DONALD TRUMP SAID he “absolutely” plans to testify in the federal government’s case against him regarding classified documents he removed from the White House. “I’m allowed to do whatever I want … I’m allowed to do everything I did,” the former president told conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt.

In an interview on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” that dropped Wednesday, the host asked Trump, “Did you direct anyone to move the boxes, Mr. President? Did you tell anyone to move the boxes?” referring to the boxes of more than 300 classified documents the federal government seized last year from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

“I don’t talk about anything. You know why? Because I’m allowed to do whatever I want. I come under the Presidential Records Act,” Trump replied, while also taking a quick detour to bash Hewitt. “I’m not telling you. You know, every time I talk to you, ‘Oh, I have a breaking story.’ You don’t have any story. I come under the Presidential Records Act. I’m allowed to do everything I did.”

      • baldingpudenda@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        His lawyers actually said that while he was president. They said he was incapable of being deposed without perjuring himself. Eventually they sent 10 questions written out and he had his lawyers with him to help respond.

        • Tar_alcaran@lemmy.world
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          They said he was incapable of being deposed without perjuring himself.

          “Perjury trap” is a fake term that tries to place the blame for “My client is a compulsive liar and literally can’t tell the truth to save his life” on the other party. And whoever came up with the term deserves both a raise for being amazing at their job, and a knee to the groin for being a shit human being.

          • Billiam@lemmy.world
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            And whoever came up with the term deserves both a raise for being amazing at their job, and a knee to the groin for being a shit human being.

            So, a lawyer.

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        I can def see a man-child reaction exactly like this dumb statement -kinda like what he did on the debates with Hillary and Biden, interrupting and interjecting his sad alternate reality- as the cases pick up steam and hes forced to fly between Fla, DC, Ga and wherever his current cult rally/grievance is that day, oh boy, is it gonna be fun or what?

        • Knusper@feddit.de
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          Thing is, neither a man-child reaction, nor making deranged statements, helps you in court. So, I’m imagining his lawyers will instruct him to please shut the hell up.

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              Eh, I also just imagine, he’s not particularly excited for speaking there. The judge won’t let him blathe on like an imbecil, but rather demand proof for his statements. And the only way, he can avoid subjecting himself to that power dynamic, is to not speak to the judge.

              But yeah, we’ll have to see…

    • holiday@lemmy.world
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      It seems like he is showing what his defense will be. It won’t be whether he moved documents or shared confidential information or whatever. It will be them challenging the scope of power of the presidency.

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        The defense comes down to the Afluenza Defense. Note, to my knowledge that never really worked before.

        He keeps repeating he thinks he’s allowed to do all these things and even when found in court he isn’t allowed to do those things, they’ll try to say he didn’t know.

        Thing is, he’s playing dumb now, while he’s repeatedly shown he knows full well what’s right and what’s wrong, his statements like how he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and no one would do anything about it, or the grab em by the pussy line.

        He made statements showing he knows perfectly fine these are things one shouldn’t do, but he does them anyway as he was never held responsible and could get away with it.

        • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de
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          Except in the cases of Brock Turner, the convicted rapist and Ethan Couch, the teen who killed 4 people driving drunk and only served 2 years in prison.

          And then there’s all the deferred sentence stuff that practically every white collar criminal gets to stay rich and out of prison.

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            What are you trying to say here? You clearly show they all got convicted.

            It was just the sentencing they got treated lightly on.

            And it’s a given Trump won’t see the inside of a jailcell.

            But a conviction on any level will disqualify him politics, for a while.

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              I’m highlight that it’s lack of (the same) consequences for action as the rest of us would receive.

              The only thing that will disqualify him will be individual states or congress. And unless the GQP is kicked out of power, I’m worried that a conviction isn’t going to do shit without real punishment.

      • Jordan Lund@lemmy.one
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        Not really the scope of power so much as destroying Trump’s delusional interpretation of the Presidential Record’s Act.

        If he honestly tries that in court he’s going to get “Um, actually” lawyer-splained so fast BARRON’S kid’s heads will spin.

      • Red_October@lemmy.world
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        Which makes sense given his constant state of anxiety about whatever demographic, real or imagined, is supposedly after him for no good reason next.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          There is only one person trying to take down Trump and that is Donald Trump. He’s absolutely his own worst enemy because he doesn’t ever think.

          The speech centres of his brain appear to be directly wired to his mouth without reference to the critical thinking or self-preservation lobes.

  • hstde@feddit.de
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    He can in fact do whatever he wants, he just needs to deal with the consequences of his actions.

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        Well, technically, no consequences are some kind of consequences. But I really do hope that he will pay for what he did wrong.

  • Arsenal4ever@lemmy.world
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    Candidate Trump needs to be belligerent and defiant. Defendant Trump needs to STFU.

    The problem is those two things are in competition. So he has to say, Russia, Russia, Russia as candidate Trump, but that isn’t a relevant or useful argument for defendant Trump. He has to say, “I’m allowed to do this thing” as candidate Trump, but as defendant Trump, I’m allowed to break the law is not a defense.

    His only hope is to delay. If he goes to trial on anything, defendant Trump loses. If he can hold out, then candidate Trump will win.

    This is his bet. He wins and it all goes away and the US is ruled by a guy who believes he can get away with anything.

    • KinglyWeevil@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Maybe we get lucky and he has a cheeseburger embolism between now and then and then Walter Reed docs just choose to try a little less hard that day.

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    If I was a Republican, and I fancied myself a man of wit, accountability, and maturity, I would not be able to reconcile my politics against just how absurdly juvenile, idiotic, and whiny Trump is at all times.

    • whereisk@lemmy.world
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      Yes, but what if they make you hate the others more than this mob?

      That, and “eh, they’re all the same”, and when you need to support the team no matter what - can lull your critical faculties quite well.

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    This attitude is terrifying to people who handle national security information. Just because you might have authority to declassify something doesn’t mean you should. It’s reckless and irresponsible to expose sources and methods unnecessarily - not to mention the information itself. There’s a reason that declassified documents still have a lot of redactions.

    This type of stuff is usually in a very controlled environment with significant physical security - not a bathroom.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        I still laugh that donnie Bin Laden and his supporters were outraged that a judge called him “Mr. Trump”.

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      I think it’s at least 90% racism and misogyny and the hope that they will get to unleash their worse selves on others. Hillary was right about them, and my dog, the huffing and puffing her correct statement created among the tone police/“liberal media” and of course his base that is even still having a fauxrage over it…while simultaneously proudly declaring themselves “deplorables” and playing the victim card over it.

    • MaxHardwood@lemmy.ca
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      There’s literal audio recording of him acknowledging that he’s fully aware he can’t do whatever he wants with classified files.

      As usual he’s right until he proves himself wrong then claims he’s right again.

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        He’s aware that it’s illegal, but until there are consequences, whether something is illegal or not means fuck all.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        His lies here are for his reprogrammable meatbag base, though. They probably don’t even know he contradicted himself in a recording.

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    he’s allowed to do whatever he wants with whatever and whoever he wants whenever he wants or why else is he the king

      • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】@lemmy.world
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        My understanding from briefly covering this in law school and reading some technical articles about it over the past year, is that classification falls under congressional powers, and the only reason the executive branch has any say in the matter as to documents is because Congress passed laws delegating some of that authority to the executive branch. In no circumstance under the law, can the president simply state that a document is declassified and make it so because no such exists under the statute.

        The president has authority to initiate the process to declassify any documentwith the exception of nuclear secrets.

        The president could read a classified non-nuclear document publicly, and the subject matter would lose its classification, but not the document itself, until it went through the applicable agency’s legal procedure for declassification.

        Trump had not initiated such processes and had not declassified the subject matter publicly while president.

        The entirety of the above statement are irrelevant to two things as far as Trump’s crimes: any of Trump’s actions after the lawful end of his tenure and nuclear secrets, to which none of the above applies, as Congress delegated classification of nuclear secrets to our nuclear energy regulators.

        Trump also lied repeatedly to the public and law enforcement, and engaged in an open conspiracy to illegally destroy evidence and tamper with witnesses.

        By the time this is over, I won’t be surprised if it’s revealed he sold nuclear secrets to the Saudis, Russia, or China. Dude had been a foreign agent since the 80’s.

      • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
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        Hmm who do I trust? Special counsel with years experience in government or anon who just hand waved his entire case.

        Better go with anon because it would be horrible if anon were right and myself, another anon, would know it.

      • kyle@lemm.ee
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        That’s just incorrect.

        If you think the government doesn’t want more paperwork and documentation that something is declassified, then you have an inflated view of government efficiency. Not to mention the actual importance of a paper trail and approvals.

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        Yeah, no.

        This buffoon would never be able to get cleared for even a generic TS for normal government work. I think our commander in chief should be able to obtain a TS as a requirement to running for office. Then there’s Jared…

      • Nastybutler@lemmy.world
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        This has been established through courts before

        Cite a court case that establishes this. I bet you $500 USD you can’t.

          • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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            So what your saying is that an ex president can refuse to turn over classified documents that he himself acknowledges he did not declassify, and share that information with people that do not have clearences or precedent to know that information.

            If your right, then it isn’t a strong case. If you’re wrong, that case seems pretty fucking damning.

          • Raging LibTarg@lemmy.world
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            Hey, that’s pretty neat! Let me try:

            The New York Times, et al., v. Central Intelligence Agency (2020)

            Declassification cannot occur unless designated officials follow specified procedures. Moreover, courts cannot “simply assume, over the well-documented and specific affidavits of the CIA to the contrary,” that disclosure is required simply because the information has already been made public.

            The Shiner affidavits, in addition to justifying the two FOIA exemptions, expressly stated that no declassification procedures had been followed with respect to any documents pertaining to the alleged covert program.

            Moreover, the Times cites no authority that stand for the proposition that the President can inadvertently declassify information and we are aware of none. Because declassification, even by the President, must follow established procedures, that argument fails.

            Pretty cool!!

      • Ultraviolet@lemmy.world
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        Having political power doesn’t imply you can do whatever you want with it. Abuse of power is a crime.

      • MeaanBeaan@lemmy.world
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        I was under the impression that it didn’t matter whether or not the documents were classified. After a president leaves office all presidential documents need to go to the National Archives. Trump took a bunch of boxes to Mar-a-Lago that should have went to the archives. That’s what he did wrong. Doesn’t matter if it was a McDonalds lunch order on a napkin or nuclear launch codes. He didn’t have the authority to take documents out of the white house. Full stop.

  • BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.world
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    That all sounds to me like he’s not trying to defend himself in court, that instead his entire plan is to win the presidency and stay there for life. All of these claims (I can do the thing, it’s totally fine believe me) amount to confessions that he did what he’s charged with, but are also appeals to his base that the courts are wrong and illegitimate.