Far-Right Extremists Are Violently Threatening the Trump Search-Warrant Judgehttps://www.vice.com/en/article/dy73pk/fbi-warrant-judge-reinhart-doxxedHere's the 'near-identical script' Republicans are using to reframe Trump investigation as a war on America
On Wednesday, People Magazine published an analysis of the "near-identical scripts" of talking points Republicans are using in the wake of the FBI search warrant at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach, Florida — and how it is all designed to deflect any possibility the investigation is legitimate and frame it as tyranny or a war on America.
"A number of talking points are being echoed in far-right groups following news that Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home was visited by FBI agents executing a federal search warrant on Monday," said the report. "Some Republican officials, as well as conservative outlets like Fox News, are offering up near-identical descriptions of the search."
Among the phrases commonly used are "banana republic," used by politicians like Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO); "civil war," used by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and a flood of Trump supporters on social media; "Department of Injustice," also used by Boebert; the idea that the FBI search warrant was a "raid," used by Greene and in fundraising emails by the Republican National Committee; and the idea that the FBI is President Joe Biden's "Gestapo," used by Boebert, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), and Steve Bannon.
In reality, the warrant — part of an investigation into classified documents that were improperly removed as Trump and his allies departed the White House — was independently approved by a federal magistrate judge, and there is no evidence Biden even had knowledge of it.
Trump himself has lashed out at the probe, calling it "political targeting at the highest level" and a "Witch Hunt" — identical language that he used to disparage the Mueller investigation and both impeachment investigations.
Notably, Trump and his officials are also refusing to release a copy of the FBI's warrant, which — while it likely wouldn't reveal all the details of why the FBI is investigating him — would at least give more insight into what the FBI was searching for.
Read More Here: https://people.com/politics/unpacking-far-right-terminology-aiming-to-discredit-federal-investigation-into-trump/Trump 'has a snitch in his midst' who led the FBI to the documents: Watergate prosecutor
On Wednesday's edition of MSNBC's "The ReidOut," Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman analyzed the fear among allies of former President Donald Trump that a "snitch" might be cooperating with the FBI.
This comes amid an FBI search warrant being executed at Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach, Florida — which has led to an explosion of fury from Republican lawmakers and pundits, and has rank and file Trump supporters calling for civil war.
"Nick, one of the things that you're hearing from Trump world is that somebody ratted us out, right? There's a leak," said anchor Jason Johnson. "It means that somebody there is incentivized to tell the FBI hey, look, it's in the kitchen behind the knife, behind, you know, the statue, etcetera, etcetera. do you think the FBI's ability to go in and out fairly quickly and obtain these boxes was because they had a pretty good idea where they were to begin with because they had to get documentation before, or do you really think that somebody in Trump world perhaps under investigation for some other reason gave them this information and said, hey, if you turn left when you go to the second bathroom, I think you'll be interested in what you find under the cover?"
"Oh, I think somebody in Trump's world did give them information," said Akerman. "I mean, not only do you need probable cause that a crime was committed, you need probable cause that the evidence of the crime exists in Mar-a-Lago, and it has to be recent ... you know, this whole business with classified documents, we don't really know if that's what this was all about because the source on all of this are the Donald Trump people who were at Mar-a-Lago. I mean, this is not government sources."
"Certainly there had to be somebody who was an insider that basically directed the FBI agents as to where this was in order for this information not to be stated," continued Akerman. "It's got to be in the last 30 days, so Donald Trump probably does have a snitch in hits midst, and what we really don't know is what exactly they were looking for and what it is they seized. Now, Donald Trump has the ability to clear this up pretty quickly by turning over to the public the search warrant. That would give us the details of what they were looking for and where they were looking for it because where they were looking for it, if they knew it was in the safe. You don't put classified documents you're trying to steal, necessarily, in a safe. There are all kinds of things he could be using, and putting in the safe, and he also has the inventory of everything that was taken."
"If we had that information, we'd have a much better idea of what is going on, what was taken, why the search was done and what the purpose of it was," said Akerman. "I mean, all of this other stuff is exactly what the Trump people have been doing over the last year about claiming that the elect was stolen. It's the same nonsense that we've been listening to for the last four years."
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