Quote (theCrossbones @ Aug 10 2022 01:42am)
I have heard some people talking. Sorry I can’t quote references currently that spoke to that point. That no presidents can’t just walk off with whatever documents they want. That some are classified and belong the government. I would have to look into. Lot of radio listening today. Also if you get asked for over a year to return them. First request was May of last year. Some serious inquiries/requests. Etc request to secure them etc. per usual the fat man ignore govt requests. Maybe he should of just complied. Yes laughs for irony
There is no legal precedent in this area to support a prosecution or investigation. Presidents have never been charged with mishandling classified information, and the standing precedent is that presidents have universal authority to declassify information. No prosecutor at the DoJ has before tried to argue that presidents don't have implicit power to declassify, which is what they need to do in a novel legal argument to support any claim of wrongdoing here. Plenty of presidents have walked around with classified information after leaving office, like Obama did, and it was never treated as a crime.
This would very firmly belong in the category of "legal fiction". Its trying to invent a new crime to prosecute someone, rather than enforce an existing law. Someone who was already making good faith efforts to negotiate with and comply with requests from their office. Its Merrick Garland's DoJ jumping straight to the nuclear option when presented with untested legal waters.
When there's an unsettled legal argument with no firm grounding, and the DoJ uses that as a basis to persecute a former president, its the most reckless and overreaching form of prosecutorial misconduct. What's its supposed to accomplish? Get some transcripts from Trump's time in office, which were either shielded by executive privilege or his prerogative to declassify? Its like Merrick Garland tried to argue he has his right to stick a gloved fist up anyone's ass and anyone who refuses to comply is a criminal