Couldn't Trump have declassified all his documents before taking them?

[Kablooie]

The president has the power to classify and declassify docs.
If Trump did this officially before he left office, wouldn’t it technically be legal?

But if the new president reclassiified them what is the situation? Would Trump have to return them to the government? Seems an oddball situation here.

Of course the raid might not have been about classified docs anyway. There could be other documents that prove criminality that they want.

[pwb]

1. He may be able to but there is a process

lawful Presidents follow.

[lapfog_1]

2. even if they were totally de-classified

there is still the presidential records preservation act that every president must follow.

It is unlawful for him to remove those records from the white house.

[rso]

3. Trump

If there are classification markings on the documents, then they are classified.

[DUgosh]

4. They were stolen

Classified documents.

[Earth-shine]

5. He didn't want people to know what those documents are.

They were just saying on MSNBC that some are so classified, that we're not allowed to know anything about them.

[Deminpenn]

6. Not sure Trump actually knew what was packed up

The guy doesn't read after all and never showed any interest in studying an issue or following the law. He probably just told his aides to pack everything up that was in his office and ship it to FL figuring it was all his.

Fifteen boxes of documents were eventually returned to the National Archives. But I agree with the cable legal analysts that the FBI was called in because the federal government wasn't sure Trump would turn over the rest of what should've gone to the Archives/stayed at in the WH despite the ongoing negotiations to return them.

[gab13by13]

9. We make the mistake of thinking that Trump is stupid,

Trump is not stupid, he is mentally ill.

[JohnSJ]

11. Exactly

[dclarston13]

15. Yea

And the next one will be smarter still. Trump is a distraction, a relic of the past. The media needs to move on and put its energy somewhere else like climbing up Desatan's ass to see what evil that little shit is up to.

[Deminpenn]

20. Don't think he's dumb snd

agree he has a mental illness.

I still think he just figured all those records were his and took them. So doubt he cared what was in the boxes or what documents they were, just thathey we're "his"..

[tavernier]

23. I would say mentally lazy.

He would never be interested enough to read through all those documents, but he would want to have them in his possession in case he could ever bank on them at a later time.

[inthewind21]

24. No he's not

mentally ill. That's an insult to those who actually are mentally ill. He's just a POS person. That requires no mental illness.

[Takket]

7. The FBI isn't that stupid

They would have verified what records were missing and/or classified with the archives before asking for a warrant.

[634-5789]

8. According to the Archives....

It is illegal to remove any / all classified docs from the WH . EVER.

[Emile]

10. Did he go through the legal proceeding of declassifying

each and every document?

[kentuck]

12. Can a president "de-classify" the nuclear codes...

...and the locations of all CIA agents around the world?

[brooklynite]

14. Legally, the President can declassify anything.

[Tree Lady]

21. Yeah it would kind of seem like there "should be"

A limit to the presidential powers why we have congress.

[kentuck]

28. Just like with pardons, I think there is a process that a president is supposed to go through...

Except, with Trump, the process is not necessary. I don't think either the pardons or declassification of documents should be legitimate if they do not go thru the process as with everyone else. Just my opinion.

[brooklynite]

13. Nobody said the documents were secret; and that's not the point

Whether classified or not, they're Government documents, not his. They go to the Archives at the end of the President's term.

[uponit7771]

16. +1,

[Mr. Ected]

17. This is the type of misdirection the propaganda press is famous for

Get their people in a lather telling them that their Great President declassified the documents and therefore was entitled to them. That's enough to get the True Believers believing that everything else was a Liberal Conspiracy.

But you're right, they're wrong, and unless we figure out a way to shut down these disinformation networks, we'll be shadowboxing our opponents over issues that don't exist until the day they launch an attack on us.

[brooklynite]

19. The only people I've seen harping on this are here...

Where has "the press" discussed it.

[inthewind21]

25. It's been on

all day. CNN, MSNBC, NBC etc. Take your pick, they're all clutching their pearls.

[Novara]

18. Obviously he didn't declassify this stuff

Otherwise, why get a search warrant? Why go into his safe? Why did the agents take evidence with them when they left?

I still suspect he took classified documents because 1) he felt entitled, and 2) he saw a money-maker. I suspect he planned to sell them to the highest bidder.

[Demsrule86]

22. No, he can't take the documents-whether they are classified or not...still part of the record.

[ColoradoBlue]

26. Classified docs are worth more

Read a thread yesterday that said that if Trump wanted to sell them, he would need to keep them classified. De-classified docs aren't worth anything since anyone can view them. But there are bad actors out there who will pay a lot of money for classified documents.

Since Trump has spent his whole life grifting and looking for ways to make a buck, this seems like the most likely reason. And it would also explain why DOJ was willing to take the unprecedented step of issuing a search warrant on a former president.

[Kablooie]

27. Good point.

I wondered why he took them.
I didn’t think it was for sentimental reasons.
Monetary gain would be the only thing he would be interested in. That and blackmail material.

He probably expected to sell them to enemies if he needed quick cash. They would have to be pretty important documents to bring the kind of cash he would want.