Is It Really All About Mar-a-Lago Declassification?

Like most things in life, even presidential declassification is not a black or white matter nor is it an absolute power of an incumbent president. Put another way, Trump claims to have previous declassified all documents ranging from confidential all the way up the chain to top secret that were removed by the FBI during their recent operation, which they claim was not a raid.

Now, before going into the weeds about Trump's powers as then president, let's start with the fun -- trying to nail the informant -- who may or may not be related to the said former president. The internet is buzzing with speculation as to whether Melania, Jared, Ivanka or someone else is the FBI's go-to person.

I have no idea but in my mind it would not be unreasonable for the FBI to have discovered the informant's role in the removal of classified documents and then provided that person with a reality check regarding what possible charges could flow if cooperation and assistance was not provided pronto. In short, reel in the small to medium fish to get the goods on the whale. Will we ever know who did the dirty deed? Probably not.

But back to classification and declassification thereof: it's generally conceded that no president can declassify nuclear secrets unless provisions of various laws are previously followed to the letter. One would also argue that national security matters, particularly related to intelligence services are also off limits. But probably pretty much everything else falls within the presidential declassification power. So, if Trump said it was declassified, other than the two exceptions cited above, it probably was. 

Meanwhile, rumour is rampant that the Justice Department and AG Garland in particular are more interested in January 6th documents classified or otherwise. But did they really hit the mother-load given previous assertions that Trump allegedly burned documents at The White House before leaving office. If that's accurate, would he be stupid enough to burn some and save others? Time will tell.

However, given the treatment of Secret Service texts during phone migration, one could reasonably argue that Trump killed the January 6th mosquito with a sledgehammer. If that's right, the FBI won't be able to add much to the record in that regard.

Legal jeopardy can be a many splendid thing but that's not likely in this instance. If my name is Trump, I would worry one hell of a lot more about pleading The Fifth for four hours in a New York state's AG civil proceeding investigating the Trump Organization. If anything hits pay dirt, this thing shows the most promise and could ultimately lead to the impaneling of a criminal Grand Jury.

So, in the final analysis, the FBI visit to Mar-a-Lago was part raid and informed fishing expedition. Whether it eventually bears fruit against a former president remains anyone's guess. 

And then there's politics: the theory goes that all of the above is designed to try and find a way to declare Trump as legally ineligible for future public office. I have my doubts that anyone can successfully pin this type of tail on the Trump donkey. But hey, as Trump would say, we'll see what happens.