DOJ can resume criminal probe of classified
documents
Appeals Court Restores Justice Dept.’s Access
to Sensitive Files Seized From Trump
A federal judge had temporarily barred the department from using the records marked as classified in its inquiry into whether the former president illegally retained national defense documents.
In a strongly worded 29-page decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit blocked part of an order by a federal judge that had temporarily barred the department from using the classified materials in its inquiry into whether Mr. Trump illegally retained national defense documents and obstructed the government’s repeated efforts to recover them.
The Justice Department “argues that the district court likely erred in exercising its jurisdiction to enjoin the United States’ use of the classified records in its criminal investigation and to require the United States to submit the marked classified documents to a special master for review,” a three-judge panel wrote. “We agree.”
The panel consisted of two Trump appointees...and...an Obama appointee.
...
The decision by the appeals court was a striking repudiation of Mr. Trump’s attempts to claim in public, but not in court, that he had declassified the sensitive records at issue.
Trump “suggests that he may have declassified these documents when he was president,” the appeals court wrote. “But the record contains no evidence that any of these records were declassified.”
The court went on to say, “In any event, at least for these purposes, the declassification argument is a red herring because declassifying an official document would not change its content or render it personal.”
...
The Orange Mammal “has not even attempted to show that he has a need to know the
information contained in the classified documents,” the appeals court
wrote. “Nor has he established that the current administration has
waived that requirement for these documents. And even if he had, that,
in and of itself, would not explain why plaintiff has an individual
interest in the classified documents.”
To be fair, it's a financial interest. He has set up Trump Auctions to get the best deal for the classifieds.
The ruling was the latest turn in what began as a legal sideshow to the investigation into Mr. Trump’s hoarding of government documents, including some marked as highly classified.
This is the third or fourth time that I have read that the New York Times has described 45th's actions as "hoarding." IT IS NOT. Hoarding is not TAKING ANOTHER'S PROPERTY. THAT IS THEFT.
