Page 2 - De Classify News Today

Operations and things like that. the intelligence community would have had an up roar if that were the way in which these documents were being treated. also problematic is the fact that donald trump when he wanted to de classify in the russia investigation to harm his political opponents, he went through a certain process to do it. he didnt say, take em out of the oval office and say theyre magically declassified. so it is not surprising that mark meadows is saying now there was no standing orde...

Work. it is not how an intelligence product works. any document that travels from one building to the other on the 18-acre complex would automatically be declassified. it would involve calling the intelligence agencies, calling american allies, calling the nsa and the cia every night to tell them what he took with him. i mean it was nonsensical, but to now have it completely confirmed in black and white there never was any such thing as a standard declassification order seems like a devastating ...

Superseding indictments and know that case is ongoing. i would guess he is not out of the clear just yet in any case. but i do think he made an effort at least with the federal prosecutors to give them enough information to try to act as neither a pro-trump witness nor an anti-trump witness. that was his strategy going in, to not be very negative about trump but also not defending trump. we know from abc news that he did tell them that trump had not given an order to de classify a broad declassi...

Special counsel. he was even confronted and with trumps own words, his allies are still defending him. >> he said point blank, on tape, as president, i could have declarified it and now i cant. he said if his own words, it is on tape, as part of this indictment, that he did not de classify the materials. therefore it is -- >> saying he could have, saying could have is not the same as saying that he didnt. >> he said now i cant. >> he said that -- now he cant. right. because hes not president now...

Players. weve seen them engage to get around different kind of priv healths and were in the phase but when there will there be a decision on charges one thing that we were taught this week, we dont know because there are people like general milley that we didnt know about and they have this kind of evidence. that is a reminder to all of us that there is a lot we dont know. >> this week i spoke to jim trusty and here is what he said about all of this that paula has been reporting. >> the presiden...

Would he have the right to possess them if they were classified documents? >> yes. >> because -- >> it is such an interesting argument, but it just strikes me. what were talking about here is potentially, you know, not only classified documents that relate to national security, but is that really the argument that theyre going to take to voters, about whether or not that is right or wrong for him to do. >> if the republican primary voters only care about donald trump and do whatever he wants in ...

That is going to be vital to keeping americas operatives overseas alive, covert operatives and this is serious stuff and that is the argument youll hear. >> and it is interesting if the arguments in court sound anything like what he just said. >> that is a key point. because it is not a crime to lie to journalists. but it is a crime to lie to judges, to investigators. and we havent seen them put forth the arguments that they could de classify with his mind or an order that no one has seen. it is...

That trump knew what he had, and what he couldnt share. >> exactly. that is what makes this so significant. is on this recording, according to our sources, you could hear him not only describing a classified document but sug that -- but suggesting that he wants to share it and he acknowledged his ability to de classify once out of the white house and they undercut any defense since this investigation became public. >> what do you feel and what are you hearing are the tea leaves about where jack ...

Assist and advise him. and trumps lawyers write it is the presidents zeg ignition that is determinative. what is youre reaction to that. >> as you know, i was responsible for these issues in the office of the white house council in the obama administration. and it is just false. i mean, again and again we hear this same theme from the former president that he is above the law that governs all other americans. we have a presidential records act and there are regulations and executive orders that ...

Classified information. and they sort of mocked his inability to put forward evidence in the court that he had in fact declassified anything something that he responded to by saying he did it in his own mind. it is a full scale win for the department of justice that will now be able to conduct the investigation of the potential damage from the leak of classified information to an insecure location and then follow up with, if appropriate, criminal charges. >> so let me ask you something, you were...