Fox's Mark Levin on Trump's mishandling of classified materials: “There are no rules for the president of the United States”
Levin: “He doesn't have to follow any rules. He's the head of the Executive Branch”
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Fox's Mark Levin on Trump's mishandling of classified materials: "There are no rules for the president of the United States"
Citation From the January 25, 2023, edition of Westwood One's The Mark Levin Show
MARK LEVIN (HOST): There is judicial precedent for what I'm about to say. The president is different than anybody else in the Executive Branch, period. Different than the vice president. Why? Because his power to classify and declassify whatever he wishes, whenever he wishes isn't statutory. It isn't regulatory. It's not some guideline out of the National Security Council or the CIA. It is constitutionally based. It is constitutionally authorized.
He and only he is the commander in chief. He and only he has plenary power over the Executive Branch. He is at the top of the hill on the Executive Branch, not the vice president. So he can classify or declassify at will.
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This has to do with the power to take classified information with you, in this case. And now people say, but Trump never made his intentions known, he didn't follow the rules. There are no rules for the President of the United States. He doesn't have to follow any rules. He's the head of the Executive Branch.
Now, that said, you can certainly imply by his actions that's what he intended to do. If he says, I took the documents, and by my taking the documents, they're declassified, who's to dispute it?