“Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of former president Donald Trump’s Florida residence on Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Experts in classified information said the unusual search underscores deep concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands.
The people who described some of the material that agents were seeking spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. They did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search. A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment.”
Comment: If Trump was so foolish as to have allowed nuclear weapons connected documents to be transported to his home, he is in real trouble because as I wrote before some of that is statutorily classified rather than by presidential executive order. OTOH the manner in which the search was conducted with Trump’s lawyers excluded from witnessing the search will raise questions of whether or not the FBI planted evidence on the scene. pl
FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago related to nuclear documents, sources say – The Washington Post
“raise questions of whether or not the FBI planted evidence on the scene.”
Didn’t the FBI conduct he search? Don’t they have an untarnished record for this type of….Oh wait.
So just hours after the AG says they don’t speak via the press a story is leaked to the WAPO. How stupid does everyone have to be to beleive Trump is going to, of all things, help Saudi Arabia build nuclear weapons. Of course all the prior commentary about the “National Archives” is just what, hogwash?
Whatever happened to:
Russia Collusion?
the Ukrainian Phone Call?
Covid 19 killing us all? (See the CDC’s latest out today, you’ll love it)
Election Denial?
and: the INSURRECTION!
None of that now, we are on to: Giving Nuclear Weapons to Saudi Arabia. (Which they of course promised to not use while Trumps grandchildren are visiting Israel with their Jewish parents.)
I’m so looking forward to the Democratic Party’s landslide victories in this November elections.
“I’m so looking forward to the Democratic Party’s landslide victories in this November elections.”
Don’t laugh. So many loop holes were never closed.
Like I used to joke with my kids, you may beat me in fair fight. But no one said it was going to be a fair fight.
The right can win a fair election this November. But no one said it was going to be fair election.
Fred,
After the Clinton campaign made-up Steele dossier being used to obtain FISA warrants and launch national security investigations by Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Ms. Lisa, etc and then of course Trump nominee Rod Rosenstein getting Mueller, Weisman going – Are they expecting folks to buy nuclear weapons classified documents stored in Mar-a-Lago?? How gullible do they think Americans are?
I suppose folks have short memories. Maybe no one ever saw and remembers Rosenstein’s testimony to Congress. Of course he knew nothing just signed the FISA affidavit. How come he wasn’t prosecuted for perjury – signing a false affidavit under penalties of perjury?
“How gullible do they think Americans are?”
Based on recent events and track record, pretty damned gullible.
It would be better if the FBI re-organized into a high quality fentanyl cartel. It would protect more American lives than under their current role. Drug users get a premium product for cheaper and they could focus on protecting their turf from Mexican cartels and the Chinese.
Fred?
This comment of yours – August 12th, at 10:41 am – I took note of meaning to get back to you sooner with what my thoughts to your posed questions might possibly be. But I was down in the weeds – rabbit hole – and was preoccupied.
Actually I’ve already replied to Al but on another post’s thread plus I’ve earlier replied to Deap on this thread timestamp August 13, 2022 at 8:26 pm. But actually I think the thoughts really ought be combined – because, method + purpose only then enabling a = thought.
But it was your questions that got me nudged to considering that there had to be a method to all this disparate madness. Alas as the reply to Deap’s already on this thread on to the combining – or as this poor ol’ dumb hillbilly reckons on what’s likely ahead:
Now. Just spitballing hereon but, what I think the whole “purpose” of the raid was, was to get material of such a nature that the Mueller [Special Counsel] crowd could then use to have a Trump charge and have that charge laid to the DC Circuit – which is extremely malleable – Get it out of Florida by any and all means fair or foul.
Then – a very deliberately slow-walked process and put gag orders on all concerned : especially Trump! And that process to probably be “settled” (having served its purpose) on say, January 21st, 2025 or so.
Now then Fred – Should you think I’m due for a hefty dose of derision feel free.
This reminds me of the Russiagate years with numerous news outlets saying “Trump may have done this” and “Trump may have done that”. I fear they are trying to do another Russiagate with two more years of leaks and baseless accusations against Trump – and I am not even a Trump supporter!
What I would give for Tulsi as president.
My best guess is they were looking for evidence they thought Trump had that would either implicate the Deep State in crimes or deeply embarrass them.
How many times will the “wrap up smear” work? Same play as ^ And will “documents relating to nuclear weapons” be the cocktail napkin note from Kim Yung whatever? Thoughts from Scott Adams today.
“Documents relating to nuclear weapons.” Incredibly vague…but just enough to excite the Modocs.
So Trump had the nuclear launch codes hidden in Melania’s undergarments…
and it only took the FBI two years and just before an epic wipeout in the midterms to figure this out…
coincidence or low hanging fruit???…
so lets dedicate this song to the DOJ (D-DC) and the FBI (D-DC)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QqkrIDeTeA
Let’s wake up America (still proud to say that)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SELO45oVm98
“launch codes” that’s where I’d hide them. Once they start sniffing through those drawers, there’s only one missisle they’ll be thinking of – sorry, I felt it must be said.
Whoever put that chart of nuclear armed nations together should take more care. Let’s hope Kim Jong Un isn’t reading this.
Let’s recommend Dr. Wheeler’s Blog for additional legal analysis
Master Slacker,
What is Marci a Dr. of, disinformation?
The bio from her blog. An academic with a sharp focus on all things legal in our current politicized reality.
Master Slacker,
I met many years ago Marci when I still lived in Ann Arbor and she was just starting blogging. If she’s an ‘academic’, i.e. teaching or working at a university, good for her. She’s still incorrect. A couple of former DAs have taken her to task on twitter about her interpretation of the law over the years. She’s consistently partisan and very left. While she occaisonally overturns a nugget or two most of what she puts out is run of the mill drivel.
Master Slacker,
Why you pushing a Democrat partisan who trumpeted the Russia Collusion hoax even when it became obvious that it was a Hillary inside-job.
Assumes facts not in evidence. Try being a bit more succinct with the actual details, please.
Trump suspected of violating Espionage Act, according to search warrant. Also, three alledged criminal violations that investigators suspected they would find evidence of in the search: concealment or removal of federal records, destruction or alteration of records in a federal investigation and transmitting defense information. The one involving destroying records in a federal investigation, carries a maximum possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
My bet is that there are a few “inside” witnesses that the FBI to based the allegations. upon.
I bet Christopher Steele had “inside information”.
PF, much of Steele’s info was confirmed. Some was BS.
From Lawfare:
… The dossier is actually a series of reports—16 in all—that total 35 pages. Written in 2016, the dossier is a collection of raw intelligence. Steele neither evaluated nor synthesized the intelligence. He neither made nor rendered bottom-line judgments. The dossier is, quite simply and by design, raw reporting, not a finished intelligence product.
In that sense, the dossier is similar to an FBI 302 form or a DEA 6 form. Both of those forms are used by special agents of the FBI and DEA, respectively, to record what they are told by witnesses during investigations. The substance of these memoranda can be true or false, but the recording of information is (or should be) accurate. In that sense, notes taken by a special agent have much in common with the notes that a journalist might take while covering a story—the substance of those notes could be true or false, depending on what the source tells the journalist, but the transcription should be accurate….
https://www.lawfareblog.com/steele-dossier-retrospective
The Steele dossier became both to the right and the left whatever they wanted to fantasize within it!]
The Steele dossier was far more than a chimera. The Steele dossier formed the major part of the “predicate” that allowed Obama to spy on Trump in 2016 ……… facts in evidence.
Al, any thoughts how nervous Obama is right now that he will soon be facing a GOP Congress?
Al,
were those all in the boxes labeled “President of France”? Maybe it was written on the back of “Presidential Grant of Clemency re: Roger Stone Jr.? (Or was that a crime or ‘fruit of crime’?) Sure hope they read everything to find out.
What is missing from that warrant is :
“the affidavit in support prepared by an FBI agent. The affidavit would likely describe:
The basis for believing that classified documents, including those relating to nuclear weapons, were at Mar-A-Lago;
The history of the Trump classified documents investigation;
The assertion of probable cause that Trump had committed a crime; and
Information gathered through surveillance or through informants (most notably whoever told the FBI about the safe).”
https://technofog.substack.com/p/here-is-the-trump-search-warrant
That sure explains why the FBI went to a hired magistrate, rather than a judge who was confirmed by vote in the Senate, to sign this. I’m sure Biden’s second term is gonna be epic.
Fred, Such is not in a warrant, that material is in an affidavit submitted to the the court asking for the warrant.
If the affidavit is release, expect mucho redactions. especially witness names.
Al,
Yes, just like I quoted and the lawyer I quoted explained.
“If the affidavit is release, expect mucho redactions. especially witness names.”
I’ll take “What is probable” cause for $64,000. Better keep the “probabl cause” secret, for the sake of “Justice”. Good luck.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11106833/FBI-recovered-ELEVEN-sets-classified-documents-Mar-Lago.html
And then there is Trump supporter Sundance with his viewpoint:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/08/12/mar-a-lago-search-warrant-unsealed-the-most-urgent-critical-national-security-issue-in-the-history-of-all-time-had-seven-days-to-execute/
This seems awfully like the Russia Collusion hoax. I’ve never got why the intelligence apparatus and the political & media establishment are so out to get him that they’ll gut any pretense of the rule of law?
Sam
Pure obsessive hateful revenge – in this case for having the temerity to get elected from outside of their cosy establishment club.
“from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee”
It doesn’t end well.
Trump is a threat to their rice bowls.
TTG and Col,
Wall St Jr is reporting:
“… one set of documents marked as “Various classified/TS/SCI documents. The ‘SCI’ acronym stands for sensitive compartmented information, among the most sensitive classified materials the U.S. government possesses …”
Are such docs readily declassified “verbally” by a President, with no other agency scrutiny and paper trail? Even if “declassified” are they docs that should be kept in someone’s home environment, rather than a governmental facility?
al
“Are such docs readily declassified “verbally” by a President, with no other agency scrutiny and paper trail? Even if “declassified”. Yes. These documents are classified or not solely on the basis of the current president’ “executive order.” TTG knows nothing of this. He did not operate other than as an infantry subaltern, Special Forces junior officer and civilian case officer.
Col, 2nd question there:
Even if “declassified” are they docs that should be kept in someone’s home environment, rather than a governmental facility?
Al,
If the documents are declassified, there are no restrictions on how or where they are stored, unless they’re deemed sensitive but unclassified or another unclassified category with certain caveats applied.
And the Colonel is right. I have no experience in the classification/declassification process at the Presidential or senior executive level. But if Trump can declassify on a whim, Biden can also reclassify on a whim.
TTG
Yes, but that would not make Trump guilty retroactively.
pl,
He would be guilty of retention from the time Biden would have declared them classified, especially from the time he was subpoenaed for them back in June. Now we need to see that subpoena, as well, to see if it asked for the return of all documents marked as classified.
TTG
I think that nobody can be punished in the US for something declared to be a crime after the fact.
pl,
The crime, in this case, would be retention of classified documents, not removal since Trump claims the documents were unclassified when he removed them.
TTG,
“The crime, in this case,…”
I can imagine the Presidential phone call:
“Hey Donald, this Joe, I re-classified all the documents you declassified. I’m sending the FBI down with a warrant, based on a “confidential source”, that’s gonna get signed off on by a magistrate rather than a sitting federal judge, but only after waiting a few days because of ‘national security’. Pack it all up for us will you? ”
Ha ha ha!
So Biden classifed the paron for Oliver Stone and now it’s a federal crime to keep a copy? Ha ha ha! Where did you get your legal training?
Fred,
Why would the pardon for Oliver Stone be classified? Where do you read that?
TTG,
I know this is hard for you, what with me responding to what you wrote. Let quote you:
“He would be guilty of retention from the time Biden would have declared them classified, ….”
That’s why. Of course that search warrant had zero need to have anything reclassified:
““Any government and/or Presidential Records created between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021.””
You might read the damn thing. Every document and record from the entire four years of his term of office needs to be siezed for national security, accroding this Wray and Garland and the fool magistarte who agreed to sign off on this. The whole charade has nothing to do with your fantasy about nuclear weapons. It’s a fishing expedition to allow probable cause to start investigations of anyone Garland and Wray want to go after. The same crap they pulled with Papadopolous and the whole Russia Collusion fraud.
Fred,
The search warrant specifies, among other things, “Any physical documents with classification markings.” It doesn’t specify if the documents are classified or not, just marked as classified. The seizure of all Presidential Records is in line with the requirement for all those records to be in the possession of the National Archives, not the omelet station at Mar a Lago.
As far as all the hype about nuclear related documents, I consider it pure speculation at this point. The search warrant and inventory makes no mention of it. Neither Garland nor any other government official mentioned it. Trump never said he had nuclear related documents either. Trump does admit he had classified, or declassified, documents while, at the same time, accuses the FBI of planting those supposedly declassified documents. Now that’s some five dimensional chess.
TTG
You appear unconcerned by the separate and unequal treatment, as long the man you dislike is taken to the woodshed.
Where was the raid on Hillary’s or Obama’s properties when they had documents including classified ones. In Hillary’s case in an unsecure private email server?
Is this separate but unequal application of the law something you celebrate? Is this weaponization of law enforcement & the judiciary against political opponents something to be cheered? How would you react when the other political party uses their power in office when they get that shot to specifically target their political opponents?
blue peacock,
The FBI did a fairly extensive investigation of Clinton and her email server. That she politically survived her mishandling of classified information was shocking to me. She should have been hounded from the political stage at the very least. I don’t know what you’re referring to about Obama.
TTG,
“Trump does admit … or declassified…” Oh how the tune changed from just yesterday. This is all so important to NATIONAL SECURITY that in the FBI/DOJ/BIDEN Administration did what month 1? Month 2, Month 7, Month 11? Should I go on for the other months of this being important to national security but the collective action was ZERO, even while the “Insurrection” investigation was going on in Congress?
The whole escapade is a charade to go after Trump and his supporters one more time. If one were trying to discredit institutions so as to drive desire to “fundamentally transform America” they couldn’t have picked a better tactic.
Thank you Colonel. If a document is declassified by verbal order, with no paper trail:
1. Are all copies of that classified document declassified, or only the one present when declassified?
2. If all copies, how is the rest of the govt to know and change the classification?
3. If they are declassified, can they be accessed or can access be requested/copies made by anyone?
Just a technical curiosity about how this works. Presumably no random citizen is eligible to read those documents once declassified, but what makes it so?
Appreciate your site, have checked it off and on since the old Iraq War days
graeme
1- yes 2 -they don’t but it does not matter. 3 – How cn they be if nobody knows.
gee hiz you make a good point. Maybe Clinton ould kno the aner.
keyboard problem
Missing w in whiz, would and know in addition to w and k in wanker?
We will forward replacement keys asap.
You uuin decrypt yeahhhh
New keyboard just arrived. You won the decrypt contest. Musta gone to Ft. Gordon? Best.
Al. FYI many of us read the WSJ – we don’t take it for face value on much of anything any longer.
It provides a collection of opinions that can be interesting reading, but its alleged “news” stories got too infected with anti-Trump bias over the past few years that they belong under some other masthead – like LA Times. NYT or WaPo.
Andrew Napolitano has a primer on the ins and outs of the legalities, uploaded to YT this afternoon. He seems to say Trump would have had to sign a classified doc in front of 2 witnesses and then alter the docs by signing. He also indicates that even so they shouldn’t be in Trump’s possession bc they are “Gov Property.” He then added that he thinks Trump is in “hot water.” I don’t have any idea how correct he is or isn’t.
Trump Warrant Released:
https://youtu.be/tLsFP2BSHAc
F&L
He is wrong.
Here is a totally opposite take on this same topic from Trump advisor, Kash Patel, used to compare Andrew Napolitano’s statements about presidential declassifications:
https://beckernews.com/trump-adviser-breaks-the-bad-news-to-the-fbi-the-classified-docs-in-their-possession-were-already-declassified-46334/
Maybe there was reference to an Obama-Clinton conversation they “would go nuclear” to keep Trump from winning in 2016……or in 2020.
No, this is about legal cover to investigate everyone Trump talked to during his term of office until the day the warrant was closed. They are coming for the Deplorables and doing so with, however tissue thin, legal cover. Enjoy the ride.
This exercise is still an attempt to provide CYA cover for Obama spying on Trump back in 2016. While Durham meanders to the finish line on the very same topic.
Dems only have a few more months to pull off their Hail Mary pass attempt.
Judge Napolitano says crime is not espionage, but simply possession of government documents according to a law Trump signed in response to Hillary’s email scandal. She gets to destroy Blackberrys, Bill gets to meet AG on Arizona tarmac, but Trump gets raided before he launches third bid for presidency?
Judge Nap also said no one can possess SCI. It’s kept in secure area, only president and handful of people can see. Maybe Trump had notes from discussions relating to SCI?
Also Nap said SCI docs were believed to be the in safe, but I heard elsewhere safe was empty. Garland empty handed?
This comes after Shinzo Abe was assassinated by a man who felt his mother was conned by Jap PM. Shinzo and Trump were friends. Shinzo was also Christian on Right.
Salman Rushdie attacked just today by Iranian gov sympathizer.
Trump next? Make it look like Iran did? Or blame disgruntled Trump supporter?
They are getting desperate with these investigations that go nowhere. And they all hate him. Cheney, Bush, not just Dems. When Trump runs for office, I will pray for him.
notfakebot
Judge N is wrong. The entire information classification system exists wholy by presidential executive order renewed by each president. The only exception has to do with nuclear weapons information.
Notkfakebot, Ever think Democrats are apoplectic Trump could actually be appointed Speaker of the House by a GOP majority Congress as previously (wildly) speculated, and thus be third in line after Joe and Kamala?
Maybe Democrats are going for a short game here, and not a long game in trying to get Trump disqualified from ever serving office again.
Joe and Kamala both are on a very, very short leash right now. So this is now well within the realm of plausibility. They obviously have not taken the temperature of the world outside the Beltway.
When California can now have freeway signs that say “Had Enough? Vote Republican” stand even today and not be defaced, you know the culture is changing.
I ouill vote for him.
If anyone wanted a textbook example of “reasoning from a conclusion” based upon fealty to a deeply held belief system or to a single individual, the Case of the Purloined Secrets is a fine one. There is a substantial body of knowledge & expertise on classified information identification, handling and storage. Judge N, Patel & the like are not conversant in the field. They too argue from a world view that drives their selection & interpretation of evidence – that’s their shtick.
Here’s the wiki entry on classification that might help those who haven’t lived in that world. And a recent article by an actual scholar in the field of presidential archives, with attention to how classified material is traced as it flows into & out of the Office of the POTUS – all of them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information_in_the_United_States
https://theconversation.com/how-the-fbi-knew-what-to-search-for-at-mar-a-lago-and-why-the-presidential-records-act-is-an-essential-tool-for-the-national-archives-and-future-historians-188483
I also ran across an article pointing out Trump & his inner circle observed the search in real time, remotely via the MaL CCTV. Maybe there’s video of FBI agents planting evidence, & La Familia is saving it for surprise reveal.
Though I’ve never held a clearance (thankfully, from my pov), my up-bringing, academic interests, friends & career provided long term observation of the culture. It has always been clear to me the rules are taken seriously… from execution of the Rosenbergs to S. Berger’s two year probation for removing classified material from the Archives. Maybe that’s just another aspect of the “deep state”.
Thank God wikipedia isn’t subject to political partisanship…
if you can’t distinguish source from content, I can’t help you.
Sir,
” If Trump was so foolish as to have allowed nuclear weapons connected documents to be transported to his home, he is in real trouble because as I wrote before some of that is statutorily classified rather than by presidential executive order”
Trump is indeed in hot water. I’d bet that he will be prosecuted for this. My wildass guess is he either did not know or learn about it, or just ignored what he was told.
Any Act of Congress that limits what a president can do with nuclear-connected information is arguably an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers. I just reread the Supreme Court’s decision in Dept. of Navy v. Egan. It seems to give the president pretty plenary powers.
TonyL
I’ll risk a prediction criminal indictment will not be sought in this matter. It would be a mess, no doubt spanning the best part of a decade and a Supreme Court visit. An expensive, resource-hungry project and the DOJ has limited resources.
The goal was ‘Just get the docs back’.
Mark,
I wish he will be criminally indicted. And then he will have to explain when he declasssified, why did he declassified, and whom he told about the declassification of each of the documents.
About the nuclear weapon documents, if there is such document in his posession, then he should be judged guilty.
Yes, “Just get the docs back” so they can be classified again.
I couldn’t resist this straight from lunatic central this morning. It purports to be a proof that Trump is a no goodnik Rooskie collaborater. Disregard the accompanying information that the man who derived this morsel was formerly a mental patient who believed, delusionally, that he was .. oh nevermind.
Trump. T rump. T ass. Tass.
Ok, I’ll give in. It was a man who believed he was married to former President Clinton.
Proving yet again the real issue is still pushing Russia-Russia-Russia to CYA Obama spying on Trump in 2016. They desperately need to make this charge stick, but so far nothing yet justified Obama spying on Trump.
This exercise continues today as much to elevate Obama back to his unsullied #44 pedestal, as it is to take down #45 Trump.
Whether he declassified them seems beside the point. If he did, then why did he do it in secret? Telling nobody except allegedly Patel, a well known apologist of his.
Why was there no notification to the authorities that had classified those documents in the first place? Else you end up with the same information being unclassified in Mar-a-Lago yet still classified elsewhere?
Definitely bad judgement on his part based on their information sensitivity and the danger to America’s national security. He needs to explain the rationale of why he declassified them so that we know why he did it. Maybe not to the press and the public but especially to those who(m) it directly affects. Perhaps he did it as an act of Declassification-Diplomacy similar to when Obama declassified hundreds of items on Pinochet to give to the Chilean government? If that is so, then let him say so, and tell to what country it was given and what was the reason for doing it.
Leith,
“Definitely bad judgement on his part based on their information sensitivity and the danger to America’s national security. He needs to explain the rationale of why he declassified them so that we know why he did it.”
It has been said ‘The past is prelude’ but in the most recent tribulations and gnashing of teeth in consternation it seems to me, hardly anybody is looking back to see if there’s a previous precedent we might refer to for guidance so to inform us how we ought proceed in this most recent instance.
So. Let’s take a look shall we?
https://nypost.com/2016/11/06/clinton-directed-her-maid-to-print-out-classified-materials/
Some I expect will object ‘But she wasn’t even a President!’ and others will shout ‘That’s rank whataboutism!’ – But I would simply point out that the base issue here is possession of classified materials and to what [possible] purpose. Secondarily – who may have access.
Hopefully some intrepid individual – and not hiding behind such boilerplate as ‘unidentified, anonymous, asked not to be named so to speak on sensitive subject matter/issues, and the always dependable Leaked exclusively to the NYT/WaPo etc
Anyway some identified somebody [a Courts record of predicate would satisfy me] to explain just what in the hell is going on.
JK –
Extremely bad judgement on her part also. But then the FBI basically tore big holes in her email defense claims. And they confiscated her private server. As granny used to say, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
For those asking what does Obama have to do with this issue – more information about Obama taking 30 million official documents when he left office – many classified, – with the promise he would digitalize them which allegedly so far never happened:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/exclusive-national-archives-media-caught-lie-claim-obama-didnt-keep-classified-docs-evidence-shows-obama-absolutely-no-way-prove-didnt/
Equal justice under the law – one of our fundamental bedrock principles.
Deep, you accept what Gatewaypundit puts out? A lot of fake stuff on that far right wingers.
Interesting new wrinkle – FBI agents under criminal investigation by Durham for Russiagate, were among those raiding MarALago.
Suspected one of the retained and fully declassified file in Trump’s possession was the Crossfire Hurricane file that Trump released to the public some time ago, but DOJ prevented its distribution.
https://thelibertydaily.com/feds-who-raided-mar-a-lago-are-under-investigation-by-john-durham-for-russiagate-hoax/
Wrinkles all over the place Deap.
And as I’m merely a amateur legaler (as I’ve mentioned here severally) somebody/anybody who has some “free time” [extended vacation or retired] and is a “in real life actual attorney” – Can’t recall the comment thread I recently read here but *somebody indicated there are “real lawyers” reading/participating in comments.
Anyway I’m seeing – what I take to be “errant details” re: Magistrate Reinhart most glaringly. (The text advising me to check my email I then posted the link to a Tweet – I’ve since been informed ‘tweet’ is the correct appellation, not ‘Twit’ – here … Well long story short : Something looks very screwy to this self-described legalese amateur. To wit:
At some point a Clinton appointee – I’m unfamiliar with how the Magistrate position “getting” works: whether some sort of ‘confirmation process’ or simply a ‘jurisdictional public vote’ I haven’t a clue. Whether there’s significant differences between what happens in Arkansas as opposed to Florida I don’t have the leisure to study. Or the expertise. I am after all, just a simple hillbilly.
Proceeding:
*Notice : I’m purposely excluding all the stuff as “chaff” where instances of Reinhart’s involvement with the Epstein stuff is concerned because … well I’m employing the word “chaff” very deliberately.
Reinhart is directly involved with the ongoing Trump v. Clinton matter. (Why not from the get-go recused from that who knows!)
He was assigned the case on 4-6-22 until 6-22-22. He had scheduled a status hearing for 7-6-22 that was was canceled on the day he recused.
6-2-22 he had had scheduled a proceeding to happen on 6-22-22, the same day he recuses, it is not noted [in the Courts proceedings] if he recused before or after the proceeding. But there is this:
https://twitter.com/nedryun/status/1557105658142539780
And this of 6-2-22. Perhaps purely coincidentally [?!!!] Trump’s counsel submits a ‘NOTICE OF UNAVAILABILITY by Donald J. Trump for dates of June 2nd to June 6th; August 3rd to August 8th and August 18th to August 31st of 2022 (Sasson, Jamie) (Entered: 06/02/2022)’
(And Fred’s Turcopolier “The October Surprise Came Early” posts August 8th – Now of course lil’ ol’ Hillbilly me definitely not wishing to be viewed as one of those CONSPIRACY THEORISTS nevertheless uttered a “Whoa! It is almost as if somebody from the FBI is keenly following this stuff – I wonder if … Nah, surely purely a coincidence.)
(Reinhart signed to ‘Go-Ahead’ for the warrant for the
raid, fishing expeditionsearch to be served August 5th.)There’s been – by my count – at least six different Magistrate (Judges) assigned to this case since the filing date of March 24th, 2022 until [?] the present.
Hoo boy all this stuff is turning out to be way over this ignurant Hillbilly’s head – So I turn to Turcopolier’s actual Attorney Readership.
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63184300/trump-v-clinton/?page=1
President Trump declassified a binder on January 19th, 2021 that contains hundreds of pages about the Crossfire Hurricane scandal. It contains damaging information about the corrupt actors involved with our government. Two different DOJ Attorney General’s have defied President Trump’s direct lawful order to publish the binder in the Federal Register. It’s been 19 months as the DOJ defies the order, and every FOIA request to make it public.
DOJ had already made redactions to protect sources & methods, and returned the binder back to the White House. But the corrupt FBI also wanted to hide names. So at the last minute, the DOJ demanded the binder comply with the 1974 Privacy Act. The Act requires any “agency” that releases records to also hide personal or identifiable name information. The DOJ knew this Act doesn’t apply to the White House, it was a stall tactic. The courts decided this 22 years ago that the Privacy Act was based around FOIA requests, and the White House is not an agency.
Hours before Trump left office on January 20th, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows gave the binder back to the DOJ, along with this memo. He asked the DOJ to make any Privacy Act redactions “out of an abundance of caution”. In the memo he asks they expeditiously release the binder when finished. Meadows foolishly expected this would take 3-4 days. It’s been 19 months and still not released. Just the News recently obtained the Meadows memo from the National Archives, who also denied having a copy of the declassified binder.
Meadows admits in interviews various agency’s often stalled or defied Trump’s orders. Meadows knew better than to rely on the DOJ to release this damaging binder after they left the White House. He should have released the binder to the public himself. But in doing so, there was a chance he would become a target of the DOJ and FBI. The memorandum below is what Mr. Meadows sent to the DOJ Attorney General on January 20th, 2021.
Now this–
New details on Monday’s raid of Mar-a-Lago may offer an explanation on what the FBI was looking for and why the FBI has not released the Spygate documents as they were ordered to when President Trump left office.
Investigative reporter Paul Sperry had his Twitter account taken down for the second time on Monday.
Sperry had his first Twitter account removed after he identified Eric Ciaramella as the leaker in the first Trump impeachment trial.
Sperry had his second account takedn down on Monday after he tweeted about the Mar-a-Lago raid and what the FBI was looking for.
According to Paul Sperry, the FBI agenst spent 9 hours looking for details President Trump took with him on the Crossfire Hurricane FBI spying scandal.
The FBI and DOJ cannot let the American public know the truth of the their criminal acts and attempted coup of President Trump. So they raided his home looking for the documents that may indict the organization.
https://www.conspatriotnews.com/huge-development-report-shows-fbi-had-personal-stake-in-mar-a-lago-raid-agents-were-after-spygate-documents-trump-was-holding-that-likely-indicted-fbi/
The Feds Involved In The Trump Raid Allegedly Have Been Under Investigation By Durham For Abuse Of Power
Sources say the FBI agents and officials who were involved in the raid on former President Trump’s home work in the same CounterIntelligence Division of the FBI that investigated Trump in the Russiagate hoax and are actively under criminal investigation by Special Counsel John Durham for potentially abusing their power investigating Trump in the Russian fraud and therefore have a potential conflict of interest and should have been RECUSED from participating in this supposed “espionage” investigation at Mar-a-Lago.
https://defiantamerica.com/this-should-bring-the-whole-case-down-the-feds-involved-in-the-trump-raid-allegedly-have-been-under-investigation-by-durham-for-abuse-of-power/
And what has Durham proven so far? Nothing!
I forget Al. Although the lawyer Clinesmith largely escaped what maybe would’ve happened had he not been a FBI employee, by his [Clinesmith’s] plea wasn’t that admitting to the Court of “guilty as charged” a result of Durham or was it some other SC?
I don’t remember Clinesmith getting much attention during the C-Span’d Mueller show or even the Horowitz show so, I really would appreciate Al your reminding me whether Durham’s been a complete *waste of time?
Here’s a conspiracy for those of you promulgating such:
Saudi Arabia Paid $2 Billion to Trump Via Jared Kushner for Stolen Secret Payroll Info on American Spies: Trump sold that info to Saudi Arabia after a “bidding war” with Vladimir Putin for $2 billion, funneled through son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Saudis put that $$ into Kushner’s new undervalued biz.
Makes as much sense as the unproven allegations re Obama/Biden floating freely from the right wingers.
Sure got a lot of Trump defenders in this blog, too bad that they fail to realize how badly Trump is to our national security—both through his “loose lips” and his very likely overwhelming $$ desires to make hay with those docs.
Here is a bit of history on Trump’s dangerous mishandling of state secrets:
Of course, got to start of with how he pissed off Israeli intell, which also caused other nations drawing back the sharing of intell with US while he was president.
thehill.com › policy › defenseIsrael alters US intelligence-sharing rules after Trump’s …
by Ellen Mitchell – 05/24/17 1:30 PM ET Israel has changed its intelligence-sharing protocols with the United States after President Trump revealed highly classified intelligence information to…
Then there is the ongoing, one after another state secrets trump flap (like giving away location of our nuke subs!!!)
From Wikipedia:
Other disclosures of intelligence[edit]
-In an April 29, 2017, phone call, Trump told Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte that the U.S. had positioned two nuclear submarines off the coast of North Korea. This was during a time when Trump was warning of a possible “major, major conflict” with North Korea.[52] The locations of nuclear submarines are a closely guarded secret, even from the Navy command itself: “As a matter of national security, only the captains and crew of the submarines know for sure where they’re located.”[53]
-On May 24, 2017, Britain strongly objected to the United States leaking to the press information about the Manchester Arena bombing, including the identity of the attacker and a picture of the bomb, before it had been publicly disclosed, jeopardizing the investigation.[54] British Prime Minister Theresa May issued a public rebuke, and British police said they would stop passing information to U.S. counterparts.[55]
-In July 2017, after a private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit, Trump took the unusual step of confiscating and keeping his interpreter’s notes. This led U.S. intelligence officials to express concern that Trump “may have improperly discussed classified intelligence with Russia.”[2]
-On Christmas 2018, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump flew to Al Asad Airbase where Trump posted video to Twitter of several members of Seal Team Five in their camouflage and night-vision goggles, revealing the team’s location and un-blurred faces.[56][57]
-On August 30, 2019, Trump tweeted a reportedly classified image of recent damage to Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport that supposedly occurred as a result of an explosion during testing of a Safir SLV. Multiple concerns were raised regarding the public release of what appeared to be a surveillance photo with exceptionally high resolution, revealing highly classified U.S. surveillance capabilities.[58] Within hours of the tweet, amateur satellite trackers had determined the photograph came from National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite USA-224.[59] Before Trump’s tweet, the only confirmed photographs from a KH-11 satellite were leaked in 1984 by a U.S. Navy analyst who went to prison for espionage.[59] Trump defended the tweet by saying he had “the absolute right” to release the photo.[60]
-In a December 2019 interview with Bob Woodward, Trump stated, “I have built a nuclear — a weapons system that nobody’s ever had in this country before,” adding, “We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before. There’s nobody. What we have is incredible.”[61]
-In February 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) identified classified documents in the 15 boxes of documents that Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago resort when he left the White House in January 2021. NARA also found that some social media and electronic records weren’t properly preserved per the Presidential Records Act, and that some records had been torn up.[62] The August 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago turned up more presidential documents, including some classified secret, top secret, and TS/SCI.
Al,
Speaking of Israel how are they treating that traitor, Johnathan Pollard? Is he still a hero of Israel, that country whose intel people he worked for while spying on the USA? Tell us all again how important Israeli intelligence is and how you are concerned about Trump pissing them off.
Fred, you sure assume much. Your reply has no basis as to my opinions re Israel, which happen to be quite negative.
I only pointed out facts as to how Trump has been careless with sensitive intell.
But thanks for proving by your reply how your biased assumptions corrupt your reading comprehension
Al,
I was not responding to your opinion, but to the statement “Of course, got to start of with how he pissed off Israeli intell,…”
My response is not personally directed at you as a commentor, it was a factual one about Israel spying on the USA and treating their spy as a hero after his release from prison and return to Israel and being granted Israeli citizenship. If you care about the quality of what they supposedly provide the USA look through the archives at what our host has commented on over the years.
Fred, I have previously read the Col’s info on Israel….and have fully agreed.
I highly value his and TAG’s opinions on our nation’s defense and foreign relations . Been following this blog for likely a decade.
Though you might likely note, my domestic political views differ.
OrangeManBad. What can we say besides MAGA 2024.
You forgot to add the latest Trump crime – Putin was already reading the Trump document nuclear codes, when they were stored at MarALago.
Which naturally puts the crack DOJ teams to shame they could not do the same thing and confiscate these critical papers before Putin got to them.
Just a hint for future reference, Al. You ask for celestial purity only from your own personal Higher Power; but not from any politician.
Al,
If one were awake in 2016-17, they would easily come to the conclusion that the intelligence apparatus in cahoots with the FBI/DOJ, the political and media establishment ran a highly politicized operation to take down a duly elected president.
The Russia Collusion campaign was unprecedented. And it preceded the Hillary was “careless” with classified information investigation. Strzok, Laufman, et al at the FBI played significant roles in both investigations. In one there was incontrovertible evidence that classified information was transmitted, stored and disseminated from an unsecure, private email server. In that investigation kid gloves were used. Cheryl Mills, Hillary’s chief of staff who herself was a subject of the investigation was accepted as Hillary’s attorney and all knowledge then became privileged under attorney-client rules. Neither Cheryl nor Huma Abedin were deposed under oath by the FBI.
Contrast that with the other investigation with the same cast of characters at the FBI/DOJ. Here known false documents funded and orchestrated by the Hillary campaign was used as predicate to obtain a FISA warrant on an innocent American citizen who’s rights were violated and launch a media, national security and special counsel investigation with complete character assassination through innuendo and news reports with the same characters at FBI/DOJ as the “anonymous sources”.
Similarly Steve Bannon was indicted and convicted of contempt of Congress. Eric Holder, Obama era AG did the same. Jim Clapper lied to Congress under oath. Yet they were not indicted and prosecuted.
You may not want to see this dichotomy but many Americans even those who didn’t vote for Trump or are politically independent of both parties see the stark unequal treatment. The only conclusion they can arrive at with this and numerous such cases is that law enforcement is highly political. It will be interesting to see your reaction when a GOP dominated Congress and presidency start using the intelligence and law enforcement apparatus to execute witchhunts of their political opponents?
Sam, Oh my, can hardly wait for another “Bengotsher” Repub House investigation! lol What a ship of fools that was…they put H Clinton under microscope for how many hours, and got nothing? How many months, spending how many millions, and got nothing?
Then you get Durham now going on and on….with Biden and DOJ allowing him to do so….having proven NOTHING.
Al,
“What a ship of fools that was”
yes, can’t agree more. RINO central with no real intention to get to the bottom of anything, like the allegations that the ambassador was in that city to help arrange moving Libyan weapons of one type or another to anti-Assad groups in Syria. The words “Uniparty” and “Neocon” come to mind.
Al. they did get something from the Benghazi hearings. All prior hearings to the Gowdy investigation were corrupted by Clinton partisans. Fact.
The Gowdy hearing found ….. nothing …. was done by our Commander inChief on down, except to run out an exculpatory “video” ruse at 10pm that night.
No order to stand up or stand down were ever issued. Obama just left four Americans to die, rather than disclose the real mission of the Benghazi complex. That was the finding. Others might conclude this was a dereliction of duty, but that quickly got lost in the subsequent Clinton ginned-up Trump upheavals.
Still missing information: Where was Barry Soetoro between 16:00 and 22:00 on Sept 11, 2012. Perhaps with your keen insider knowledge you can finally enlighten us. Or you can check in with Obama flak Tommy Vietor to see what he can offer …even though he already claimed “dude, this was so long ago.”
As Deap pointed out…
“For those asking what does Obama have to do with this issue – more information about Obama taking 30 million official documents when he left office – many classified, – with the promise he would digitalize them which allegedly so far never happened:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/08/exclusive-national-archives-media-caught-lie-claim-obama-didnt-keep-classified-docs-evidence-shows-obama-absolutely-no-way-prove-didnt/”
Oh my! Deap (as well as others here in this blog) bought the right wing BS hook line and sinker, from the Gatewaypundent! lol
Maybe this will help Deap and others on here that have bought into the Trumpite hysteria over documents:
Trump falsely claimed Obama kept 33 million documentshttps://chicago.suntimes.com › columnists › obama-pres…
2 days ago — Trump in a Friday statement said, “President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified.
Obama Did Not Keep Classified Documentshttps://www.nytimes.com › U.S. › Politics
2 days ago — “President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.
Missing: retaining gov
Changes Made in Obama Executive Order 13526 on …https://sgp.fas.org › obama
This order prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information, including information relating to defense …
National Archives counters Trump baseless claims about …https://www.washingtonpost.com › 2022/08/12 › trump…
2 days ago — Since the FBI search of his Florida home and club this week for classified documents, Trump has asserted in social media posts that Obama …
Why Obama Was Allowed to Take White House Records but …https://www.businessinsider.com › Politics
2 days ago — Trump baselessly bashed Obama for transferring records from the White … when he took classified government records with him to Mar-a-Lago.
But then, these are mainline national media orgs countering such rags as Gatewwaypundent ..surely cover for the lefties!
Tommy, is that you again? Just asking for a friend. I am having some flashback moments here.
Deap, CAUTION: Tin foil hats cause many flashes!
Al,
Is The Daily Beast of a par with that Gateway place?
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-spy-satellite-secrets-in-hillarys-emails
If not, why not?
How’s about the WaPo?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-looks-into-security-of-clintons-private-e-mail-setup/2015/08/04/2bdd85ec-3aae-11e5-8e98-115a3cf7d7ae_story.html
Jk/AR, go to Media Bias and check those sites out:
The Gateway Pundit – Media Bias/Fact Checkhttps://mediabiasfactcheck.com › the-gateway-pundit
Detailed Report. Questionable Reasoning: Propaganda, Conspiracy, Nationalism, Some Fake News, Numerous Failed Fact Checks Bias Rating: EXTREME RIGHT
Daily Beast – Media Bias/Fact Checkhttps://mediabiasfactcheck.com › daily-beast
LEFT BIAS. These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize …
Here are couple of lefty sites:
Daily Kos – Media Bias/Fact Checkhttps://mediabiasfactcheck.com › daily-kos
Overall, we rate the Daily Kos strongly Left Biased based on story selection that almost exclusively favors the left. We also rate them Mixed for factual …
Huffington Post (HuffPost) – Media Bias/Fact Checkhttps://mediabiasfactcheck.com › huffington-post
Overall, we rate HuffPost Left-Biased based on story selection and editorial positions that favor the left. We also rate them Mixed for factual reporting due to …
Some other right wing sites:
Becker News – Media Bias/Fact Checkhttps://mediabiasfactcheck.com › becker-news
Becker News is Right Biased, conservative and Questionable with low credibility and reliability. Factual Reporting: Low – Not Credible – Not Reliable – Fake …
The Liberty Daily – Media Bias/Fact Checkhttps://mediabiasfactcheck.com › the-liberty-daily
The Liberty Daily – Questionable – Conservative – Republican – Fake News – Not Credible Factual Reporting: Mixed – Not always Credible or Reliable · QUESTIONABLE …
JK/AR, if you pull these up you will note that Media Bias lists examples of the fake/distorted stoory lines the sites put out.
Both right and left leaners, tho, do not appreciate Media Bias for pointing out the slants found in their favorite ‘news” sources.
Interesting commentary on unclassified “National Defense Information” (NDI).
Segment from Lawfare: What’s in the Unsealed Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant?
https://www.lawfareblog.com/whats-unsealed-mar-lago-search-warrant
… 18 U.S.C. § 793, part of the Espionage Act, which covers “Gathering or Transmitting Defense Information.” … 793 refers to national defense information (NDI), not classified information. While much NDI is classified, classification is not necessary for something to be NDI, and thus to fall under the scope of the Espionage Act. This is important because Trump is claiming that he declassified all the information he brought to Mar-a-Lago. Whether or not that’s true, that would not be a defense to a charge under 793 (or any of the other statutes set out in the warrant), because even unclassified NDI is still NDI.
If the documents (or photographs, apparently) retrieved under the warrant “relat[e] to the national defense,” there is good reason to believe that the mere retention of the materials constitutes a violation under Section 793(d) or (e), so long as it was willful. Given that the government apparently issued subpoenas and engaged in negotiations with Trump’s team to return the documents, it seems likely that the failure to do so is sufficient proof of willfulness. And of course there is a violation under 793(d) or (e) if the warrant uncovers evidence that the materials were willfully communicated or transmitted “to any person not entitled” to receive them.
… Presidential Records and/or governmental records created between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021. Note that this category is not limited to classified material but refers to all government records…
Trump must of forgot about the Federal court case his DOJ won for him in 2018.
As New York Times reporter Charlie Savage points out, after Trump blabbed out classified information regarding US military activities in Syria, news organizations FOI’d for documents Trump referred to as they claimed he had in the process “declassified” such. The requests were turned down and the court petitioned to have the Trump admin the alleged “declassified” docs.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-declassification/
The Trump DOJ pushed back on this, however, and successfully argued that mere presidential proclamations are insufficient to formally declassify documents.
“The Times cites no authority that stands for the proposition that the President can inadvertently declassify information and we are aware of none,” wrote the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its decision against the Times. “Because declassification, even by the President, must follow established procedures, that argument fails.”
Hmmmm, “… declassification, even by the President, must follow established procedures …” A winner in court for the Trump administration.
\
al
“declassification, even by the President, must follow established procedures” no
Col, interesting tho about how Trump’s DOJ won Fed court decision saying a President has to go through established procedures. Quite ironic.
How about the unclassified NDI docs likely in Trump’s possession being violation of law?
Al,
“inadvertently ”
LOL
The judges should have quoted the “Princess Bride” to the NYT when they used all that legalese to say: “I don’t think that word means what you think that means.”