He released a ‘defense’ that is quite possibly proof of severe mental impairment…
On Friday evening, Trump’s camp sent a statement to Fox News elaborating on that defense.
“As we can all relate to, everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time. American presidents are no different,” the statement read.
It continued: “President Trump, in order to prepare for work the next day, often took documents, including classified documents, to the residence. He had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken to the residence were deemed to be declassified the moment he removed them.”
Trump has not held the job of president of the United States, however, in more than 18 months, a point the statement did not seem to address.
Yeah… it does NOT work like that…
Declassification is a bureaucratic process- Yes, a president has the authority to declassify things (though, by my understanding things like nuclear secrets also require approval of Congress…), but even the president can’t just wave a magic wand and make the process magically happen immediately- It is NOT something even the president can do simply on a whim because he is in a rush to get home to watch Tucker while eating a BigMac…
Classified documents have specific markings declaring them to be secret, or top secret on every page- are we to assume the markings were removed just so he could make it home in time to watch his stories? Are we to actually believe that Trump actually took work home to diligently read it?
There are strict guidelines on the handling of such information, as it should be… People can die if it falls into the wrong hands…
I am NOT claiming to have a security clearance or not- but I can say that you can have a Secret clearance and NEVER see a classified document or project- in fact I would _guess_ MOST holders of a SECRET clearance have never held a secret document or been read-in on a SECRET program. Probably MOST clearance holders have that clearance simply because they happen to work at a facility where SECRET or TOP SECRET work is being done. Back in the 90′s I knew I guy that got a clearance simply so he could use the bathroom unescorted- he was working with a researcher who worked at a classified facility- the work they were collaborating on itself was unclassified, but since the facility was classified, people without a clearance could not walk around without an escort. He had to go through a thorough background investigation… I would like to think that now, however, they don’t issue clearances for bathroom privileges anymore.