(12-08-2022 10:59 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  

(12-08-2022 10:53 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Back when I held a TS-SIOP/ESI (meaning I had access to the nuclear launch codes), it was always my understanding that if a president disclosed classified information openly or removed it from secure storage, then it was automatically declassified. I have no idea where the legal basis for that interpretation lay, or whether it is still the case today.

I agree with Game that a clear interpretation of presidential classification/declassification authority would be a useful outcome.

As well. The current idea of 'I thought it, therefore it is' is fundamentally terrible.

It sucks that it has to be tested. I would hope a Chief Executive would be just an eensy weensy more careful than 'oopsie, I have them, I Yoda mind meld change them to non-classified.'

It does suck, but having a cretin like Trump as President showed us just how much our system relies on norms, traditions and decent people doing the right thing. Fortunately with our Constitution we have many more rules nailed down than a country like the UK, but more clarification is needed in many areas.