THE FBI CAN'T PLAY DUMB THERE: Glomar Response: A refusal to confirm or deny | Tim Cushing TechDirt 05.16.2023

. . .Trump has already asserted that the Alleged Declassification Standing Order exists on national television. . .

Federal Court Rejects FBI’s Attempt To Glomar Its Way Out Of A Trump-Related FOIA Lawsuit

Legal Issues

from the denied?-confirmed! dept

Tue, May 16th 2023 03:49pm - Tim Cushing

After Donald Trump was forced to vacate the Oval Office to make way for its newest tenant, he apparently decided to cement his legacy by walking off with boxes full of classified documents. When the National Archive and Records Administration began filing away the records Trump actually deigned to turn over to it, it found a bunch of classified information. This led to an investigation by the DOJ and, ultimately, a raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence to recover any other classified documents the ex-president might have taken with him.

Trump’s response to this investigation and raid was just as nonsensical as his response to any other of his numerous scandals: he claimed he had issued a standing order to immediately declassify any classified documents he walked out the door with. This obviously makes no sense. First, the President can’t actually issue this sort of order. Second, even if a President could, there would still need to be a declassification review process to ensure documents were properly redacted before being placed into the public domain.

Finally, his claim of a standing declassification order was rebutted by several Trump administration officials, his former national security advisor (John Bolton), his former Attorney General (Bill Barr), and two former White House Chiefs of Staff.

. . .[   ]

The Massachusetts branch of the ACLU decided to ask around to see if any of the many agencies generating classified documents had a copy of this supposed standing order from the President.

. . .If the target of your investigation already knows whether or not a document exists, it can’t possibly harm an investigation targeting them if others confirm or deny existence of this (nonexistent) declassification order.

The FBI now has until May 25th to answer the question it’s been dodging since it started answering for other federal agencies late last summer. This is truly a ridiculous use of the FBI’s time and legal resources. And we’re the ones who have to pay for this obnoxious, truly stupid waste of time. Everyone knows the document doesn’t exist. All we want is for these agencies to officially confirm what everyone already knows so that it’s only Trump who can continue living in denial.

Filed Under: classified documents, declassification, donald trump, fbi, foia, glomar, glomar resonse, transparency
Companies: aclu

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MESSAGING TESTING GROUND: Republican Run-Off for Kentucky Governor in Kentucky, Mitch McConnel's Home-State

Democrat Governor Incumbent Beshear has stockpiled over $7 million, and the Democratic Governors Association has signaled it would spend heavily to boost the only incumbent Democratic governor on the ballot this year.

Source: POLITICO

Trump-endorsed Daniel Cameron wins Republican nomination for Kentucky governor

He will face incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in November.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron will have to unite the party after a particularly brutal struggle for the nomination. | Timothy D. Easley/AP Photo

By ZACH MONTELLARO

05/16/2023 07:14 PM EDT

Updated: 05/16/2023 07:25 PM EDT

"Attorney General Daniel Cameron won the Republican nomination for governor in Kentucky, setting up the highest-profile governor race of 2023.

Cameron, a protégé of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, emerged on top of a GOP field that included Kelly Craft, a Republican megadonor and then-President Donald Trump’s final U.N. ambassador. Cameron was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Cameron had 45.4 percent to Craft’s 17.6 percent when the Associated Press called the contest Tuesday evening — a blowout.

Cameron was the frontrunner for the GOP nomination since announcing his bid this time last year, picking up an early endorsement from Trump before his main opponent even got in the race.

He will face popular incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in November. Republicans acknowledge that beating Beshear will be tough. Defeating a popular incumbent governor is generally one of the hardest things to do in politics.

But they argue that Cameron, a rising star in Kentucky Republican politics, is the best positioned to do so. . .

The race could also bring early signs of the larger political environment heading into next year’s presidential election. Although Kentucky will not be competitive on the presidential level, it is the biggest off-year contest this year and has long been seen as a messaging testing ground.

Trey Grayson, a former Kentucky Republican secretary of state, noted that for decades the Kentucky gubernatorial election has helped shape national party messaging the next year, like when Beshear successfully targeted Kentucky suburbs in 2019 before his nail-biter of a win."

M9.6 Solar Flare, Large CME, Coronal Holes | S0 News May.17.2023

COUNCIL OF EUROPE MEETS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO DECADES: UK and Dutch pledge fighter jet support for Ukraine | DW News

 

128,844 views May 17, 2023 #Ukraine #UK #Netherlands

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte pledged to build an "international coalition" to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine. "The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Rutte agreed they would work to build (an) international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets," a spokesman for Sunak's Downing Street office said in a statement following a meeting at the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland. After visiting Sunak at his Chequers country estate outside London on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was "very positive" about creating a "jets coalition" in his country's war with Russia. Sunak said on Monday the UK was preparing to open a flight school to train its pilots. French President Emmanuel Macron at the same time offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots but ruled out sending war planes to Kyiv.

Zelenska goes shopping for Military Hardware in South Korea

Zelenska was in the country to take part in the Asian Leadership Conference, accompanied by Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Rostyslav Shurma, according to Ukraine’s presidential office.

In a speech to the conference Wednesday, Zelenska said “humanitarian aid alone will not save” Ukrainians.

“Where there is a criminal in your house, who has come to kill your family, humanitarian aid alone will not save the residents,” Zelenska said, referring to Russia’s invasion.

“The first thing to do is stop the murderer. In the case of Kherson, it could be air defense systems, technologically advanced and effective like everything your country creates and produces.”

Since the beginning of the war, Zelenska has used her position to raise awareness of the plight suffered by her citizens and maintain diplomatic relations with global leaders.

Just before her trip to Seoul, she met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to discuss the psychological rehabilitation of children in her country.

Last year, she met US first lady Jill Biden privately at the White House to discuss American support for Ukraine."

Link: CNN

Ukraine’s first lady asks South Korea for air defense systems and non-lethal military hardware

By Gawon Bae and Chris Lau, CNN

Updated 4:45 AM EDT, Wed May 17, 2023

Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska meets with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the Presidential Office in Seoul on May 16.

South Korrea Presidential Office/Reuters

Seoul, South KoreaCNN — 

Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska asked South Korea to provide air defense systems as well as non-lethal military hardware when she met with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Tuesday, both countries have reported.

Zelenska, who is visiting the South Korean capital as a Ukrainian presidential envoy, requested a raft of items including mine detectors, demining equipment and first aid vehicles, South Korea’s presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said on Tuesday.

According to Ukraine’s presidential office, Zelenska told Yoon that her country needed help with technologies South Korea “is famous for.”

“We discussed with the president the need for air defense systems to stop the missile terrorism of the aggressor country,” Zelenska was quoted as saying.

“We also need the means to clear the traps that Russia has left on our territory and medical equipment to save those who were wounded by the attackers,” she added.

Since the war broke out in Ukraine, South Korea has maintained its stance of not providing lethal weapons to a warring country, although Yoon has hinted at a possible major policy shift. . ."

Heat Wave Shatters Records

 

• Andrew Freedman, author of Axios Generate

May 16, 2023 - Energy & Environment

Pacific Northwest heat wave shatters records

Map of forecast temperature departures from average during Monday through Wednesday May 17 in degrees Fahrenheit. Image: Climate Reanalyzer/University of Maine

A stifling heat wave enveloping the Pacific Northwest and western Canada is expected to expand this week, threatening more temperature records.

The big picture: The weather map looks "strongly reminiscent" of late June 2021, which produced a deadly excessive heat event in the Pacific Northwest, experts say.

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