2. The former president has the legal right to access any and all of the documents created during his presidency, classified or otherwise. Moreover, the second before he left office, by his very actions alone in taking the documents, it can be said that he declassified them.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
3. This was discussed at length in 2017 when he handed classified information to the Russian foreign minister. The former president cannot be charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 for this reason and more, including Article II Sec 1 of the Constitution.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
4. He is the executive branch, commander in chief, and is not limited by subordinates or agency regulations in the exercise of this power. There is separation of powers as well, meaning Congress cannot diminish a core power of the presidency by statute.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
5. And imagine if he could be charged, with endless debates over bureaucratic processes followed or not followed, and the impact that would have on the ability of a president to exercise his executive powers.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
6. Among other reasons as well, this is why many of us argue that a sitting president cannot be inducted. Obviously, Trump here is a former president. But that gets back to my point about interpreting a president’s action upon his departure.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
7. Now we get to document possession issue. Under the Presidential Records of 1978, there are no penalties or enforcement mechanisms. Clearly, the law was never intended to be used as a criminal statute or prosecutorial tool against a former president.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
8. And there’s nothing in the legislative history to support such an effort. A former president is given great latitude in access to documents, classified or otherwise. Even judicial review is very limited, as courts have said in other circumstances.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
9. The point is, the second after a president leaves office he’s not subject to criminal charges or penalties if he has documents or other information.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
10. The Act anticipates negotiations between a former president and the Archives related to the nature of information, disposition of the information, etc. This is a process.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
11. That said, other than the boxes seized by the FBI, obviously millions of pages of records created in the Trump administration are controlled by the Archives.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
12. This fact & the fact that there have been lawyer-to-lawyer negotiations over the remaining boxes, as well as voluntary access to the former president’s home, belies the absurd claim that he “stole” govt property or “obstructed” the Archives somehow or had criminal intent, etc— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
13. Indeed, the former president was out of office only 12 months when the issue of boxes became known publicly. That’s a very short period of time. Sometimes negotiations go on for years.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
14. If there was some sudden urgency in controlling the documents, there were many ways to obtain them without resorting to the criminal process.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
15. In fact, it’s shocking that a federal grand jury in DC has been empaneled in the first place, not to mention spies and others at Mar-a-Largo allegedly secretly leaking to the FBI. What’s going on here?— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
16. Even if it’s believe that documents are being moved or destroyed, the FBI had the power to remove them via a subpoena enforced by a subsequent court order if necessary.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
17. If there’s actual evidence something was destroyed, real probable cause, and the government truly believes a crime was committed, then go to a real judge and seek an arrest warrant.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
18. But what occurred here was the issuance of a general warrant, in violation of the Fourth Amendment, enabling the government to grab everything in sight for a period of nine hours, and even search the former First Lady’s clothes closet.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
19. That’s why, at least in part, this indicates the use of a pretext to search for information related to other matters, like Jan. 6. It’s no accident that the same US attorney overseeing the Archives investigation is overseeing the Jan. 6 investigation.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
20. Also, why was a matter of such constitutional consequence heard by a master, not an Art. III federal judge? A master is not confirmed by the Senate. And if there was some kind of urgency, AG Garland was slow to authorize the seeking of a search warrant.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
21. And once secured, the warrant wasn’t executed for three days. Again, this is why there’s speculation about the government’s actual intentions.— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
22. As I hope you can see, this entire event is appalling. Especially when you consider further that Hillary Clinton and James Comey, neither of whom were president with the attendant protections, were never subjected to a search warrant, given every deference, and never indicted— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022
this is helpful
I’d like to know more about the Presidential Records Act of 1978
That is definitely the most relevant body of law here? (well, that and the Constitution itself).
Karl Rove was on FOX news earlier saying he understood why the DOJ took this action, that 18 months was too long for Trump to hang on to these documents. He suspected a Secret Service agent contacted the DOJ or FBI.
“by his very actions alone in taking the documents, it can be said that he declassified them”
And that’s where the doj thinks they have something.....they obviously don’t see it that way.
I suspect they believe when Trump left office the docs immediately fell under the control of the federal archivist.....that’s what I’ve been hearing anyway.