Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
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Notes -
Three postulates:
The US government over-classifies documents on a massive scale. This has been an ongoing issue reported on for years in the press, it was widely pointed out in HRC apologia circa 2015-16 in NYT op-ed columns. Given the choice between risking something coming out and classifying it, they classify it every time.
The regulations surrounding declassification are byzantine, labyrinthine, require a lot of paperwork and a sharp knowledge of bureaucratic procedure. This is reported on, and also obvious if you have two drinks with anyone with a clearance and chat about it.
Donald Trump doesn't care about regulations or "doing things the right way;" his team is inexperienced and incompetent at paperwork and following bureaucratic procedure to a degree unprecedented in modern American history.
So he almost certainly broke the law, but I'd bet none of it was done with malice. Probably just carelessness, or kept them as sort-of "props" to talk about how important he was. I'd reckon the odds are it is just a bunch of random paperwork stamped "Top Secret" because he liked the look of it.
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