Picture This

I am now officially waiting for Kash Patel and every other Republican still defending Trump to pleeeeeease please tell us yet again how all the government defense documents Trump had at Mar-a-Lago were "declassified" the moment he took them from the White House.  Please do.  Just please. 

To be clear, as I assume is well-known by now, when something is actually declassified, it’s not only a highly detailed process, but also the document must very clearly be marked as “Declassified.”  As opposed to “Top Secret / SCI” (the highest classification) “Top Secret / SCI”, (still the highest classification) “Top Secret / SCI”, (yes, as you know, the highest classification) “Top Secret / SCI”, “Top Secret / SCI”.

But making this story all the better or more bizarre, is that Trump sent out a long public comment on his failing social media platform in which is sole complaint about the photo of classified documents found illegally in his home (and I swear this is true) is that he didn't spread them on the floor, but that the FBI did, to make him look bad. 

I believe the correct response is, “Well -- duh.”  Of course, the FBI found the documents, laid them on the ground to take a photo of them all, and took the photo.

The correct follow-up response is – who on earth cares that the documents are on the floor????

Fun fact:  the Top Secret/SCI government defense documents being anywhere in Mar-a-Lago is what makes Trump look bad.  (And “bad” shall herewith be defined as “criminal.”)  Not that they were messy on the ground.

And that’s the funniest thing about his note.  In complaining only about that the FBI made a mess of the documents he illegally had, he actually confirms that, yes, he had the documents in his possession, which is very, very illegal.  This is the equivalent of someone saying, “Ha, ha!!  You fools.  I didn’t spill his bowl of cereal.  He dropped it when I shot him to death!!”

Trump also made an attempt at a snarky comment about the FBI, which only resulted in himself looking weirdly foolish.  Noting that the FBI released the photo, he chided that he thought they wanted to keep the material secret.  Ignoring the reality that only showing a cover sheet that says “Top Secret/ SCI” does not reveal one word of classified material, which of course remains totally secret, which is the whole point.  Apparently Trump believes that a sign on a door that says, “Extreme Danger!  Do Not Enter by Order of the Police.  No Trespassing!!” means you’ve broken the law just by reading it.

By the way, there was a great catch related to all this by former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi.  He sent out a tweet that noted a line in Trump's response last night to the DOJ filing against having a Special Master looking at the material stolen.  What they wrote is, "Movant also agrees that it would be appropriate for the special master to possess a Top Secret/SCI security clearance."  What Figliuzzi comments is that -- "Wait, I thought he declassified everything".  Brilliant.  If Trump actually had declassified all the documents (and followed all the steps needed), why would such security clearance be needed?!!  So -- of course -- it isn't declassified.  And once again, Trump incriminates himself!

(Further, in another public statement, Trump referred to the FBI taking the folders out of a carton and tossing them on the floor.  Since there is no record of the FBI bringing cartons into Mar-a-Lago, that would suggest that a) the cartons had to have been Trump's, b) they were already inside, and c) he knew that's where the documents were. And not planted.  Yet again incriminating himself.)

Meanwhile, as an additional loony bonus, what takes Trump’s comment into yet another level is that at the very end he adds, “Lucky I declassified!”  Alas, he is soooo very, very unlucky that what he totally forgot is to actually mark all the documents that way.

Pro Tip:  Saying “Lucky I declassified!” does not have legal value.  If it did, then Leonardo DiCapprio shouting “I’m the King of the World” in Titanic would have made him so.