Thread by @AlexandraErin

So anytime Trump tweets out or blurts out something that gives away US intelligence secrets -- which he does fairly regularly, albeit often in ways that seem innocuous until you ask, "Wait, where did this information come from?", MAGA land hast he same refrain to defend it.

And that is, "The president has the power to declassify whatever he wants for any reason."

This may be true and it may be applicable to the cases at hand. I'm not saying it is and I'm not asking for confirmation or denial.

Because it doesn't answer the question of, should he?

It's the same dodge, the same obfuscation, of him declaring "It turns out the president can't be conflicted." as his answer to his conflicts of interest. The law does not make the supreme executive officer of the state answer directly to anyone for how they conduct their affairs.

Congress and judiciary each have separate theoretical oversight functions, and we the people in theory can vote him out, but in general he doesn't have to run stuff by anyone - that's what the presidency is. The buck stops there.

But because of that, we're supposed to elect someone we can trust to make good decisions about things like conflicts of interest and operational security for intelligence gathering, and in turn he's supposed to exercise that judgment.

If the question is, "Did the so-called president of these benighted states just blow the cover of an intelligence-gathering asset in Iran over a Twitter feud?", the answer isn't "He has the power to declassify."

Because we didn't ask if he's allowed to.

"I'm allowed to, so I can." is troll logic, griefer logic. "If I wasn't supposed to, the system would stop me."

Generally, in ages past, the president's power to declassify went through a process. There was advice given and listened to, even if it wasn't quite permission, because the people being asked had powers that ultimately devolved from the president.

They didn't just tweet it.

But Trump aspires to dictatorship. In the purest, most literal sense, a dictator is one who rules through speaking. He says so, so it is so. He says do it, so it is done. Other people are just there to figure out how to enact his will and do it.

So if he wants to share a photo or an anecdote or a revelation because of some base instinct, some emotional reaction, some petty grudge, or just because the impulse crossed his mind... he'll do it, and the legal defense becomes "It must have been declassified, as he shared it."

Do I need to point out that neither the Republican Party nor the "liberal" media would accept this from a Democrat? Nor would most Democrats.

If he has the power to declassify literally anything, that's a reason for *more* care and judgment, not less.