Since the interview former President Trump had with Sean Hannity the other night, I've seen a lot of discussion on social media platforms about the abilities a President has or doesn't have to declassify documents. While some have zeroed in on the former President's assertion that he could just think about declassifying a document and it would be declassified, that's not the dumbest assertion made by President Trump. The award for dumbest comment was "there is no process".
While it's true that a sitting President has broad power on what information he wants to see declassified, it would be exceedingly rare that a document would just be declassified for release. Intelligence would review a document and redact names and typically the information that would require classification if it were put into a new document. For example, if dates had passed, those typically woudn't be redacted. But, if there was information that would reveal how we gather information, that would still be redacted. More than anything, the statement made by the President that "there is no process" told me that he is utterly clueless on how classified information is properly handled. It is not surprising that someone with no military or government experience before becoming President would not have that knowledge, but it shows that during his time in office, he never learned how it is done.
While it's true that a sitting President has broad power on what information he wants to see declassified, it would be exceedingly rare that a document would just be declassified for release. Intelligence would review a document and redact names and typically the information that would require classification if it were put into a new document. For example, if dates had passed, those typically woudn't be redacted. But, if there was information that would reveal how we gather information, that would still be redacted. More than anything, the statement made by the President that "there is no process" told me that he is utterly clueless on how classified information is properly handled. It is not surprising that someone with no military or government experience before becoming President would not have that knowledge, but it shows that during his time in office, he never learned how it is done.