The FBI raided President Trump's home in search of documents that the National Archives says belongs to the "government" and therefore should be in its custody. Kash Patel, former Chief of Staff for the Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense, has stated the former President gave a general declassification to all documents before leaving office. There is speculation the documents President Trump retained could have information on "Russia Gate" and the FBI used the warrant not only to retrieve those documents, but also to hope to find evidence of other "crimes," maybe pertaining to the January 6th 2021 incident at the Capital.

Article II, Section I, states in part:

"The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years . . ."

This means the entire exeuctive power is vested in the President. The President is the Executive Branch and is not subject to the same statutory prohibitions then someone with a subordinate position within the Office, like a Secretary of State.

One legal conclusion is all documents generated up the chain of the Executive Branch, i.e., CIA, FBI, are made for the Pressident and can do whatever the President wants with them, as they are personal property. For example, the President can declassify a document and give it to an ally or the President can give the nuckear codes to an enemy who in turn attacked the U.S. In the first case this may be a legitimate use of the Presidential power, and in the second an act of treason subject to an impeachment and removal.

The Fourth Amendment states:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

As we discussed in class, general warrants are prohibited under the Constitution. Historically, British officials who wanted to investigate someone could issue a general warrant allowing them to search someone's property for anything that could be criminal. The Fourth Amendment prohibits general warrants and puts the onus on the government to "particularly" state who or what they are looking for and where and that it is more likely than not there is criminal activity afoot.

Please watch the follwing videos and read the article attached and prepare a group response as to the following: Do you agree or disagree with the experts? Regardess of whether a search involves a former President, can Fourth Amendment protections be abused by law enforcement? Do you agree that general warrants can be used as a pretext for finding evidence of other crimes other than the one law enforcement presented to a court? In other words, the government may have probable cause to look for evidence of one crime, but does not have probable cause for some other crime they think is going on in the home or place of business. So, they go to the court and ask for a warrant, but are really going to search for evidence they could not otherwise get without this "general" warrant.

1. Compare what happened to President Trump to President Biden, who was found with sensitive documents in his possession at the time he was Vice President and Senator.

2. Is there a difference between a President with the power to declassify and anyone else who removes documents or should they be treated the same?