Despite claims, there's no 'magic wand' for a president to declassify

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Former President Donald Trump isn't the first White House veteran to claim -- in the midst of a criminal probe looking at their handling of government secrets -- that the president can declassify almost anything he wants, whenever he wants, and however he wants. There has to be evidence that a declassification order occurred. And in Trump's case, the Trump team has yet to produce any credible evidence. In January, National Archives officials retrieved 15 boxes of records that had been improperly taken to Mar-a-Lago when Trump left the White House last year -- then, two months ago, federal agents visited Mar-a-Lago to retrieve additional materials that they believed Trump had failed to turn over. Shortly after that visit, an attorney for Trump signed a statement saying that all classified documents at Mar-a-Lago had been turned over to federal investigators, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. But authorities believed Trump continued to possess classified documents, leading to last week's raid. It's unclear exactly what records were recovered from Trump's residence last week, but court documents filed by the Justice Department indicate that it is investigating, among other things, potential violations of the Espionage Act, which makes it a crime to disclose sensitive national security information that could harm the United States -- even if it's not classified. The president is the ultimate classifier and de-classifier -- but he can't just wave a magic wand, and he can't do it in secret or in hindsight after he is out of office. Any act of declassification is communicating that act to all others who possess the same information, across all federal agencies. This point holds true regardless of whether the information exists in a document, an email, a power point presentation, and even in a government official's mental awareness. Otherwise, what would be the point of a legitimate declassification? The Trump team's claim of a "standing order" that all documents taken to Trump's residence were therefore "declassified" is "nothing short of laughable. Every news outlet should file a freedom of information request for the documents to see if they are really declassified or not.