Trump stated that a president can declassify things just by thinking about it.
Starts at about the 13 minute mark.

Is he wrong?

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Is he wrong?

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No. 
 

exaggeration but...

Good thing they can’t charge him with inciting a riot or sexual assault based on what he was thinking. 

And Biden is lucky, he never has to worry about what he’s thinking as President. Ice Cream maybe. 

^^^not a lawyer...nor a safe shooter

And Biden is lucky, he never has to worry about what he’s thinking as President. Ice Cream maybe. 

Biden doesn’t have a f’ing brain to think about anything…..pure dolt…..

Biden doesn’t have a f’ing brain to think about anything…..pure dolt…..

 

  Caught the joke.   

Is he wrong?

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I think so.

Since I have never had a top secret security clearance and have not handled classified materials I don't personally know the answer to this so I actually spoke to a number of people who have had such security clearances and according to them it is definitely wrong. They described a whole process for declassifying materials and nothing was remotely close to telepathically declassifying materials or declassification with the wave of a hand.

Plus if you think it through having something like this would be a clear avenue to abuse. A former president could do whatever they want with classified materials and if caught just claim afterwards it was declassified prior because they thought to themselves so.

Biden doesn’t have a f’ing brain to think about anything…..pure dolt…..

He is still 10x smarter than Kamala....

I think so.

Since I have never had a top secret security clearance and have not handled classified materials I don't personally know the answer to this so I actually spoke to a number of people who have had such security clearances and according to them it is definitely wrong. They described a whole process for declassifying materials and nothing was remotely close to telepathically declassifying materials or declassification with the wave of a hand.

Plus if you think it through having something like this would be a clear avenue to abuse. A former president could do whatever they want with classified materials and if caught just claim afterwards it was declassified prior because they thought to themselves so.

The people u spoke to have the same clearance as former presidents? Or u friends with Barry and asked him the SOP for retired presidents?

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The people u spoke to have the same clearance as former presidents? Or u friends with Barry and asked him the SOP for retired presidents?

Depending on the classification level and programs involved, some documents are marked with a classification when produced, but can be downgraded AUTOMATICALLY with no complicated process involved.

The producer of the information decides if it's classified based on guides and documents that say so.  Most documents I worked with say "Declassify by OADR", meaning the Originating Agency's Determination is Required."  If the docs in question had that, then there needed to be a review for the info to be declassified.

However, if classified information needs to be given to someone without US clearance, such as a foreign military officer or political leader, the president can absolutely order that the information be provided and possibly downgraded.  He can either authorize "disclosure", meaning the party can have access to the info -- like viewing a video of touring a facility; or, he can authorize dissemination of the information, in which case copies of documents, software, etc. can be given to the party.

Even Top Secret docs can be classified for reasons that are now OBE, and the former President still, as the OADR, has the authority to downgrade it.

If we are talking about missile launch codes and names of CIA agents in the field, the that's a bigger issue than declassifying something that were simply classified working papers. 

The government has a habit of over-classifying most of what is classified, and failing to declassify when it's time to do so. 

I'd like to see the specifics on what was deemed classified, and whether or not it was really a threat to national security by storing it in his home.  If it was printed off a computer, by default it's labeled with a classification or special handling on each page until someone gets time to review it and possibly downgrade it.  I had a ton of listings stamped with a security banner top/bottom-front/back of every page,  The info they contained was actually unclassified, but the default markings were "SECRET" until two people in my office signed the front downgrading it.

We found it was more efficient time-wise and cost-wise to put them all in burn bags for classified destruction than having to go through literally tens of thousands of pages and mark out the headers.

Some reality.

Non-cleared civilians seem to have a grandiose view of classified material, how it got that way, what it was, and why it was classified.

I have handled classified stuff in the past that was so specialized only a very few would even know what it was.

The people u spoke to have the same clearance as former presidents? Or u friends with Barry and asked him the SOP for retired presidents?

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Nope but these people I spoke to definitely had the insight necessary to help me digest this story. But maybe they are wrong, perhaps there is some law, policy, or procedure which allows the president to declassify things simply be thinking it.  I'll gladly reconsider my position if someone can produce it.

Part of all of this is going to depend on what information it was. I have also heard that things are often marked classified when they don't really need to be so it could be that the documents he had are ones that shouldn't have been classified in the first place. We also need to wait for the official report because maybe some of the documents were declassified or in the process but the markings weren't updated, who knows, lots of nuance here.

But if the documents were still classified and he knowingly took them home (as opposed to some aid doing it without his knowledge) then I think he should be charged with the appropriate crime. It is my understanding that if I were a military member and accidentally brought home a classified document I would be facing significant jail time.

Nope but these people I spoke to definitely had the insight necessary to help me digest this story. But maybe they are wrong, perhaps there is some law, policy, or procedure which allows the president to declassify things simply be thinking it.  I'll gladly reconsider my position if someone can produce it.

So you're choosing to not play whataboutism like how you normally do.  Instead you're making a position.

I play whataboutism if logic dictates it.  Here is why I haven't for this situation.  The media has lied over and over about how they "got Trump" since 2015.  This is just another nothing burger.  Then if stuff was so classified, why take a pic and white out the words on classified documents?  Is there zero technology that can undo this?  Why are they even taking the risk?

Compare this to my whataboutism regarding Biden and the dead Jackie.  Logic without doing an extensive google search would assume he didn't know since he comes into contact with thousands of people every week.  But then Flapp posted the link of him acknowledging the death.  So my initial logic was incorrect.

SNIP

But if the documents were still classified and he knowingly took them home (as opposed to some aid doing it without his knowledge) then I think he should be charged with the appropriate crime. It is my understanding that if I were a military member and accidentally brought home a classified document I would be facing significant jail time.

For removal/retention?  You can be facing jail time. . . Disclosure/release is different.

As robtmc said, lots of "mystery" of classified documents.  There are also many who consider anything "sensitive" as classified.  They are very different.  Plus, FOUO, CUI, OPSEC rules and "guidance" change all the time.  But eh, Hillary can do, then. . . allegedly. . .

CUI HUI...

For removal/retention?  You can be facing jail time. . . Disclosure/release is different.

As robtmc said, lots of "mystery" of classified documents.  There are also many who consider anything "sensitive" as classified.  They are very different.  Plus, FOUO, CUI, OPSEC rules and "guidance" change all the time.  But eh, Hillary can do, then. . . allegedly. . .

In addition to all of that is whether taken in full context, did the document or partial document actually contain classified info?

Most classified documents, especially those at higher classification levels, are supposed to be "portion marked."  Each paragraph needs a classification, so the reader knows if this part is (S), that part is (TS/SCI) and the next part is (U).  The DOCUMENT, however, gets marked at the highest level contained in it, so the mention of a one-word phrase that is (TS) can cause a 100 page document to be marked TS, even though 99.99999% of the material is not TS.

What I'm getting at is, when the FBI/Media/Biden WH report that Trump had "TS Documents", you have to ask yourself how much of that was actually TS which would pose a national security threat?  A code word or GPS coordinate could be all it contained that's highly sensitive.

And as you pointed out, there's a broad line between violating an administrative rule (place to store, inappropriate markings, etc) and disclosure.  Once a document is discovered unprotected, an assessment is done first to determine if the document was potentially compromised.  If it may have been, then next they determine the level of damage that disclosure might cause.  Third is to make a list of mitigating actions to ensure the information, if misused, can do little or no damage.

Without an actual compromise of the classified material, it's an administrative SNAFU.  Not a crime -- just a reprimand.  If it happens often, then maybe loss of one's clearance.  But that falls way short of criminal charges no matter what you think the law says.

So you're choosing to not play whataboutism like how you normally do.  Instead you're making a position.

I play whataboutism if logic dictates it.  Here is why I haven't for this situation.  The media has lied over and over about how they "got Trump" since 2015.  This is just another nothing burger.  Then if stuff was so classified, why take a pic and white out the words on classified documents?  Is there zero technology that can undo this?  Why are they even taking the risk?

Compare this to my whataboutism regarding Biden and the dead Jackie.  Logic without doing an extensive google search would assume he didn't know since he comes into contact with thousands of people every week.  But then Flapp posted the link of him acknowledging the death.  So my initial logic was incorrect.

You still aren't using the term whataboutism correctly but that aside, yes I am making a position. I learned enough to justify taking a solid stance.

As to taking a picture and then whiting out words on the documents I don't know the specifics of how the words were whited out but I have done enough photo editing to know it is quite easy to do without being reversible.
As to why? I would guess that if they didn't release the photos then Trump and his supporters would claim lack of photos meant Trump was being framed. Given the polarizing and high profile nature of this investigation I agree with the decision to release a redacted photo over releasing nothing.

For removal/retention?  You can be facing jail time. . . Disclosure/release is different.

As robtmc said, lots of "mystery" of classified documents.  There are also many who consider anything "sensitive" as classified.  They are very different.  Plus, FOUO, CUI, OPSEC rules and "guidance" change all the time.  But eh, Hillary can do, then. . . allegedly. . .

Hillary's situation was a little bit different if I understand correctly and while definitely unethical not technically illegal on her part, but thats another conversation.

I think that even if classified documents were in Trump's possession it might be difficult to prove a criminal case. Given that he probably didn't do all the packing and moving himself there is a large window of doubt as to whether he took them or someone else placed them in a box destined for his house. Classified documents are also supposed to have a sort of custody log if I understand correctly so that would need to be investigated too.