formally declare whether he declassified documents, stating they are saving that for when ...er if... he is indicted. But Orange Foolius keeps shooting off his mouth claiming that he did, and it’s probably just a matter of time before he orders his “crack” legal team to stuff their advice and assert that he had a standing declassification order. We can only hope!
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/20/2124178/-Trump-is-falling-into-DOJ-s-Trap-with-Claims-he-Declassified-Documents
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