Trump did it so it’s ok now
Reuters reports that even if Trump was allowed to declassify documents in his mind, which is, of course, ridiculous, he couldn’t have declassifed the nuclear document they found among his hoard:
Even when he was president, Donald Trump lacked the legal authority to declassify a U.S. nuclear weapons-related document that he is charged with illegally possessing, security experts said, contrary to the former U.S. president’s claim.
The secret document, listed as No. 19 in the indictment charging Trump with endangering national security, can under the Atomic Energy Act only be declassified through a process that by the statute involves the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.
For that reason, the experts said, the nuclear document is unique among the 31 in the indictment because the declassification of the others is governed by executive order. “The claim that he (Trump) could have declassified it is not relevant in the case of the nuclear weapons information because it was not classified by executive order but by law,” said Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy expert with the Federation of American Scientists.
The special status of nuclear-related information further erodes what many legal experts say is a weak defense centered around declassification. Without providing evidence, Trump has claimed he declassified the documents before removing them from the White House.
[…]
Document No. 19 is marked “FRD,” or Formerly Restricted Data, a classification given to secret information involving the military use of nuclear weapons. The indictment described it as undated and “concerning nuclear weaponry of the United States.”
[…]
The most sensitive nuclear weapons information is classified as “RD,” for Restricted Data, and covers warhead designs and uranium and plutonium production, according to a DOE guide entitled “Understanding Classification.”
The Department of Energy downgrades from RD to FRD nuclear weapons data it needs to share with the Pentagon, but the materials remain classified, experts said.
Materials classified as FRD include data on the U.S. arsenal size, the storage and safety of warheads, their locations and their yields or power, according to the guide.
FRD information only can be declassified through a process governed by the AEA in which the secretaries of energy and defense determine that the designation “may be removed,” according to a Justice Department FAQ sheet.
And yet, some right wing freak disagrees:
David Jonas, who served for 10 years as general counsel for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Energy division that oversees the nuclear arsenal, said Trump had the constitutional authority to declassify all classified documents under the “unitary executive theory,” which holds that Congress cannot limit the president’s control over the executive branch.
“The president is the executive branch and so he can declassify anything that is nuclear information,” he said.
The “Unitary Executive theory” is one which the experience of Donald Trump should have relegated to the dustbin of history. It’s always been bullshit and now we can see why we actually a re supposed to have a separation of powers. Some narcissistic nutbag might just fall into the presidency some day, stage a coup, steal nuclear documents and store them in his toilet.
Actually constitutional experts as opposed to looney tunes wingnuts agree:
Elizabeth Goitein, a national security law expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the authority to limit presidential power related to most national security issues and “there is no question it can legislate in this area.”
While the president can request declassification of FRD materials, “it’s got to go through both DOE (Department of Energy) and DOD (Department of Defense). And it takes forever,” said Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive.
Someone should ask Bill Barr whether he still believes in the Unitary Executive Theory. He was a big proponent for years. Now he says that the president he served is a “troubled man.” Is it really a great idea for such a person to have “unitary” power over national security and Justice Department? Could it be that the writers of the Constitution saw such a possibility, what with the whole Mad King thing, and tried to set up a system to mitigate that threat?
Hmmmm.