Quote (PlasmaSnake101 @ Jun 14 2023 10:59am)
What is said on tape doesn't matter. He's an old guy, he gets confused. I'm sure he meant they were just not publicized, rather than remaining classified. Since he declassified all of the documents when he took them out of the White House, they remain declassified. He has unilateral authority on this matter.
I'm not a major fan of discussing the clear hypocrisy of the Justice Department. We all know they're corrupt, so I see no reason to point out the double standard. The point is, it's established law.
Now, as the President said, the National Archive was negotiating with his people over their access to various documents. I'm not sure if these were the original and sole copies of these documents (I doubt it) and it seems the most extreme are rather outdated. Since it's apparently an audio recording, he could be waving around a folder with a big "CLASSIFIED" stamp on it, never showing the contents to the people he's talking to. I don't know, I don't think you know either. It'll probably come out in trial. I'm thinking from the perspective of reasonable doubt and I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to the accused, as the jury will be instructed to do.
As far as telling a lawyer to destroy evidence, I'm a reasonable person and that sounds like dark humor to me. The President tends to be a funny, hyperbolic guy, so I take everything he says with more than a grain of salt. It proves nothing. In any case, all the documents were retrieved (unlawfully) so it's clear this scenario you imagine in your head didn't come to fruition.
It's just a weak case. His being President renders most of this meaningless. You'll have to have a Federal Judge make a declarative statement on the President's authority on declassification, which sounds like it could go to the Supreme Court. However, the Constitution grants the President these vast powers and trying to delegate his authority to the Judiciary, or have them in some way police his authority, runs contrary to the purpose of his office and the notion of division of power in the Federal Government.
Now, I'm just pointing out very basic and understandable weaknesses in the case. My take on this, while being objectively true, could be one the Federal Government does not share. In fact, I would not be surprised in the slightest if they found him guilty. My opinion on these issues don't matter and it seems the FBI and Justice Department want to nail President Trump to the wall, seeing as they've been attempting to do so since 2015. I could go into the abuse of power, the double standard, etc. But there is no need. The case is horseshit to begin with. At the end of the day, I suppose we just disagree. I think democratically elected leaders should have authority on the classification of documents and disclosing the information to the people. You believe FBI and CIA spooks should have the ultimate say in what the American people are informed about, and they should be able to prevent any democratically elected official from disclosing any information to the public that they find problematic. You're a deep state stooge.
There is a PROCESS for declassification, he cant just do it by thinking it.