“Of course they did! They may have been the boxes etc. that were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act,” Trump posted on social media.

  • Rakonat@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Remind me again how Hilary's emails were a crime but the literal theft of top secret documents is just an ethical dilemma?

    • elvith@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Maybe, just maybe this depends on which political party / person is doing the thing?

    • roguetrick@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I was talking about this guy's actual legal arguments about hypothetical administrative powers of the presidency. I do not give a shit about Hillary's emails and I did feel that what trump did was illegal.

      • Madison420@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You have to, they can't start a criminal investigation if they didn't think it was a crime. Both crimes are just as equally "administrative".

        Similarly all of our foundational documents are living documents so a penalty just needs to be issued and precedent would be set. No one legitimately expected such a fucking masturbatory love of a document the writers of specifically said to change … Often and as the need presents.

        • roguetrick@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          No, I'm talking about law. Administrative law is set by the administrative branch of the government as delegated by congress. It's not codified, but is the policy and procedures of those administrative bodies, which has the force of law. Breaching those policies and procedures, which is what Trump did, is in violation of administrative law.

          A legal duty is a more nebulous concept that is generally based on legal precedent. Usually has to do with something related to torts. You can't just take someone to court for an novel legal duty and expect that to magically stick criminally. It needs to be codified by congress or created in administrative law first.

          • Madison420@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            If it's a law they have a legal duty, your hedging doesn't particularly make sense.

            legal

            1 of 2

            adjective

            le·​gal ˈlē-gəl 

            Synonyms of legal

            1

            : of or relating to law

            She has many legal problems.

            2

            a

            : deriving authority from or founded on law : DE JURE

            a legal government

            b

            : having a formal status derived from law often without a basis in actual fact : TITULAR

            a corporation is a legal but not a real person

            c

            : established by law

            especially : STATUTORY

            the legal test of mental capacity—K. C. Masteller

            3

            : conforming to or permitted by law or established rules

            The referee said it was a legal play.

            Fishing in this lake is legal.

            4

            : recognized or made effective by a court of law as distinguished from a court of equity

            5

            : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or of one of its members

            a bottle … that some legal friend had sent him—J. G. Cozzens

            6

            : created by the constructions of the law

            A legal fiction is something assumed in law to be a fact regardless of the truth of that assumption.

            legal

            2 of 2

            noun

            : one that conforms to rules or the law

            • roguetrick@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              I'm not getting into semantics, I'm talking about the original post I replied to, namely

              he has a clear duty to protect their secrecy

              Which is talking about a duty in derived sense, not a codified duty.

              • Madison420@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                He does, nothing you've offered implies or states otherwise.

                No, it has to do with a law or rather a series of them an oath to office and an oath to maintain national secrets.

                  • Madison420@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    18 usc 1924 Is a law that created a duty, a legal duty.

                    (a)

                    Whoever, being an officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of the United States, and, by virtue of his office, employment, position, or contract, becomes possessed of documents or materials containing classified information of the United States, knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.

                    You say you don't want to play semantics but that's your entire argument.

    • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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      1 year ago

      you should stop using 'top secret', because its almost irrelevant and bad actors are grabbing onto it like it has substance.

      hes being prosecuted for document mishandling, regardless of 'top secret' status. their secret status is irrelevant (technically, not morally).

      • Madison420@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There are lists higher punishments for the level of security. There are a few excuses for this shit that somewhat make some sense, yours just now is not one of them.