- Sun Jun 11, 2023 10:05 am
#136420
In Navy v. Egan, a 1988 case, there was a unanimous decision from the Sup Ct saying the president’s ability to classify and control access to national security information flows from the Constitution. He decides. He alone decides.
If Trump declassified the material, which he apparently did by letter before leaving the WH, that's it.
Also, we need to be clear that no president has the SOLE copy of any classified document. We have computers, and copies, and hard drives, and tape backups of hard drives. So there is no document which Archives needs to retrieve (they have them all already).
Further, in retirement, a president has the same security clearance he in office.
If Trump declassified the material, which he apparently did by letter before leaving the WH, that's it.
Also, we need to be clear that no president has the SOLE copy of any classified document. We have computers, and copies, and hard drives, and tape backups of hard drives. So there is no document which Archives needs to retrieve (they have them all already).
Further, in retirement, a president has the same security clearance he in office.