Expert analyzes levels of classified documents seized at Trump's home

Retired Lt. General Mark Hertling breaks down the various ways sensitive documents can be classified by the US government after the FBI seized documents from former President Trump's home. #CNN #News

[dolphinsleap]

ya know, even the Republicans knew that Nixon was in the wrong when the time came. that is why Nixon resigned.
the fact that the Republicans continue to defend Trump should be a real cause for concern by the country.

[kalijasin]

If I had TS/SCI documents in my basement I’d be arrested and taken to a federal holding cell.

[DavidJ]

Abraham Lincoln once said, “No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.” To be a good liar you have to keep track of all the lies you’ve told, and to whom, in order to keep the truth hidden. But Honest Abe never knew Trump, or perhaps anybody like him..

Trump is a successful liar because he refuses to remember. Not only that: He refuses to anticipate that he will remember the current moment in the future. If you live mainly in the current moment, then the future consequences of your lies will not matter to you. And if you have lived your entire life this way, and to great acclaim and success, why would you ever want to change?

Trump was annoyed when Dr. Fauci stole the spotlight by throwing out the first pitch for Major League Baseball’s opening game. In response, he falsely claimed that the Yankees invited him to throw out the first pitch. His lie was roundly refuted a short time later. The incident recalls Trump’s false boast that the crowd attending his 2017 inaugural address was the largest in history. Objective photographic evidence decisively refuted that lie.

And yet Trump never pulls back on blatantly false statements — lies that are so obvious that they often defy the laws of physics, chemistry and common sense. Defying biology, even in the face of soaring coronavirus cases and mounting deaths, Trump claimed that the virus at some point is “going to sort of just disappear.”

The key to Trump’s psychology is that he moves through life as “the episodic man.” For Trump, each day is a temporary moment of time. Psychological research shows that nearly all adults develop stories in their minds about their own lives.

These stories — what psychologists call “narrative identities” — reconstruct the past and imagine the future. As you make daily decisions, you implicitly remember how you have come to be who you are, and you anticipate where your life may be going. You live within narrative time.

But the episodic man does not live that way. Instead, he immerses himself in the angry, combative moment, striving desperately to win the moment. But the episodes do not add up. They do not form a narrative arc. In Trump’s case, it is as if he wakes up each morning nearly oblivious to what happened the day before. What he said and did yesterday, in order to win yesterday, no longer matters to him. And what he will do today, in order to win today, will not matter for tomorrow.

What is truth for the episodic man? Truth is whatever works to win the moment.

For most people, and every other president in the history of the US, an episodic life would be unsustainable in the long run. There is a primal authenticity in Trump. He tells you exactly what he feels in the moment. He lies straight to your face, without shame, without any concern for future consequences. It is the stark audacity of untruth.

In an interview, Tony Schwartz, the journalist who wrote Trump’s “The Art of the Deal, ” said of Trump “Lying is second nature to him, more than anyone else I have ever met. Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true."

Schwartz:, “He lied strategically. He had a complete lack of conscience about it.” Since most people are “constrained by the truth, ” Trump’s indifference to it “gave him a strange advantage.”

Schwartz: " When challenged about the facts, Trump would often double down, repeat himself, and grow belligerent."

Schwartz described a man constitutionally incapable of logic, moral reasoning or self-reflection.


"There is beauty in truth, even if it's painful. Those who lie, twist life so that it looks tasty to the lazy, brilliant to the ignorant, and powerful to the weak. But lies only strengthen our defects. They don't teach anything, help anything, fix anything or cure anything. Nor do they develop one's character, one's mind, one's heart or one's soul."

--José N. Harris

[bobbrua]

they dont want trump to run i will vote for him again

[helenforrestal]

He’s already committed treason and they’re asking “could he be charged with anything?”

[alexanderdumas-]

If getting in trouble with law enforcement gets you nominated it says a lot about how lawless your party is

[セ千尺丂セ]

If FBI planted the evidence, why is he saying he declassified it then? 😂😂😂 Happy Mar-a-lago search and seizure day.👍

[jt]

remember people all news media is opinion. not

[stephenstoufer]

If I have stolen top secret documents in my house I hope that the FBI does come and get them because that would make me a traitor !

[curiousuniverse]

You know what MY question is? Did he sell any of this before we got it out of his thieving tiny hands?

[charlottesnyder]

Isn't everyone missing the point? Whether the documents are classified or declassified, they do NOT belong to the former president; they belong to the National Archives and that is where they should be, not in his house where he can wave them at everyone to prove how important he is.

[yashwzee]

Polling shows that the vast majority of Americans believes that what the FBI did was correct, and that Trump needs to be held accountable. You even have some republican voters believing the same.

[Sundae_Times]

It's funny to hear Donnie say this was unwarranted, when it was literally warranted 😆

[JimmyTheGreek]

04:53 - First the FBI does Search and Seizure all the time, the chance that they will do it to all citizens is minimal at best, we do not have nuclear codes !!
When I was working in the corporate world, we used to say: 'The fish stinks from the head' Why we said that, ?
Because all the crimes and corruption took place at the top of the corporate ladder. They had the budgets and control of the money.

[Dr.TJ]

"They can do it to you too". Laughed out loud at that one. Has to rank up there as one of the dumbest comments ever. If I had any TS/SCI documents in my basement I'd fully expect them to do it to me too. That's what makes us a country of laws. Those on the right have totally forgotten about that part.

[davewebb]

"They could do it to you." That's hilarious. If I had classified information I wasn't supposed to, I'd bet you'd want them to do it to me.

[Brazos]

One said to you-"If they can search Trump's house for 'nuclear weapon' documents, they can do the same to you"...I would hope so.Duh.

[DannyEastVillage]

Simply removing the documents from where they belong is prison time.

[liquidhalo]

What the heck??? The reporter is reporting the news in an unbiased way. I haven't seen that in such a long time. Full credit to him and the team

[funtastikvibes]

No need to be asked after the first 15 boxes, he should have returned all. Why did he still keep government records, especially classified, TS and SCI???