# Does revealing that the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago for top-secret nuclear weapons documents give would-be defendant Trump some legitimate cause for grievance that would help his case? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 12, 2022, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533 "2022-08-12T05:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/21 "2022-08-12T20:09:14Z")
Some person being interviewed on NPR today said that a President can classify or unclassify anything. He is the source of classification. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/22 "2022-08-12T20:12:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Some person being interviewed on NPR today said that a President can classify or unclassify anything. Sure, but can an ex-president do so? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/23 "2022-08-12T20:21:02Z")
His argument, of course, will be “I declassified it while I was still President and then I took it home with me” ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/24 "2022-08-12T20:21:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Some person being interviewed on NPR today said that a President can classify or unclassify anything. He is the source of classification. [Not even the President can declassify nuclear secrets.](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/trump-fbi-raid-classified-nuclear-documents/671119/) The Atomic Energy Acts of 1946 and 1954 created a different classification category that can only be declassified by DOE. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/25 "2022-08-12T20:26:57Z")
I just saw this about the warrant. [Live updates: Trump and the FBI search warrant documents](https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/fbi-search-trump-mar-a-lago-08-12-22/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/26 "2022-08-12T21:41:30Z")
My understanding is that he doesn’t just wave a wand and declassify material, he actually needs to go through a process to do so. As president, he can probably do it retroactively, declassifying _after_ revealing it. However, as no longer president, I don’t think he can. Unless he has a paper trail showing that he declassified them while in office, he has no more right to possess, use, or share them than I do. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/27 "2022-08-12T21:51:00Z")
NYT: > As a result, the [Espionage Act](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793) makes no reference to whether a document has been deemed classified. Instead, it makes it a crime to retain, without authorization, documents related to the national defense that could be used to harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary. > Prosecutors could argue that a document meets that act’s standard regardless of whether Mr. Trump had pronounced it unclassified short before leaving office; by the same token, defense lawyers could argue that it fell short of that standard regardless of how it had been marked. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/28 "2022-08-12T22:51:43Z")
> [@susan](#): > > As a result, the [Espionage Act](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793) makes no reference to whether a document has been deemed classified. Instead, it makes it a crime to retain, without authorization, documents related to the national defense that could be used to harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary. Amen, Sister. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/29 "2022-08-13T03:42:39Z")
The DOJ gave Trump the option for them NOT to reveal the details of the warrant and associated inventory document but he said he had no problem with them doing that. I don’t see how he can now claim that releasing that information caused him any harm. He can’t have it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/30 "2022-08-13T06:01:30Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > He can’t have it both ways. I see you aren’t actually familiar with _the_ Donald J. Trump! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2022, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/31 "2022-08-14T04:39:06Z")
No kidding. ISTM, the claim that the president can classify or declassify a document at will is going to be part of the alt-right mutli-dimensional chec, er chess game. So Trump declares everything he had is (a) being stored safely at The Residence (why does everything coming out of any organizatin connected to him sound like a bad real estate advertisement), and (b) was declassified anyway. That’s basically throwing down a gauntlet to see if Biden picks it up, with Biden declaring that all of that material is classified. Then Trump and his flunki, er lawyers will file a case in federal court trying to get the judge to decree that Biden is not president and thus he cannot declare any documents classified. You heard it here first, folks! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/32 "2022-08-15T06:01:46Z")
There’s also the point that it’s the information that is classified, not the particular physical document. That means that if Trump did declassify the documents, they are declassified for anyone in the federal government who has access to them. They could publish them without being in breach of the classification laws. > [@Can a President declassify the document he’s got, but not copies of the same document other officials have?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-president-declassify-the-document-he-s-got-but-not-copies-of-the-same-document-other-officials-have/969667): > > I appreciate classification rules are murky, but I’ve got a factual question: suppose there are three copies of the same document, all marked “topSecret”. They are identical in content. Can the President declassify the copy that he’s got, but not the copies held by the Director of the CIA and the Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency? So he can handle it normally, show it to guests at this dinners, and talk about it, but the two Directors are bound by the classification and secrecy rul… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/33 "2022-08-15T18:13:10Z")
Reported earlier today. Anything to distract Trumpworld, I guess. > **[Top GOP lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs Committee says the US had 'no...](https://www.businessinsider.com/mccaul-us-had-no-plan-for-evacuation-of-afghanistan-2022-8)** > > Michael McCaul's comments came as Republicans on his committee prepared to release a scathing report on how the withdrawal was handled. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/34 "2022-08-15T18:19:18Z")
I think the plan was that the Afghan government would pay and feed their army so that they would fight the Taliban. Instead, they threw the money the US gave them for the army on the table and split it up. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/35 "2022-08-18T14:38:49Z")
We have a nominee for best (?) push-poll question of 2022, from [Rasmussen](http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/partner_surveys/crosstabs_fbi_december_29_30_2021): "Do you agree or disagree with this statement: There is “a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI who are using the FBI … as Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo?”?” 46% of likely voters agreed, 38% disagreed. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/36 "2022-08-19T12:30:40Z")
WTF? Why is Rasmussen considered a real polling firm? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533/37 "2022-08-19T12:41:33Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > WTF? Why is Rasmussen considered a real polling firm? - Sarcasm is involved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-revealing-that-the-fbi-raided-mar-a-lago-for-top-secret-nuclear-weapons-documents-give-would-be-defendant-trump-some-legitimate-cause-for-grievance-that-would-help-his-case/969533.md?page=1)