Behind the scenes, some lawmakers are quietly preparing plans to thwart a President Donald Trump victory. They’re studying his actions and policies from 2024 to anticipate his actions if he regains the White House and setting plans to block every move he makes as president. They are attempting to pass plans to limit his ability to work against illegal immigration and passing bills to make it harder to leave NATO, two pet projects they know Trump will tackle early on in his next term.
Mary McCord, the executive director of the Institution for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law, says, “We’re already assembling a team to anticipate the most harmful actions he might take so that we’re ready to file lawsuits if necessary.”
However, one sneaky lawmaker is trying to block Trump’s access to classified information based on his dubious “criminal charges” before he even regains the presidency.
Traditionally, presidential nominees from major parties are briefed on classified matters in the months leading up to the general election, but newly proposed legislation would block Trump from being allowed to view this information.
Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey has crafted a bill to prevent federal officeholders and candidates charged with specific criminal offenses from accessing classified information. The three-page bill called the Guarding United States Against Reckless Disclosures (GUARD) Act seeks to prohibit the president, vice president, and members of Congress from accessing classified information if they are charged with offenses such as obstructing an official proceeding, unlawfully retaining classified defense information, or acting as a foreign agent.
It’s a lot of hullabaloo that seems to target only two men: Trump and Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). Menendez has been accused of obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt by accepting gifts from the Qatari government, among other things. And Trump, of course, has been accused of nearly every charge specified in the bill.
Sherril stopped short of naming Menendez, but her comments left little doubt about who else the bill targeted. “I’m extremely concerned about recent charges against Donald Trump and his continued desire to access sensitive classified information despite reckless actions and serious criminal charges,” she said.
Sherrill’s legislation proposes that Congress could lift sanctions on federal officials and candidates facing charges with a majority vote in the House and a two-thirds vote in the Senate. The bill also stipulates that individuals affected by these sanctions would regain access to classified information if the charges against them are dismissed or they are found not guilty.
However, Sherril’s desperate attempt to keep classified documents out of Trump’s hands ahead of the 2024 election faces several roadblocks. For one thing, Trump has yet to be convicted of any charges, including those in his classified documents case in Florida. The case itself has hit multiple roadblocks, and there is some doubt that it will be finished before the election.
Interestingly, Congress is already attempting to address the need for reform in the U.S. government’s classification system. Over the past year, several incidents, including the alleged mishandling of national defense information and the discovery of classified material in the possession of Trump, former Vice President Pence, and President Joe Biden have raised concerns about information security and the effectiveness of the current classification system.
The Classification Reform Act of 2023 proposes significant changes to handling classified information. It seeks to create a new system of oversight and accountability for classifying sensitive information. Under the legislation, information can only be classified if disclosure’s potential harm to national security outweighs the public interest. The bill also limits the maximum classification period to 25 years, with only agency heads or the president able to extend this period. Additionally, the act includes measures to ensure proper handling of classified records belonging to the president and vice president.
The Sensible Classification Act of 2023 will clarify who has the authority to classify information, make it easier to declassify information, allocate extra resources to help with declassification, invest in new technology to assist with reviewing classified information and review existing security clearances to find areas for improvement.
It’s hard to believe that liberals could find another way to try and stop Trump, but they have. It’s proof that derailing the Trump campaign now reigns supreme as the sole obsession of a demented Democrat Party.
