"Trump's secret papers and the 'myth' of presidential security clearance" (wapo)

[orleans]

Unlike U.S. intelligence officials, presidents are not ‘read in’ or ‘read out’ of classified matters, complicating any potential prosecution, experts say

Prosecutors scrutinizing Donald Trump for possible mishandling of classified information will have to do so without a key legal and factual element that has long been a staple of such cases, according to intelligence experts. That’s because, unlike the vast majority of federal workers who access secret information, presidents are not made to sign paperwork on classified documents as part of their joining or leaving the government.

Typically, when a person gets access to restricted information, they are “read in” — a process that includes signing documents at the outset in which they acknowledge the legal requirements not to share information on sensitive programs with unauthorized people or keep classified documents in unauthorized places. When they leave such jobs, they are “read out,” again acknowledging in writing their legal responsibilities and declaring that they do not have any classified documents in their possession.

David Priess, a former CIA officer who is now the publisher of Lawfare, a national security website and podcast producer, said presidents are not read out of classified programs when they leave office. That, he said, “is because presidents are not formally read in.”

Said Priess: “There’s a myth out there that presidents have a formal security clearance. They don’t.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/25/trump-classified-legal/

[CentralMass]

1. Well why don't the indict his treasonous Orange ass ?

[EndlessWire]

2. It may complicate things

but it doesn't mean that he had a right to remove classified records and squirrel them away in a cardboard box in his basement, stating that they are his personal property.

[wnylib]

4. +1000

[Tetrachloride]

3. I contend that these subpoenas, search warrants and more notices

are equivalent to being “read out”.

Trump will phonily split hairs.

When his beady eyes start freezing, the fingers clench and the lips move without speaking, we know his going more orange.

[wnylib]

5. It doesn't matter whether he was read in or out.

It was still illegal for to take government documents to his home and keep them there, long after being out of office. The fact that several were classified top secret and SCI makes it even worse.

[Tetrachloride]

6. When he gets to sentencing, bail hearings, prison breakfast,

the extra connotations may be pivotal in his treatment.

I used to know quite a few in the “correctional “ institutions. Both modern and old school. One was a veteran of military prisons.

i like butter with my oatmeal.

Trump might not.

[ToxMarz]

7. Foreign spies and aren't 'read in' or 'read out' either

We still prosecute them. The classified markings and warnings on the documents are not meant to apply only to those 'read in/out'

[pnwmom]

8. None of the charges in the warrant require that the documents be classified.

The Espionage Act, for example, PREDATES the classification system, so it doesn't mention classified documents at all.

So the DOJ was undoubtedly aware of the complications involving the President not being officially read in or read out -- because none of its charges depend on that.

[Roy Rolling]

9. A difference without distinction

By the same loophole standard of legal theory, I say a president is “read in” when sworn-in as chief executive. That’s the legal standard, he agreed in one fell swoop the same as waving his magic wand of declassification.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. 1. Ignorance of law is no defense, 2. He knew. He was told multiple times

1. Ignorance of the law is no defense. You don't get to say "I didn't know you can't sell alcohol to 12 year olds".

2. I'm certain tRump was informed on several occasions in his first days in office, and before (Presidential briefings), that secrets have to be treated especially carefully. We know that he was told about laws around preservation of records before, during and after he ripped up documents and flushed others.

He was told after National Archives went to reclaim records in January and discovered classified documents. He was told in a visit in June by officials, if not earlier in February. In any case, by the time they were putting locks on storage room doors, he would absolutely be informed about the law.

tRump follows "the media". He's known for a long time he's in legal trouble even if his lawyers don't tell him.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. tRump ran 2016 on Hillary's emails: core issue of that was SAME: mishandling of secret information

So the former guy has no excuse for not knowing and no excuse for not being careful.

Which makes me think he had some powerful motive to go against all that.

[Irish_Dem]

12. There is always a loophole for Trump to wiggle straight through.