Pretty sure Trump stopped being the President of the United States a while ago. Being a former President doesn’t give him any more rights to retain classified documents that don’t belong to him and that are being requested by the rightful owners. Especially in an unsecured location.
So even if you believe that because Trump is an ex-president, special treatment has been warranted, it doesn't change the end result. Even with the preferential treatment and multiple opportunities, Trump never returned the documents, refused to comply with subpoenas, and lied about it repeatedly. So in the end we are still where we are with ample justification to get to this point. There is no standing to suggest Trump is being treated unfairly and targeted unfairly.
and I was originally responding to deb4. I think her use of the term "normal citizen" portrays a fairly unlikely scenario. I do not take you as a "normal citizen" in the sense I inferred she was using it; with a TS security clearance, that clearly sets you apart from the norm. You may act in some ways similarly to "normal citizens," but the vast majority of Americans do NOT have TS security clearance. NOT having TS security clearance in this context is the norm.
I get all that. In fact I am largely in agreement with everyone who says this investigation should play itself out to the bitter end, and if Trump willfully and intentionally broke laws, that would be up to Biden and the DOJ to decide whether to pursue prosecution. But that's a mighty big precedent to establish, and a President (such as Biden) may not wish to follow that path, which potentially could expose an awful lot of how the sausage is made. But time will tell. My point about Trump being the President of the United States is simply that whether one likes Trump, detests Trump, or is agnostic about Trump, he was in fact President of the United States. He is now a former President of the United States. And I believe all else being equal we respect the Office of the President of the United States, whether we respect the man or not.
So, then in your opinion, an NFL season ticket holder isn't a "normal citizen", because there are less than 2 million of them?
The special treatment Trump has been afforded thus far is due to respect for the office of the presidency, as galling as that is given the dishonor he repeatedly brought to the office. There are limits to that special treatment, and certainly him being a former President who is openly antagonistic towards our government makes him less entitled to it.
You are missing the "normal citizen" point that Deb and others are making or being deliberately obstinate. For instance, I am a normal citizen (perhaps substitute "average Joe", "typical American", etc.) that happened to have a TS clearance. While only 1.5 million or so have that designation, it's not that special. Anyone who needs one in their line of work can get one. And, ironically to your argument, the more of a "normal citizen" that you are, the better your chances are of being approved.
why do you want biden involved in deciding whether or not trump should be prosecuted? why do you want any president involved in deciding who or who to not prosecute. i get that trumpers want their president making those decisions, but im surprised to see a moderate democrat like yourself saying such a thing! so you believe in the nixonian theory that if the president does something than it is not illegal? respect is a two-way street and we have never had a president that s*** all over the law, the constitution and basic human decency like trump has. the fact that he was president should not protect him or anyone else from being held to account for breaking the law.
As of 12pm Eastern Time January 20, 2021 Trump has not been President. As an ex-president he is afforded things like Secret Service Protection but that is only due to the grace of the current administration. Other than that he’s not entitled to any other legal protections or privileges that any other citizen has. He has no executive privilege or clearance except what the current administration might grant him and the current administration has already said that he doesn’t have those privileges. As far as the law is concerned he is a regular citizen and not due any special protection regarding reputation. That is the essence of the arguments that Judge Cannon’s ruling is wrong.
We should make an exception out of respect for the Office of the Presidency. Think of the value to Biden when he's no longer President. He can take top secret documents and even sell them. Out of respect for the office, we should strongly consider letting that go.
we should have so much respect for the office of the president of the united states that we let the president of the united states violate the oath he swore when he took the office of president of the united states.
Is this true? I've been seeing the boxes thing floating around since yesterday, as well. No way to tell the timeline on that....
