Trump appears to concede he illegally retained official documents in filing

[marmar]

(Guardian UK) Donald Trump appeared to concede in his court filing surrounding the seizure of materials from his Florida resort that he unlawfully retained official government documents, as the former president argued that some of the documents collected by the FBI could be subject to executive privilege.

The motion submitted on Monday by the former president’s lawyers argued that a court should appoint a so-called special master to separate out and determine what materials the justice department can review as evidence due to privilege issues.

But the argument from Trump that some of the documents are subject to executive privilege protections indicates that those documents are official records that he is not authorized to keep and should have turned over to the National Archives at the end of the administration.

The motion, in that regard, appeared to concede that Trump violated one of the criminal statutes listed on the warrant used by the FBI to search the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort – 18 USC 2071 – concerning the unlawful removal of government records.

“If he’s acknowledging that he’s in possession of documents that would have any colorable claim of executive privilege, those are by definition presidential records and belong at the National Archives,” said Asha Rangappa, a former FBI agent and former associate dean at Yale Law School. .............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/23/trump-illegal-documents-fbi-mar-a-lago

[no_hypocrisy]

1. So he can't demand their return.

A concession is a concession is a concession.

[jcgoldie]

2. woopsie

[Heather MC]

3. Soooooo.....When he going to jail?

🤔🤷🏾‍♀️

[calimary]

4. Yep.

The very fact of them.

“…But the argument from Trump that some of the documents are subject to executive privilege protections indicates that those documents are official records that he is not authorized to keep and should have turned over to the National Archives at the end of the administration.

The motion, in that regard, appeared to concede that Trump violated one of the criminal statutes listed on the warrant used by the FBI to search the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort – 18 USC 2071 – concerning the unlawful removal of government records.

“If he’s acknowledging that he’s in possession of documents that would have any colorable claim of executive privilege, those are by definition presidential records and belong at the National Archives,” said Asha Rangappa, a former FBI agent and former associate dean at Yale Law School.”

[MiniMe]

5. He is no longer President, so there is NO executive privilege

[calimary]

6. I suspect he thinks it's some perpetual power.

And he can take THAT with him, too.

Once gained, never lost or forfeited.

[dsc]

7. that isn't entirely true

First, if Biden were backing him on that, it would be much more likely to be considered. Second, even without Biden's backing, some executive privilege would exist (according to court decisions) but just what it would entail hasn't been spelled out. One example would be if Trump were to be subpeonaed in a case and were being asked about an attack on a terrorist, he would certainly have his own privilege not to testify.

[MiniMe]

8. Anybody would have that, it is the 5th amendment

And Biden isn't backing him on executive privilege

[onenote]

9. The courts disagree.

It is pretty well settled that a former president still can assert executive privilege with respect to documents created during the former president's term. Indeed, its built into the Presidential Records Act, which requires a former president to be given notice and an opportunity to object (based on an assertion of privilege) to the disclosure of archived documents. That being said, whether a claim of executive privilege should be honored by a court is decided by the court, no matter whether it is being made by the current president or a former president, with the qualifier that an important factor a court will take into account is what the sitting president thinks about a claim asserted by a former president. As a result, it is highly unlikely that Trump could convince a court to honor a claim of executive privilege if President Biden does not support that claim. But as the courts have made clear, Trump can assert a claim of executive privilege.


From the DC Circuit opinion in Trump v. Thompson

"There is no question that the former President can file suit to press his claim of executive privilege. The Supreme Court in Nixon v. GSA specifically "reject[ed] the argument that only an incumbent President may assert such claims" and ruled that "a former President[ ] may also be heard to assert them" in court. 433 U.S. at 439, 97 S.Ct. 2777. The Court explained that executive privilege "is necessary to provide the confidentiality required for the President's conduct of office" because, "nless he can give his advisers some assurance of confidentiality, a President could not expect to receive the full and frank submissions of facts and opinions upon which effective discharge of his duties depends." Id . at 448–449, 97 S.Ct. 2777. "[T]he privilege survives the individual President's tenure[,]" the Court said, because the "privilege is not for the benefit of the President as an individual, but for the benefit of the Republic." Id . at 449, 97 S.Ct. 2777 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). So the privilege that Mr. Trump asserts in his capacity as a former President is of constitutional stature."

[MiniMe]

10. I'm not sure that applies to Top Secret Compartmented informatiom

[onenote]

12. Moving the goal posts?

Your post said he couldn't claim executive privilege because "he is no longer president", not because of the nature of the documents in question. Your post misstated the law. And he's not claiming EP just with respect to the classified, top secret materials, but with respect to everything that was seized. The courts will reject that claim, not because of the nature of the material, nor because a former president can't claim EP. They'll reject it because, particularly with Biden having waived the privilege, the courts will reject the EP claim.

[Celerity]

11. K & R