6 Jun 2023 6:31 am
Classification, to a large extent, is a moot point. He will be charged with obstruction of justice relating to the government's retrieval of stolen national defense information documents. under 18 U.S. Code § 793 Espionage Act, which does not depend on any classification regime. Any sentence given, if convicted, will probably rely on DNI damage assessment, not so much their classification. Moreover, if classification is a factor, and it can be but to a lesser extent, but only to the extent that evidence of it can be established, and, Trump has no evidence of it, the docs will be considered to be classified, given their unaltered markings. He's made the claim as a private citizen. thing is, even if they were declassified, if DNI damage assessments are severe, it's the assessments that will be given weight, not the classification. Because declassification does not mean he can own them, it's still a violation of the act. to steal them and deliberately not return them, and he did, indeed, obstruct the government's efforts to retrieve them, therefore, all of the aggravated circumstances per DOJ policy insofar as how they extend the benefit of doubt to senators and members of the exec branch, who are often tasked with taking docs home, all of the aggravated circumstances that warrant an indictment are present.ConsRule » 03 Jun 2023, 7:16 am » wrote: ↑ An expert on CNNLOL just told Victor Blackwell said that the President has the authority to declassify anything at any time (and cited examples of Presidents doing just that) without following the protocols that others must follow. He also said he, and most others Constitutional experts, doubt any court would rule otherwise as it would be a restriction of the powers of the CIC. Like it or not, when it comes to the classification and declassification of documents, the rules that apply to everyone else in the government DO NOT APPLY to the Commander in Chief as he is the final authority on classification and security clearance matters.
That doesn't mean the President shouldn't follow protocol...it means he isn't required to follow protocol.