Feds raid Mar a Lago - All things Trump

??? He's right wing so he's confusing....I know he was a never trumper who changed sides.

So is he saying trump didnt do it or that trump was too stupid to even cover it up properly?
 
Trump is well and truly fucked. First off, there's this:

www.cnn.com

Justice Department says classified documents at Mar-a-Lago were likely 'concealed and removed' to block investigation

More than 320 classified documents have now been recovered from Mar-a-Lago, the Justice Department said
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

Where we see this picture the FBI took:

1661942017082.png

And then, this morning, we have Bradley P. Moss, Esquire, break it all down for us:

I have read the entire Government filing. I spend all day, every day, litigating against the Government, so some of this is familiar stuff to see. This particular brief is very well-done. Here are the highlights:
  1. The facts. NARA negotiated in 2021 for the missing records. They finally got 15 boxes. After going through them and finding all kinds of classified records (not organized at all), they raised the alarm. They wanted to make a referral to the FBI but had to first consult with Trump's team, per the PRA procedure. Trump's team delayed for weeks and weeks, and never substantively responded. Finally, NARA told Trump's team they were making the referral and rejected the "protective" assertion of Executive Privilege.
  2. At no time did Trump's legal team file an action *at that point* to prevent the referral to FBI.
  3. The FBI reviewed the records and the criminal inquiry was opened. A grand jury subpoena was issued to Trump's team. Again, they delayed and delayed in complying. Finally, in early June they agreed to a meeting at MAL to comply. They turned over more classified records, and swore out a statement that they had done a diligent search, they had not found any more classified records, and any records that remained were in the storage room. They refused to let the FBI agents look at the boxes in the storage room.
  4. The FBI gathered new evidence that there were in fact more classified records at MAL, including in locations outside of the storage room. They got the search warrant and found approximately 100 additional classified records, some located in Trump's own office.
  5. That is straight up obstruction and concealment of classified records, and willfully retaining them in an unauthorized location.
  6. Now come the legal arguments. First, DOJ says Trump lacks standing. The records are not his: they are the property of the US. Even if he wanted to claim them as personal records, he never did so. He did not do so in 2021, he did not do so when subpoenaed, he never did it. He has no possessory interest in the records.
  7. Second, they argue Trump is not entitled to any injunctive relief. Again, these are not his records, he waited way too long to even try to stop the FBI from getting the records, he's not entitled to relief given Executive Privilege would not apply, and even if it did the criminal investigative need outweighs it.
  8. Third, the Special Master is moot. The A/C privilege records were already separated and are set to be evaluated by the magistrate. The records Trump claims are covered by EP are not his anyway, and the Nixon precedents make clear he cannot invoke it to override the need to conduct a criminal investigation.
  9. To sum it up, Trump took PLAINLY MARKED classified records to MAL, he delayed, obstructed and resisted Government efforts to recover them, he (or his staff) concealed the records from investigators, and they got caught doing so.

Source:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1564825192865611777
 
Two interesting developments. First, there's this:

www.cnn.com

After Mar-a-Lago search, Meadows turns over more texts and emails to Archives

Within a week of the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows handed over texts and emails to the National Archives that he had not previously turned over from his time in the administration, sources familiar with the matter...
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

Within a week of the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows handed over texts and emails to the National Archives that he had not previously turned over from his time in the administration, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.​
​
Meadows' submission to the Archives was part of a request for all electronic communications covered under the Presidential Records Act. The Archives had become aware earlier this year it did not have everything from Meadows after seeing what he had turned over to the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. Details of Meadows' submissions to the Archives and the engagement between the two sides have not been previously reported.​

Then, there's this:

www.cnn.com

William Barr, on Fox, says there's no legitimate reason for classified docs to be at Mar-a-Lago

"People say this [raid] was unprecedented -- well, it's also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club"
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

Former Attorney General William Barr appeared on Fox News on Friday to say there is no "legitimate reason" for classified documents to have been at Mar-a-Lago and cast doubt in the idea that they had somehow been declassified.​
​
"No. I can't think of a legitimate reason why they should have been -- could be taken out of government, away from the government if they are classified," Barr said of the documents found at former President Donald Trump's Florida resort.​
"I, frankly, am skeptical of the claim that [Trump] declassified everything," Barr added.​
​
"Because frankly, I think it's highly improbable, and second, if in fact he sort of stood over scores of boxes, not really knowing what was in them and said 'I hereby declassify everything in here,' that would be such an abuse and that shows such recklessness, it's almost worse than taking the documents," he said.​

I can think of two possibilities for this to happen at the same time:
  1. Their consciences have gotten the better of them, which isn't very likely and I don't believe is the case.
  2. They're afraid they're going to be charged as co-conspirators, so they're doing everything they can to preempt the DOJ charging them by fully cooperating.
 
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