Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

'This is insane': Watchdog group stunned by details in Mar-a-Lago search warrant



Multiple news outlets that reviewed the warrant authorizing a federal search of Mar-a-Lago reported Friday that former President Donald Trump is being investigated for potential violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and unlawful removal of government records.

"This is insane. If you're not fed up, you're not paying enough attention," tweeted the advocacy group Public Citizen in response to the Espionage Act revelation.

Some reports about the warrant and an inventory of what agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation removed from the Florida residence—including from Breitbart, Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal—came before a federal judge's 3:00 pm ET deadline for Trump's legal team to respond to a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) request to unseal the documents.

Trump made clear in social media posts and a legal filing that he did not oppose making the documents public, which led government attorneys to request that the court do so. As details of the leaked materials circulated Friday afternoon, U.S. Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the official release.

As Charlie Savage at The New York Times summarized:

The search warrant for Trump's residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified.

According to Politico, a receipt accompanying the warrant "shows that Trump possessed documents including a handwritten note; documents marked with 'TS/SCI,' which indicate one of the highest levels of government classification; and another item labeled 'Info re: President of France.'"

Details of the search warrant and inventory followed reporting by The Washington Post late Thursday that FBI agents were attempting to recover classified nuclear weapons documents from Trump's home on Monday.

Read More Here: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/12/search-warrant-shows-trump-under-investigation-for-potential-obstruction-of-justice-espionage-act-violations-00051507


Inventory shows FBI took 11 sets of classified documents out of Mar-a-Lago: report



During their search of the Donald Trump's Palm Beach resort this week, FBI agents recovered 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to "be only available in special government facilities," the Wall Street Journal reports.

Around 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump’s ally Roger Stone, were on a list of confiscated items that was reviewed by the newspaper. Also on the three-page list was information about the “President of France."

One set of documents recovered was marked, “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” which, as the Wall Street Journal points out, is an abbreviation that refers to "top-secret/sensitive compartmented information."

The search warrant states that that FBI agents wanted to search “the 45 Office,” as well as “all storage rooms and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by [the former president] and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate.”

People familiar with the matter say the search was intended to recover classified information that Trump allegedly mishandled.

Officials were poised Friday to make public a sealed warrant explaining the unprecedented raid on Trump's estate, which triggered accusations of political persecution by the former president and his supporters.

The 76-year-old Trump supported the release of the search warrant, although he has had a copy of the document for days and could have revealed its contents himself previously.

The search on Monday was believed to be focused on classified papers Trump may have removed from the White House, with one report suggesting they included documents related to nuclear weapons.

The highly unusual move to unseal the search warrant and the receipt listing the property seized by FBI agents was announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland -- the country's top law enforcement officer -- who said he had "personally approved" the dramatic raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort home.

"Release the documents now!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, as he slammed the raid on his home as a "political weaponization of law enforcement."

Andrew Weissmann, a former Justice Department official, said Garland had "called Trump's bluff" by putting the onus on the former president to object or consent to release of the document.

Read More Here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-recovered-eleven-sets-of-classified-documents-in-trump-search-inventory-shows-11660324501


Trump repeats three debunked defenses after search warrant revealed



Unable to post on Twitter following his lifetime suspension for inciting Jan. 6 violence, former President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social website to respond after The Wall Street Journal and other conservative outlets obtained copies of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant and property receipt.

"FBI agents who searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home Monday removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to be only available in special government facilities, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took around 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump’s ally Roger Stone, a list of items removed from the property shows. Also included in the list was information about the 'President of France,' according to the three-page list," the newspaper reported.

Trump responded by repeating debunked talking points.

"Number one, it was all declassified," Trump claimed.

But it has been reported that some documents concern nuclear weapons and Trump does not have the power to unilaterally declassify such documents. The second is that if the documents were still marked classified, it would still be a crime to possess them.

In its article about the search warrant, The Journal reported, "The list includes references to one set of documents marked as 'Various classified/TS/SCI documents,' an abbreviation that refers to top-secret/sensitive compartmented information. It also says agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents."

Trump also claimed the FBI "didn’t need to 'seize' anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago," Trump said, referring to a valid search warrant as a robbery.

That argument appears undermined by reporting that the DOJ served a subpoena months ago but still reportedly left with 11 sets of classified documents.

"All they had to do was ask," Trump still argued, in all capital letters.

Trump then cited former President Barack Obama.

"The bigger problem is, what are they going to do with the 33 million pages of documents, many of which are classified, that President Obama took to Chicago?" Trump asked.

But the federal government debunked Trump's conspiracy theory in a statement released Friday.

"The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) assumed exclusive legal and physical custody of Obama presidential records when President Barack Obama left office in 2017, in accordance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA)," the agency said.

"NARA moved approximately 30 million pages of unclassified records to a NARA facility in the Chicago area where they are maintained exclusively by NARA. Additionally, NARA maintains the classified Obama Presidential records in a NARA facility in the Washington, DC, area," the agency explained. "As required by the PRA, former President Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the Presidential records of his Administration."

AFP


Trump could not have unilaterally declassified nuclear secrets — here's why



While it is still not known what information the FBI seized in its search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, some of the former president's defenders have already started claiming that Trump could have simply declared all of the information he took declassified right before leaving office.

While the president does have very broad declassification powers, that defense would not hold up at all if the documents in question involved nuclear weapons.

As The Atlantic's Graeme Wood explains, American presidents cannot simply declassify nuclear-related information with the wave of a hand as they might be able to do with other classified information.

"The Atomic Energy Acts of 1946 and 1954 produced an even stranger category of classified knowledge," he writes. "Anything related to the production or use of nuclear weapons and nuclear power is inherently classified, and Trump could utter whatever words he pleased yet still be in possession of classified material."

This means that any classification related to nuclear weapons would have to go through a formal process with oversight from other agencies and not just be subject to the president's will.

"The restrictions on documents of this type are incredibly tight," Wood notes. "If Trump was keeping nuclear secrets in the storeroom of his country club, without even the benefit of a padlock, and resisted attempts to secure those secrets against infiltrators and spies, a prosecutor might reasonably take more interest."

AFP

[Rick Plant]

'It was Trump's deal!' John Bolton schools conservative Newsmax host over Afghanistan withdrawal



Ex-United States Ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Adviser John Bolton schooled Newsmax host Eric Bolling on Friday over the timeline of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.

The on-air debate erupted when Bolling insisted that the country was safer under former President Donald Trump than under President Joe Biden, with which Bolton vehemently disagreed.

"How in the world could you think that we're safer now than we were under President Trump when he was willing to put missiles into Syrian airbases with Russians on the base? What's going on here sir?" Bolling asked Bolton.

"Because he didn't understand, fundamentally, much of anything about international affairs. His decisions were not based on a coherent philosophy or coherent policy. They were erratic. Under Donald Trump, he signed a deal with the Taliban..." Bolton began saying before Bolling interrupted.

"But we were safer. He kept them on their back feet. They didn't know where he was coming from and that made us safer," said Bolling.

"No he didn't," Bolton fired back. "He cut a deal with the Taliban to withdraw from Afghanistan. Did that make us safer, Eric? Did withdrawing from Afghanistan make us safer? Right."

The discussion quickly devolved into a shouting match.

Bolling:

You know what made us less safe? Biden pulled us out of Afghanistan, 13 Americans died, and now the Taliban tells us, 'back off, don't kill al Qaeda. Are you out of your mind?

Bolton:

It was Trump's deal! Hahahahahaha. That's right. The same thing they would have done under Donald Trump. No. Who cut the deal, Eric? Who cut the deal?

Bolling:

Who delivered the deal? Biden delivered the deal.

Bolton:

Eric, you don't know what you're talking about. He wanted everybody out, he cut a deal to do exactly that.

Bolling:

Anyone who disagrees with you doesn't know what they're talking about,"

Bolton:

You don't!

Bolling:

Trump said leave 2,500 there until we have a smooth transition of power.

Bolton:

He did not! Look, he said that after he cut the deal. The deal cut us down to zero. That's what Trump wanted. He wanted everybody out. The record on that is completely clear.

Bolling:

Over time! Biden pulled them out while Americans were still there.

Bolton:

No. Read the deal, Eric. Have you ever read the deal?

Bolling:

Oh stop.

Bolton:

Yeah I know you gotta go before you're embarrassed even further.

Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski

When John Bolton says on Newsmax that we are safer under Biden then we would have been under Trump, the host loses his mind and they have an epic battle. I know people hate Bolton, but this is fantastic - he debunks every fake narrative they created about his foreign policy.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1558106666788339718

[Rick Plant]

Trump under investigation for Espionage Act violations, FBI search warrant reveals

A U.S. federal judge unsealed the search warrant used on former U.S. president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The Justice Department revealed a brief list of what FBI agents seized, which included 20 boxes of papers that could violate U.S. espionage laws.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Trump stuck taxpayers with $150K bill for 'clearly illegal' Fox News event at Lincoln Memorial: report



According to a report from the Washington Post, based on documents obtained by a watchdog group, a Donald Trump town hall event held in the chamber of the Lincoln Memorial cost taxpayers approximately $150k or more with critics also calling the use of the space "clearly illegal."

At issue was a Trump interview with Fox news personalities Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum on May, 30, 2020 that was supposed to be held on the steps of the venerable memorial but was moved inside despite federal regulations banning such use.

As the Post's Jonathan O'Connell, wrote, "In the spring of 2020, National Park Service personnel were preparing for an event President Donald Trump was holding with Fox News to address the nascent covid-19 pandemic from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, site of historic protests and inaugural concerts. But, first, they had to brief Trump on the plans."

As the report notes, the former president's involvement led his handpicked interior secretary David Bernhardt to overrule federal regulations and approve moving the event.

According to documents and emails acquired by Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, the executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice, the president's demand set off chaos the night before as changes had to made that resulted in a U.S. Secret Service official apologizing "... to colleagues for the planning process, calling it a '$#!t show.'"

"The email is among hundreds of pages of newly released government documents that help fill in the picture of how officials from multiple government agencies worked to engineer the event at the Lincoln, one of the many norm-defying moments of the Trump presidency. They show that the Park Service provided security personnel at a cost of nearly $150,000," the report states. "All presidents use national parks as backdrops for photo opportunities and promotional events, said Kristen Brengel of the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit organization that works to protect the national park system... But, by siting the town hall inside the memorial, with Fox News, Brengel said, the Trump administration held an event in defiance of federal regulations in a space that is hallowed ground to many Americans."

“This wasn’t a national emergency to do an event inside the Lincoln Memorial. This was the commercial use of a park site in the middle of a pandemic,” Brengel explained.

Verheyden-Hilliard shot down Bernhardt's "record of determination" approving the use, stating, "All they are really doing is putting window dressing on something that is clearly illegal.”

The report also notes that there was some damage to the American landmark, stating, "A Park Service memo after the event said the production crew had 'generally followed previously agreed to requirements.' But it also said: 'Inside the Lincoln Chamber there are several scratches and gouges on the flooring. Photo documentation taken and referred to the park’s senior management.'"

Read More Here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/08/13/trump-lincoln-memorial-fox-town-hall/

[Jerry Freeman]

According to a report from the Washington Post, based on documents obtained by a watchdog group, a Donald Trump town hall event held in the chamber of the Lincoln Memorial cost taxpayers approximately $150k or more with critics also calling the use of the space "clearly illegal."

Another vague squawk made by some anonymous flock [calling themselves 'watchdogs'... arf arf patrol] to the most liberal rag in the world.
Please      
How much are they charging for this one sided Jan 6 inquisition?
By the way...I am not a Republican.

[Rick Plant]

Trump's Mar-a-Lago, a security 'nightmare' that housed classified documents



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The seizure of classified U.S. government documents from Donald Trump's sprawling Mar-a-Lago retreat spotlights the ongoing national security concerns presented by the former president, and the home he dubbed the Winter White House, some security experts say.

Trump is under federal investigation for possible violations of the Espionage Act, which makes it unlawful to spy for another country or mishandle U.S. defense information, including sharing it with people not authorized to receive it, a search warrant shows.

As president, Trump sometimes shared information, regardless of its sensitivity. Early in his presidency, he spontaneously gave highly classified information to Russia’s foreign minister about a planned Islamic State operation while he was in the Oval Office, U.S. officials said at the time.

But it was at Mar-a-Lago, where well-heeled members and people attended weddings and fundraising dinners frolic on a breezy ocean patio, that U.S. intelligence seemed especially at risk. While Secret Service provided physical security for the venue while Trump was president and afterward, they are not responsible for vetting guests or members.

The Justice Department’s search warrant raises concerns about national security, said former DOJ official Mary McCord.

“Clearly they thought it was very serious to get these materials back into secured space,” McCord said. "Even just retention of highly classified documents in improper storage - particularly given Mar-a-Lago, the foreign visitors there and others who might have connections with foreign governments and foreign agents - creates a significant national security threat."

Trump, in a statement on his social media platform, said the records were "all declassified" and placed in "secure storage."

McCord said, however, she saw no "plausible argument that he had made a conscious decision about each one of these to declassify them before he left.” After leaving office, she said, he did not have the power to declassify information.

Monday's seizure by FBI agents of multiple sets of documents and dozens of boxes, including information about U.S. defense and a reference to the "French President," poses a frightening scenario for intelligence professionals.

"It's a nightmarish environment for a careful handling of highly classified information," said a former U.S. intelligence officer. "It's just a nightmare."

The DOJ hasn't provided specific information about how or where the documents and photos had been stored, but the club's general vulnerabilities have been well documented.

In a high profile example, Trump huddled in 2017 with Japan's then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at an outdoor dinner table while guests hovered nearby, listening and taking photos that they later posted on Twitter.

The dinner was disrupted by a North Korean missile test, and guests listened as Trump and Abe figured out what to say in response. After issuing a statement, Trump dropped by a wedding party at the club.

"What we saw was Trump be so lax in security that he was having a sensitive meeting regarding a potential war topic where non-U.S. government personnel could observe and photograph," said Mark Zaid, a lawyer who specializes in national security cases. "It would have been easy for someone to also have had a device that heard and recorded what Trump was saying as well."

White House aides did set up a secure room at Mar-a-Lago for sensitive discussions. That was where Trump decided to launch airstrikes against Syria for the use of chemical weapons in April 2017.

The decision made, Trump repaired to dinner with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping. Over a dessert of chocolate cake, Trump informed Xi about the airstrikes.

In 2019, a Chinese woman who passed security checkpoints at the club carrying a thumb drive coded with “malicious” software was arrested for entering a restricted property and making false statements to officials, authorities said at the time.

Then-White House chief of staff John Kelly launched an effort to try to limit who had access to Trump at Mar-a-Lago, but the effort fizzled when Trump refused to cooperate, aides said at the time.

© Reuters

[Rick Plant]

Trump's Mar-a-Lago search woes 'seem to have come from his legal team': Guardian reporter



Appearing on MSNBC on Saturday afternoon, Guardian congressional correspondent Hugo Lowell offered an alternative explanation over how FBI agents knew what to look for when they showed up at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this week to take into custody multiple boxes of documents stolen from the federal government.

Speaking with host Alex Witt, Lowell was asked about the possibility that there is an FBI informant in the former president's inner circle who has been assisting the Department of Justice.

"Have you heard anything that validates speculation that there might be an informant within the Trump ranks?" host Witt asked.

"I've certainly heard that Trump world is very much wary of the fact that there may be an informant," Lowell responded. "And certainly there have been a number of people who have left Mar-a-Lago and the Trump team in recent months -- that's what's feeding the speculation."

"But you know, according to the New York Times today, and also our own reporting from this week, a lot of this has come from the Trump lawyers themselves," Lowell pointed out. "I mean the Times reporting that one of Trump's lawyers signed a document that said they've turned over all of that material and we heard as early as Tuesday that the Justice Department grew concerned about that classified material at Mar-a-Lago as a result of interactions with the Trump's lawyers."

"So a lot of this seems to have come from Trump's legal team, " he suggested.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Meanwhile on Russian TV they are once again bragging that Trump works for them, and gave them high level US secrets. And morons still want to make the claim there was "no Russian collusion".

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews

Meanwhile in Russia: Putin's mouthpieces on state TV are taunting America about "Top Secret" documents sought during the raid of Trump's estate, which they claim had to do with the newest nuclear weapons developed by the US and gleefully imply that Moscow already got to see them.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1558289365004128264