“Of course they did! They may have been the boxes etc. that were openly and plainly brought from the White House, as is my right under the Presidential Records Act,” Trump posted on social media.

  • roguetrick@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    No, I’m talking about law. Administrative law is set by the administrative branch of the government as delegated by congress. It’s not codified, but is the policy and procedures of those administrative bodies, which has the force of law. Breaching those policies and procedures, which is what Trump did, is in violation of administrative law.

    A legal duty is a more nebulous concept that is generally based on legal precedent. Usually has to do with something related to torts. You can’t just take someone to court for an novel legal duty and expect that to magically stick criminally. It needs to be codified by congress or created in administrative law first.

    • Madison420@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      If it’s a law they have a legal duty, your hedging doesn’t particularly make sense.

      legal

      1 of 2

      adjective

      le·​gal ˈlē-gəl 

      Synonyms of legal

      1

      : of or relating to law

      She has many legal problems.

      2

      a

      : deriving authority from or founded on law : DE JURE

      a legal government

      b

      : having a formal status derived from law often without a basis in actual fact : TITULAR

      a corporation is a legal but not a real person

      c

      : established by law

      especially : STATUTORY

      the legal test of mental capacity—K. C. Masteller

      3

      : conforming to or permitted by law or established rules

      The referee said it was a legal play.

      Fishing in this lake is legal.

      4

      : recognized or made effective by a court of law as distinguished from a court of equity

      5

      : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of the profession of law or of one of its members

      a bottle … that some legal friend had sent him—J. G. Cozzens

      6

      : created by the constructions of the law

      A legal fiction is something assumed in law to be a fact regardless of the truth of that assumption.

      legal

      2 of 2

      noun

      : one that conforms to rules or the law

      • roguetrick@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I’m not getting into semantics, I’m talking about the original post I replied to, namely

        he has a clear duty to protect their secrecy

        Which is talking about a duty in derived sense, not a codified duty.

        • Madison420@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          He does, nothing you’ve offered implies or states otherwise.

          No, it has to do with a law or rather a series of them an oath to office and an oath to maintain national secrets.