4 ms·

It doesn't matter that it was classified: you can read it with your own eyes and in and of itself, it's not damning. "why was it classified at the highest leve

by jariel 7y ago

It doesn't matter that it was classified: you can read it with your own eyes and in and of itself, it's not damning. "why was it classified at the highest level" Well, it's a very sensitive conversation between two heads of state. Would seem to me that this is classified. More cynically, because Trump didn't want to give one iota of support to his investigators. 'Anything you say can be used as evidence against you' Finally, the argument is problematic because it was the Trump team who declassified it, and want people to read it. My point is mostly about the whistle blowing and how this blew up. The real problem must be with Guliani acting on Trump's behalf because there's nothing on this call that would raise red flags.

digitaltrees 7y ago
It does matter that there was an attempt to improperly classify it; that is evidence of an intended cover up. That is evidence of consciousness of guilt, the administration knew it would be perceived as it has been. You can’t have it both ways, logically you can’t say that there is nothing damning in the call and then say improperly classifying it has no meaning.
- xyzzyz 7y ago
  Where can I read transcripts of Trump’s calls with Angela Merkel? Are they not classified?
- jariel 7y ago
  "that is evidence of an intended cover up" No it's not. You're conflating the fact that this is mostly a political issue, not a legal one, and that even impeachment is mostly a political process. Every politician on this earth will move to obscure information that is regularly private, so as to not make it available for their opponents as fodder. In the management of 'perception' it's not 'evidence' it's just fodder for spin, talking points etc.. If Trump was legally required to submit the letter, and did not, this would be a problem, but otherwise, it's rational for him to want to hold it back as the story broke. Once the team looked at the materials, surely they're going to let go of that which they feel helps their case publicly, which is perfectly normal. I don't like Trump at all - but this specific transcript and even the handling of it - is a complete nothing burger. I'm completely skeptical of all of the press because of their constant misrepresentation of all of these issues. I feel slightly more enlightened having actually read the transcript myself. Apparently, the White House instructed the Pentagon to withhold aid, which is illegal, and that's cause for concern, but given the total lack of any material exchange in this transcript, Congress will have to provide materials that show the direct quid pro quo. I basically hate Donald Trump, but that doesn't mean I want him committed to bad justice.
JamesBarney 7y ago
The issue wasn't it was classified. It's that it was code word classified. Top secret is described as "Top Secret shall be applied to information, the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause "exceptionally grave damage" to the national security that the original classification authority is able to identify or describe." And this was classified at a level above top secret.

by jariel 7y ago

digitaltrees 7y ago

It does matter that there was an attempt to improperly classify it; that is evidence of an intended cover up. That is evidence of consciousness of guilt, the administration knew it would be perceived as it has been. You can’t have it both ways, logically you can’t say that there is nothing damning in the call and then say improperly classifying it has no meaning.

xyzzyz 7y ago
Where can I read transcripts of Trump’s calls with Angela Merkel? Are they not classified?
jariel 7y ago
"that is evidence of an intended cover up" No it's not. You're conflating the fact that this is mostly a political issue, not a legal one, and that even impeachment is mostly a political process. Every politician on this earth will move to obscure information that is regularly private, so as to not make it available for their opponents as fodder. In the management of 'perception' it's not 'evidence' it's just fodder for spin, talking points etc.. If Trump was legally required to submit the letter, and did not, this would be a problem, but otherwise, it's rational for him to want to hold it back as the story broke. Once the team looked at the materials, surely they're going to let go of that which they feel helps their case publicly, which is perfectly normal. I don't like Trump at all - but this specific transcript and even the handling of it - is a complete nothing burger. I'm completely skeptical of all of the press because of their constant misrepresentation of all of these issues. I feel slightly more enlightened having actually read the transcript myself. Apparently, the White House instructed the Pentagon to withhold aid, which is illegal, and that's cause for concern, but given the total lack of any material exchange in this transcript, Congress will have to provide materials that show the direct quid pro quo. I basically hate Donald Trump, but that doesn't mean I want him committed to bad justice.

JamesBarney 7y ago

The issue wasn't it was classified. It's that it was code word classified. Top secret is described as "Top Secret shall be applied to information, the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause "exceptionally grave damage" to the national security that the original classification authority is able to identify or describe." And this was classified at a level above top secret.