The president can declassify information, that is known. But! Is he allowed to share that

[shraby]

information with other countries?

[Foamfollower]

1. Yes, the president can share our most closely held secrets with anybody.

Elections have consequences.

But, her emails.

[hamsterjill]

18. So, let me get this straight (thinking hard here!!!), President Obama

could have "declassified" the briefing that he got on the golden showers, and he wouldn't have broken any laws???

Yeah, right - let that sink in as to what the Republicans would have been screaming if that had happened. They would have been calling for a hanging.

But, as you say - her emails!!! Don't forget Benghazi! Benghazi!! Benghazi!!!

[Madam45for2923]

2. Is he allowed to share ANOTHER'S COUNTRY CLASSIFIED INTEL?

without telling the other country first?
without telling our own Intelligence Community first?

[yardwork]

4. Yes, the president has a lot of power. He's allowed to do a lot of things.

I wish people would remember this when they vote.

[Madam45for2923]

7. Wondering if he HID that he did this from our IC after the fact.

[Foamfollower]

5. Doesn't matter the source, he can share it with anybody he wants to regardless.

Elections have consequences.

But, her emails.

[HAB911]

3. That sound you heard

was the Intel door being slammed shut, especially if someone gets killed or outed by the revelation

[C_U_L8R]

6. The rightwing echo machine sez 'so what, he declassified'

But the dumb Trump is endangering our security (even getting people killed) and ruining are hard earned relationships with allies (you think Israel is pissed... just wait until the Israel lobby abandons the GOP. You don't fuck with Israel). Yeah, so what indeed.

[thesquanderer]

8. Once it is declassified, it can be shared with anyone.

Trump could publish it in a newspaper, if he wanted to, and share it with the world.

I think the problem, in this case, is that he presumably didn't want to fully declassify it and share it to the world (we pretty much know this because the WAPO declined to publish some of the detail). So yes, on one hand, he can legally share any information with anyone he wants, but OTOH, I assume that he did not have the Russians sign off on any agreement about the information being shared. Which means he is counting only on Russia's "good will" (or more realistically, their own self interest) to not go ahead and, say, publish this info in Pravda.

So yes, he had the right to give this info to the Russians. But he probably also gave it to them very stupidly, which I assume is in no way illegal unless it is found to be treasonous. If he wanted to share sensitive info with Russia, there are presumably proper diplomatic channels and procedures for doing so, and I assume a casual chat in the oval office in front of some Russian press photographers (among others) was not the way to do it.

[Ms. Toad]

9. Just like the sources that shared it with us did it stupidly . . .

and they won't make that mistake again.

So when the next 911 comes, and we didn't have a clue because no one shared their intel with us, we know where to point the finger. Assuming any of us have fingers left to point.

[rock]

10. Yes

So what if he published a list of all U.S. secret agents and where they are stationed?

[sarisataka]

11. From whom would

He ask permission?

[MineralMan]

12. There are almost no limits on what the President can do

with regard to almost anything. If a prohibition is not in the Constitution, there is no prohibition. That's one of the unique things about our system. Usually, we elect Presidents who have at least some semblance of reasonable judgment. However, that is not required by the Constitution, so we have recently elected one with no judgment at all.

Donald Trump can do as he pleases with whatever information he has available to him, I'm afraid. The only recourse is impeachment and removal from office.

[hamsterjill]

13. Are there no agreements in place with an ally as to sharing and declassifying information?

Educate me, please. Serious question. Wouldn't there be, at some point, something in writing whereby an ally agreed to share information with the United States setting forth requirements?

If there is an agreement, say, between the US and Germany and Trump divulges information that is specifically prohibited from being divulged, couldn't he be held accountable in some capacity? Or does the country just have to suffer because the election was hacked?

[MineralMan]

14. Yes, of course there are such agreements between allies.

However, the President cannot be literally held to account if he breaks them. It might mean he gets less information from those allies at another time, but he can't be held accountable in any real way.

We've been fortunate to have Presidents who, even if they are stupid, follow sensible guidelines as to what they should and should not do. We do not have such a President at this time. More's the pity.

As citizens, we have only one recourse: Don't reelect a bad President and elect House members and Senators who will do better than the current ones. That's it. Presidents get four years to either succeed or fail. They can only be removed through impeachment and removal by Congress. Right now, we have Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, so that seems unlikely.

As citizens, we made a serious error in 2016. We are seeing the results of that error now. Perhaps we will learn from that. Or perhaps we will not. I can't predict.

[hamsterjill]

15. Thank you.

Well reasoned response.

But my "redneck, knee jerk" further response is "who the hell is "WE", Tonto? I didn't vote for that asshole.

I know I'm preaching to the choir!

[MineralMan]

16. I didn't vote for him, either, and my state's Electors voted for Clinton.

However, perhaps I could have done more in my neighboring state of Wisconsin to get out the vote. I am a Democrat, and part of my responsibility as such is to encourage others to vote for Democrats. Normally, I limit my GOTV and other efforts to the state in which I live. Perhaps I need to think beyond my state in the future and see if there is some way to help elsewhere.

The Democratic Party is responsible for getting Democrats elected to office. In 2016, that party failed to elect a President. I'm part of that political party, so I must accept that I didn't do enough to help Clinton win. I accept my share of responsibility for Trump's win in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote.

I'll try to do better if I'm still around in 2020, and in the 2018 midterm elections.

[hamsterjill]

17. MineralMan, you are a gem!

You are much more giving and compassionate than I am. I am serious, and I aspire to your level of thinking.

I'm still wrestling with the idea that any idiot on the face of the earth that voted for Trump is a moron that I despise. To me, it was obvious that Trump was the wrong choice, and I just cannot come to terms with people who didn't see that. There is nothing that Trump has done (yet!) that has surprised me. He has behaved exactly as I anticipated that he would, and I think those who voted for him should be held accountable for not having informed themselves well enough in advance of the election to vote for the better candidate.

As I said - I admit my failings. I'll try to do better.