The very heavily redacted affidavit that the FBI used to secure a warrant to search President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence has been made public. What will be the outcome?
- Not much. President Trump won’t be indicted for anything found in the search or otherwise related to it.
- President Trump will be indicted on charges related to the search.
- Procedural and/or legal flaws in the issuing of the warrant and the subsequent search will cause any charges brought on Trump to be dismissed.
or maybe something else.
What’s that old saying,â€you can indict a ham sandwich,†or something paraphrased like that?
So much drama has swirled around this Mar-a-Lago raid, an act that has no historical precedent, that the DOJ/FBI can do nothing but bring an indictment against Trump, or else the raid will be viewed as politically-motivated, with no merit behind it. Given the falseness of the Russia investigation, these government entities cannot afford another baseless “witch hunt,†at least one that is perceived as such by “voters.†After all, this whole endless harassment of Trump, for 6 years, has been mostly about discrediting and forcing him off the national stage. Comparing him with all the corruption and trash in the Biden Family closet, while these people still remain untouched by well-deserved indictments and impeachment proceedings, is only demonstrable proof of how unequal our justice system has become, when dealing with each of the two parties.
Mike Davis, who clerked under Gorsch, lays out all the legal reasons and rulings why there is no “there†there behind this unfounded raid. However, he also predicts an indictment coming because of the lawlessness now permeating the justice department, giving them no ethical stop signs to give up their unsubstantiated pursuit of Trump.
Peter Turchin, the economic historian at UConn, has a economic/demographic model that predicts extreme political discord in the US in the 2020’s. His model says political hatreds are at their highest since 1859. I hope he’s wrong. I lived through the assassinations and riots of the 1960’s, and I don’t want to see that again.
But the neocons running the so-called Biden administration are provocateurs in the extreme. They instigated Russia’s war with Ukraine. They are trying to instigate a Chinese-Taiwanese war. So, I expect them to indict and arrest Trump, and make him do a perp walk. If (when) they do, I expect a violent reaction from some of the MAGA people.
Jan: Mike Davis, who clerked under Gorsch, lays out all the legal reasons and rulings why there is no “there†there behind this unfounded raid.
His reasoning is specious.
While the courts have granted the president discretion under the law, that discretion is not absolute. In particular, if the documents are relating to national security, then they are clearly government records, not personal records. If they were once classified, then they are almost certainly government records, not personal records. And, if they are government documents, they should have been surrendered to the Archivist of the United States.
Incidentally, if Trump says they are protected by executive privilege, then they are clearly government records, and he is admitting to improperly withholding government records.
There is no record of Trump declassifying the documents, which is an administrative act. But even if Trump magically declassified them by muttering to himself on the toilet, then it still doesn’t matter. The statutes in question don’t require classification. If the information in the documents is relating to the national security, they are government records that fall under the Espionage Act, and Citizen Trump has no right to retain those documents, or to show them to other people.
See that the Internet School of Law has been in session.
Regardless, in time, folks will will cheer when their candidate is elected and cheer just as loud when he does a perp walk.
What I’ve heard multiple times by multiple people, in the know, due to the markings revealed in the heavily redacted affidavit, the docs in question most likely involve the documented deception contained in the project Hurricane and Russiagate docs. These docs were declassified by Trump before leaving office – something every president has the unchallenged right to do — and directed by him to be publicly released. The intelligence agencies hedged, and ultimately didn’t follow Trump’s directive. Also, markings on the docs indicated no nuclear secrets were part of the trove recovered by the FBI.
Even considering the Espionage Act to be triggered is an over reactive thought – although when it comes to the Biden Administration and their desperation to get Trump, even it means taking down the country, anything is possible!
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/fbis-former-intel-chief-raid-trump-home-i-think-they-are-going
Of importance, what was pointed out in the above link, is that the affidavits
pointed out Trump’s right to declassify docs, and that the â€disputed docs†were not necessarily classified, but only had classified markings on them. So, it appears there was no real reasonable cause to invade and ransack a president’s residence with no real knowledge whether or not these docs had already been declassified.
This raid really puts the DOJ and FBI in a bad, untrustworthy light – worse than they were in prior to this fiasco.
Ever since the PRA every POTUS has had the archives go through their papers to see what they could take and not take. As has been noted many times papers were not stored safely and the archives has been asking to have ht papers back for many months to verify they were OK to leave. (There are some records a POTUS cannot declassify just to be clear.) If they give them back to be cleared they would be giving back stuff they know they are giving back and they would know the contents so Trump doesnt really lose anything.
While it looks overwhelmingly like he broke the law, and has certainly engaged in unethical behavior, I dont expect charges. I think the unwritten rule that a former president cant be touched will hold.
Steve
Jan: the docs in question most likely involve the documented deception contained in the project Hurricane and Russiagate docs
Very unlikely. But if you have evidence of that, please provide it.
Jan: These docs were declassified by Trump before leaving office – something every president has the unchallenged right to do — and directed by him to be publicly released.
The day before he left office, Trump directed the attorney general to make redactions before releasing the documents. The next day, a new president too office. Trump can’t bind the new president.
Jan: Even considering the Espionage Act to be triggered
Classification doesn’t matter, except as evidence to the possessor that the documents might contain information relating to the national defense. If Trump knew he was in possession of documents relating to the national defense, then he could be charged under the Espionage Act.
And now, for something completely different:
FIRST TEXT MESSAGE:
Hi, Morris. This is Saul, next door. I’ve been riddled with guilt for a few months and have been trying to get up the courage to tell you face-to-face. When you’re not around, I’ve been sharing your wife, day and night, probably much more than you. I haven’t been getting it at home recently. I know that’s no excuse. The temptation was just too great. I can’t live with the guilt & hope you’ll accept my sincere apology and forgive me. Please suggest a fee for usage and I’ll pay you.
– Saul.
Morris, feeling enraged and betrayed, grabbed his gun, went next door, and shot Saul dead. He returned home, shot his wife, poured himself a stiff drink and sat down on the sofa. Morris then looked at his phone and discovered a second text message from Saul.
SECOND TEXT MESSAGE:
Hi, Morris. Saul here again. Sorry about the typo on my last text. I assume you figured it out and noticed that the darned Spell-Check had changed “wi-fi” to “wife.” Technology, hey? It’ll be the death of us.
Nice! I will steal that one. Youngsters nowadays dont tell jokes, just watch YouTubes.
Steve