“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?

    • 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).

    • 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.