America: “The Jan. 6 committee’s findings might be the thing that finally leads to criminal charges for Trump.”
Merrick Garland: “Guess what, motherfucker”
Try to imagine yourself in the Post-Trump Period.
You get your first look at this "Merrick Garland" as you enter a clearing. He moves like a bird, lightly, bobbing his head. And you keep still because you think that maybe his visual acuity is based on movement like Mueller - he'll lose you if you don't move.
But no, not Merrick Garland. You stare at him, and he just stares right back. And that's when the attack comes. Not from the front, but from the side, from the other two treasonous felonies you didn't even know were there.
Because Garland’s a pack hunter, you see, he uses coordinated attack patterns and he is out in force today. And he slashes at you with this... *produces FBI Warrant*
I’m baked so I thought that was this:
He's following you, about 30 feet back
He gets down on all fours and breaks into a sprint
He's gaining on you
Merrick Garland
Since this is the current refrain, reminder on the following:
1. The president CANNOT declassify documents relating to anything involving nuclear arms and technology.
2. Declassified documents are still government property and CANNOT be taken home.
also, there is a process for declassification, with an audit trail. The president doesn't get to just shout "I DECLARE THESE DECLASSIFIED"
also, ex-presidents can't declassify documents, so if they were classified when he left, it's been illegal this entire time.
[https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1558168029766328320](https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1558168029766328320)
>Hold on, Breitbart just put out the names of the FBI agents who did the search? Are you kidding me? And presumably Breitbart got leaked this search warrant from Trump, unredacted?
>
>Wow good luck to those agents & their families. Sheesh the right don’t give a damn about ‘the blue’.
[Salon article](https://www.salon.com/2022/08/12/released-search-warrant-reveals-suspected-of-violating-espionage-act/)
>\[Breitbart\] also included the names of the individual FBI agents involved in the search. The court issued release of the warrant, which was approved Friday afternoon, redacts that sensitive information.
Team Trump just put a target on the backs of the agents and their families.
These same chuckle fucks (who cheer on police when they gun down people of color) are about to find out that police (particularly FBI agents) will have zero compunctions with gunning them down too if threatened.
Right. And those FBI guys and gals don’t fuck around. Nor do any of the other plethora of alphabet agencies that are going to summarily and permanently handle these traitorous taints
The request to unseal the warrant that was submitted to the court by the DOJ mentioned that the names of the agents involved would be redacted if the warrant was released, so Trump's lawyers can't claim they "didn't know" it was important.
It's pure maliciousness.
Not surprising.
PSA: Just a general reminder that Breitbart, known for its lack of standards, conspiracy-mongering, and bigotry-based articles, is an alt-right site (as proclaimed by its former executive chairman Steve Bannon circa 2016), not merely a “conservative” or “right-wing” site as often described by some news outlets.
“Alt-right” being a term coined by infamous neo-Nazi and anti-Semite Richard Spencer (of ‘punching Nazis’ and ‘Hitler salute’ fame, whose protégé, Stephen Miller, is best known for his cruelty-is-the-point immigration policies and sharing neo-Nazi literature among Trump’s White House employees) a rebranding for white nationalists to mainstream their ideas.
It’s basically the less in-your-face Daily Stormer for people who aren’t ready to accept the Nazi or white supremacist/nationalist/whatever label yet. Just in case anyone has gotten fuzzy about it.
So brown shirt-like stochastic terrorism is 100% in their wheelhouse.
[Link to the warrant listing all documents seized](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.617854/gov.uscourts.flsd.617854.17.0_10.pdf)
He has an executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone and a folder labeled “FrenchPresident”.
Weird.
*edit*
Follow up question: why would the FBI use ambiguous names for practically everything but these 2 pieces?
That typo on item 28A must be driving whoever did it crazy. Almost made it to the end of writing up a document that will certainly be in history books, and they boffed it on the last line.
For all those saying he declassified documents:
1. Declassification is a process that requires re-issuance of documents without classification markings. Anything with classification markings is still, by definition, classified. This cannot be retroactive, removal of docs can only occur after classification has been altered.
2. Even the president may not alter classification on certain materials. Specifically documents pertaining to nuclear secrets and intelligence sources.
3. TS/SCI documents may not just be removed from a SCIF. Period. There is an exhaustive process involved.
They act like the President can just declare something declassified like Michael Scott 'declaring' bankruptcy, and it shows just how deluded they are. They're grasping at any kind of straw to make this okay in their minds.
Meanwhile, while ignoring if he _can_ do so, none of them are discussing _should_ he have done so. Even if a President _can_ so simply declassify materials, are they really okay with Trump grabbing boxfulls of Top Secret / SCI documents and taking them to his clubhouse? What do they think he's intending to do with them? Read them to reminisce?
>[CNN analyst says the intel Trump stole are so sensitive that FBI agents will begin FINGER PRINTING each document to find out who actually touched them.](https://twitter.com/BrianDMcBride/status/1558203639176564736)
That's, uh, a pretty fucking big deal if it turns out to be accurate
Jared's and Don Jnr's dirty prints will be all over this stuff.
And the best part is there is no legitimate reason whatsoever for them to be there. Lots of fifths will be pled that day.
"The documents were planted by the FBI!"
"The documents were declassified!"
"Obama took lots of classified documents too!"
He's basically throwing shit at the wall at this point hoping something will stick.
It’s absolutely bonkers that a few days ago we were speculating which of the many crimes of the former President were the reason for the raid. [Turns out there’s also a brand new extremely serious crime that we weren’t aware he committed.](https://twitter.com/frankfigliuzzi1/status/1558177631736135680?s=21&t=4o6snVnn3aFebxo-1bDDyg)
What a bizarre timeline.
With all these nuclear secrets rumours swirling around, I'd like to remind everyone of one of the many scandals the nation seems to have just... forgotten about. Specifically that [members of Trump's administration and family were attempting to secretly sell nuclear secrets to the Saudi's during Trump's presidency](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/23/trump-cronies-secret-talks-nuclear-tech-saudi-arabia).
Edit: the same Saudis that ~~were at Mar-a-lago recently~~ were at a Trump golf course recently (it might have been the NJ course), by the way...
You mean the Saudis that just inexplicably hosted their first golf tournament at Trump’s golf course and paid Kushner 2billion?
Those Saudis sure love golf.
$2 billion investment to Jared and untold millions of dollars to trump via his hotels and the LIV golf league playing on trump courses.
Classic case of espionage. Sell state secrets for personal enrichment.
A good quote from the Youtuber Beau of the Fifth Column:
> If you choose to stand behind this man politically after this, you never get to talk about supporting the troops again.
>
> Because you're putting them at risk.
>
> You never get to talk about wanting a strong country again.
>
> Because you're weakening it.
>
> You never get to talk about how diversity training is weakening the military.
>
> Because nothing weakens it more than not being able to protect it's secrets.
It's important to note as Trump moves the goalposts to say he declassified every classified document seized by the FBI, the president does NOT have the ability to declassify documents that are classified by statute (like nuclear secrets and identification of intelligence operatives): [https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/trump-fbi-raid-classified-nuclear-documents/671119/](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/trump-fbi-raid-classified-nuclear-documents/671119/)
So if Trump was in possession of classified documents related to nuclear weapons as the FBI suspected according to the Washington Post report ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/11/garland-trump-mar-a-lago/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/11/garland-trump-mar-a-lago/)), he had no authority to declassify them even as president. We do not yet know if the FBI seized any documents that fit that description.
Others have noted that the espionage statutes listed in the warrant do not explicitly require classified information in order to bring charges. "The Espionage Act predates the classification system and thus references not classified information, but 'national defense information.'"([https://www.rightsanddissent.org/news/house-rules-committee-espionage-act-whistleblowers-journalists/](https://www.rightsanddissent.org/news/house-rules-committee-espionage-act-whistleblowers-journalists/))
\*\*\*Edited to include additional info and to fix formatting
Original Comment: [https://imgur.com/a/XSnBmWd](https://imgur.com/a/XSnBmWd)
In addition, for the info a president can declassify, there is a procedure that must be followed and documented. You can't declassify stuff like Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy.
Yep. That’s the catch. First of all he would have had to follow procedure but the big reason for that procedure is that it then allows that document to be accessible by the public. You can’t take something classified, and the declassify it so that only you can see it. Doesn’t work that way.
Saying he declassified it will serve only one real purpose - adding talking points to his base. They don't notice and/or don't care that the goalposts continue to move. They don't care about truth.
It is all about setting up the narrative.
They could even be **lawfully** in your possession! If the government asks for you to return information regarding national defense (regardless of unclassified or classified) and you don't, that's a violation of 18 USC § 793 (d):
>Whoever, **lawfully having possession of**, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or **willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it**.... Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both
And the FBI and national archives did ask for them back multiple times.
This is just the shit he's still holding 1.5 years after leaving office. What did he leverage/sell for the 4 years he had unquestioned, unfettered access?
The DOJ isn't going to put ***violations of the Espionage Act*** on a warrant served to the former President of the United States if the case isn't already solid.
You're not wrong, but this is also a guy who has at least 22 credible sexual assault allegations against him, had several secret, no-witness meetings with Putin, defended Putin over his own intel agencies on live TV, and led an attack on the U.S. capitol building on live TV and is still in vacation-land. You can understand why some are skeptical.
And god-only-knows how many other tax evasion, money laundering, and campaign law violations they know about on him that haven't been brought to light.
You know I am not even feeling any level of satisfaction with this thing. It scares the heck out of me that he did this and what he might have done with our security. It bothers me that the GOP is looking for excuses instead of real answers.
It isn't a celebration. Its a disaster and betrayal of every thing American. May the name Trump and his close family which supported all this live in shame.
Let justice be swift and clear.
I only had a Secret and would have been in trouble if I took a code book for the Stinger missile I used. It is amazing to me that given he had nuclear secrets that any conservative is defending him.
EDIT: Reality Winner took one document and served four years.
Come on! You know as well as I do the first thing that happens when you get your clearance is they set you in front of a SIPRNET computer and tell you to just ‘go nuts!’.
The secret war between the Mole Men and Lizard People was fascinating.
At the highest level clearance they take you down to the Alien Room and you get to pick one of the aliens and they'll kill it and cook it for you right there any way you want.
Reminder: The National Archive (edit: quietly) demanded the return of [White House records in February](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/07/national-archives-retrieved-15-boxes-of-trump-white-house-documents-from-mar-a-lago.html), which by law must go to the archives. Trump turned over 15 boxes but it was suspected he kept some. So in June [they subpoenaed him](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-received-subpoena-spring-documents-turned-investigators/story?id=88252177) for remaining documents, but he ignored it.
This is not out of nowhere. This is not a political hit. They tried to recover sensitive documents without incident, but Trump refused. This could have been avoided.
Now the DOJ says the 11 sets of classified documents include some marked Top Secret, indicating probable cause to charge Trump with [violation of the Espionage Act.](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-nuclear-weapons-issue-is-hoax-after-washington-post-report-2022-08-12/)
If true, this is bigger than Nixon. Trump would go to prison.
>ESPN Age Act
I would have to agree with her on that one.
When they had Lou Holtz on for college football analysis, I always thought he must've been over 90 years old.
* The fact that the FBI resorted to execute the search warrant in light of the political fallout implies that the **evidence and urgency must be overwhelming**
* All other **means of obtaining the requested documents quietly, e.g. via legal councils were exhausted**, forcing the FBI to intervene
* Applying for and executing the warrant **personally approved** by Merrick Garland, he himself had previously issued a memo requiring his personal approval of investigations into the former president
* There was **probable cause and enough evidence of a crime for a federal judge to grant the warrant**
* The **top-level classified nature** of these documents also entails that there is essentially **zero chance that these inadvertently got mixed up** with other records such as diplomatic letters or gifts (the former president does not give the impression of an avid reader in the interest of national security)
* 15 boxes with records were previously retrieved by the National Archives, meaning that the **remaining material was willfully withheld**
* The storage areas for these document are **woefully negligent**
* This raises suspicions with regards to the **motivations behind taking and retaining these documents**, especially in light of billion-dollar investments into Jared Kushner's business or recent Golf tournaments hosted at the scene. It is **highly disturbing to entertain the possibility that access to these documents was up for sale or a return on favors** for foreign influences with nefarious intentions
As a government records manager, this blows my freaking mind. NARA does not fuck around. If I accidentally mishandle an organizational document, my ass is grass. Much less top secret docs, stored in an unsecured, private residence.
>meaning the remaining material was willfully withheld
I don't think it's possible to to interpret this fact as anything other than intent to violate the law.
Conservatives are downvoting brietbart and fox in their own safe space right now. It's hilarious to see how either insane or disengaged they are today.
That breitbart article that literally leaked the warrant current is 30% up voted with no comments!
Pure insanity!
Remember the backlash for Fox News when they simply announced Biden won the election? Their base lives in an alternate reality and they know it, being truthful about what's going on will cause the network and the republican party too much backlash.
They will deflect and lie into their graves.
Jared just got two BILLION from the Saudis. And for what? His investment expertise? The little shit has a history of absolutely atrocious investments. So what DID he provide them? And is it really just a funnel to his father-in-law?
I agree. It used to be kind of funny and now it's deeply disturbing. I can't wrap my head around it, how did THIS man get this many people to want to literally die for him?
>[The day after a Trump supporter tried to kill FBI agents, Trump leaked the names of FBI agents who served his warrant to Breitbart and Breitbart published it.](https://twitter.com/badler/status/1558191892059377666)
'Nuff said.
Lol he is under criminal investigation for
1. Violating the Espionage Act
2. Obstruction of Justice
3. Criminal handling of government records.
- 1 set of records was marked Top Secret/SCI
- 3 sets were marked Top Secret
- 4 sets were marked Secret
- 3 sets were marked confidential.
Some of the sets allegedly contained information on nuclear capabilities.
Trump is FUCKED
The real question is: Are WE fucked? If these documents are as top secret as we think they are, and Trump has already sold some of the information to countries like Russia or Saudi Arabia, what does that mean for us?
>2A- Various classified/TS/SCI documents.
That stands for Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information. By definition, this is information that would cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if it were leaked and likely reveals our intelligence collection sources.
r/conservative in full denial mode. "But her emails", right? "But Hunter's laptop." "But but but but but but but".
I feel so vindicated. Conservatives in power who supported this shit are traitors. Them and Trump deserve a traitor's fate.
Just checked out that sub, every comment goes like this.
“If it’s true, which it isn’t, but if it might be true, but we know it’s not, then I may feel that he might deserve punishment, which he doesn’t”
Actually a few comments. Like
Now we’re a ways out from seeing if that’s true, and what the implications are…but let’s say it’s proven he was trying to sell or utilize classified documents it would be a huge betrayal and something I personally can’t ever look beyond."
and
Well that explains a lot. If this is true and everything checks out trump is in trouble. As conservative’s though we should all want the truth even if it’s brutal which seems highly possible now.
Is honestly a really fucking breath of fresh air from these folks. These are the two top comments on one of the posts.
Thinking about it, man, the 2020's have been absolutely fucking nuts.
Worldwide pandemic, War in Europe, Coup attempt, former President steals classified information. We're only two years in. I think I might have aged 50 years by 2030.
Guys, realize how historic this is. They would have never done the raid if they were not 100% confident that they would find what they have found. They would have never done that if they didn't 100% intend to charge him in the first place.
The fact that we have confirmation that they seized Top Secret documents and SCI documents is the proof that he'll be charged. Because that's the statute used to justify the search.
Likely the last bit of info they needed to charge him. There may be more for a second round, but my guess is this is it boys and girls.
Hey, Conservatives:
Please admit it: If Obama did this, you'd be calling for his head on a spike.
Please admit it: What Hillary Clinton did was several orders of magnitude less serious than this.
Just admit it: You have a double standard.
If Obama did this, *I'd* be calling for his head on a spike. And I voted for Obama twice, would vote for him a third time if it was Constitutional, and consider him one of the 15 best Presidents in our history.
**Why the “but he declassified” argument fails to mitigate culpability**:
- Not all Top Secret information can even be declassified—[specifically, *Nuclear* Top Secret/SCI cannot be declassified by a President](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/trump-fbi-raid-classified-nuclear-documents/671119/)
- the statutes alleged to be violated do not have an element of classification required, in order to be violated. [See here](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793)
- When something *actually* is declassified, it must go through a process, including [submitted to the Justice Department to ensure nothing violates the Privacy Act](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/declassification-memo-trump-russia-meadows-doj-biden), be [clearly marked “declassified” and the date, so can be known who can handle](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-allies-say-declassified-mar-lago-documents-experts-say-unclear-w-rcna42311), and Meadows—representing Trump—argued in federal court that Trump [simply uttering or tweeting “declassified” should not be construed as *actually* declassifying, conceding that such a process would involve the Attorney General](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mark-meadows-trump-russia-probe-did-not-declassify/).
> Various classified/TS/SCI documents
That's the bigger deal.
>[SCI is not a classification. SCI clearance has sometimes been called **"above Top Secret,"** but information at any classification level may exist within an SCI control system. When "decompartmentalized", this information is treated the same as collateral information at the same classification level. ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_compartmented_information)
How did he get it out of the SCIF? Better question is who took it out of the SCIF for him? That person or persons would likely candidates for an immunity deal. They could even be the informant who was working with the FBI before the search.
From the warrant, he's under investigation for USC 18 793 (Espionage Act), 1519 (Obstruction of Justice destruction of evidence and records), 2071 (Removal of records).
There's reports that have come out sprinkled in with these other mentions of a grand jury meeting concerning these crimes. If that's the case, someone's about to have a really bad weekend. From the bottom of my heart, let me say...
Good. Fuck that guy.
Reminder that Trump's son in law just got like two billion dollars from Saudi Arabia. Can't help but wonder if that's in any way related to classified nuclear documents.
Republicans became the espionage party today. They were already the insurrection party, but now they're the espionage party, too. All for this grifting con man. Bunch of pathetic assholes, the lot of them.
[your reminder that Reality Winner took one document and spent four years in prison. one document. four years. no negotiations](https://twitter.com/itsJeffTiedrich/status/1558091721359196165?s=20&t=G1C1ph9ooHPhxXp8III1dw)
>[Trump apparently leaked the warrant to Breitbart. The DOJ had sought to redact or shield the names of agents involved. Trump took no caution. The Breitbart article has names of agents, which obviously puts a target on their back. Reprehensible. Trump needs to be stopped. Enough.](https://twitter.com/donlew87/status/1558159389650984962)
Very, very troubling if true
Oh wow, some of the comments in r/conservative now are looking more reasonable today?
Here is one comment I read that had a high upvote:
> Well that explains alot. If this is true and everything checks out trump is in trouble. As conservative’s though we should all want the truth even if it’s brutal which seems highly possible now.
>
>Edit: for everyone sending me messages and hate if you truly are against punishing people who commit legit crimes even if you’re a supporter you’re part of the problem ALSO im not saying he definitely did this or is guilty just saying if he is he should be held accountable
It's important to point out for perspective:
The evidence against Ethel Rosenberg was less than the physical evidence taken from Trump. And we executed her. For violating the same laws Trump is suspected of having violated.
This is not a nothing burger.
To be fair it came out later we had much more evidence for the Rosenbergs than we showed at trial, we just kept it secret to not tip off the Soviets we had broken their ciphers.
But your point stands.
I’m assuming the same is very possible for Trump. If he’s already sold secrets, the government likely knows but doesn’t want to show their hand to foreign nations.
To understand how serious the Espionage Act is since it's one of the crimes Trump is being investigated for, it's one of the highest violations of federal law one can commit and basically one step below treason.
Trump being indicted for violation of the Espionage Act would be one of the biggest news stories of the century, let alone the trial of the century.
To everyone saying he'll get away with it. If the Wapo sources are right: his is treason of the highest order. Think beyond this being a procedural fuck up. Think of what this means for national security. If information like that ends up in the hands of the wrong people. What Putin, Xi, Kim, the Saudi's and god knows who would do for that informatio. Understand that nuclear deterrence is a cornerstone of national security and understand that it might've been completely breached and/or, god forbid, straight up sold. It literally doesn't get worse than that. The US executed spies for that with less evidence. He's officially the biggest criminal in the history of the US.
Violating the Espionage Act
Obstruction of Justice
Criminal handling of government records.
1 set of records was marked Top Secret/SCI
3 sets were marked Top Secret
4 sets were marked Secret
3 sets were marked confidential.
Some of the sets allegedly contained information on nuclear capabilities.
Trump is FUCKED
This is a watershed event in American history.
If Trump survives THIS, the American experiment is effectively done. Some vestigial elements of democracy will remain for awhile, but it would just be too much a body blow to the whole idea of constitutional government in the US.
If Trump winds up paying heavily for this (in whatever way: prison, his followers (finally) dumping him, utter across-the-board disgrace), then we have some hope that we can begin the process of turning fascism back into the fringe movement it's been for most of our history.
For anybody still questioning: **Trump will be indicted for this.** The DOJ doesn't unseal info until **there is nothing left to investigate.**
They then either drop the case if they feel the grand jury won't indict, or bring charges against their investigation's target. Which path does Garland seem to be taking, based on yesterday's press conference?
Writing is on the wall, at this point. Charges of espionage will be brought against a former President of the United States. Can't wait for the trial. Happy F5 Friday, yall.
Conservatives are actually going to double down on attaching themselves to the sinking ship of this unfathomably stupid, worthless pile of shit with no redeeming qualities. It's amazing to watch in real time. It's like scientists created a lab experiment to design the most useless sack of barely sentient human garbage imaginable, then American conservatives looked at the result of their work and said "yep, I'm going to dedicate my entire life to religiously worshiping this man." These fucking people actually wield real political power in this country. Incredible.
And now /r/conservative has moved on to excusing the behavior by saying as president he has authority to declassify material at any time and not tell anybody that he has declassified it.
That’s. Not. How. It. Works.
There are actual procedures to declassify information so that people working within our government ACTUALLY KNOW HOW THEY NEED TO HANDLE IT. Holy fucking shit.
It’s true that the president can declassify information at any time, but the president can’t mishandle classified information, get caught after he’s no longer president still mishandling it, and say he waved his hand over the documents while he was still president declassifying them as he carried them out of the building without telling anybody so it’s all good.
Come the fuck on people. I am just so fucking sick of this goddamn cult of assholes wrecking our country and excusing the absolute worst behaviors of a president who has zero good qualities about him other than he’s so fucking narcissistic and stupid that he’s bad at hiding his wrongdoing and scheming from the public.
So lemme get this straight:
Trump beefed up the penalty for improperly handling classified documents. FBI finds classified documents improperly handled at a Trump facility.
This is the slammiest slam dunk anyone could ever get.
The ironic thing about r conservative is that they often claim “liberals” are like children who don’t understand how the real world works. Yet you spend two seconds on their forum and you see they think life operates like a TV show.
I was a technical surveillance countermeasures specialist in the Marines. Basically, any space that rated SCI (it’s usually TS if its SCI) rates routine surveillance countermeasure support to ensure there is no one installing sneaky devices to gain access to highly classified information. Usually it’s foreign adversaries we are worried about, not a former POTUS. LOL. I doubt Trump was safeguarding any of this information. Therefore, we might as well assume everything he was in possession of has been compromised. This means sources, methods, classified programs, etc. Just the breach alone is astounding and would put any normal person in jail for many years. Who knows what he was actually doing with the information. I hope we find out.
From the Bloomberg analysis, of course Donnie is saying he waved his magic sharpie over everything before it went out the door ...
> “Number one, it was all declassified,” Trump said. “Number two, they didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request.”
No, Donnie - it was not all declassified. And if there is anything nuclear in there, even you couldn't have declassified it. And #2, yes the National Archives did ask. Once in person. Once with a subopena. You basically told them to fuck off each time.
That shows consciousness of guilt. That removes any "oh, I didn't know" defense you might have hoped to mount.
You're fucked, dude. **Lock. Him. Up.**
Just a reminder that this is only happening because enough people voted blue in 2018 and 2020 for there to be an Attorney General who isn't a Trump sycophant. Elections matter (for now)
I just popped into r/conservative to check it out. Right to Hilary.. wasn’t she grilled for 11 hours straight and nothing was found? Saying Obama took 30k or million documents.. which was debunked by the national archives today.
I don’t understand it, I cannot comprehend how people can become so blinded.
I get there is a lack of trust in the government and for good reason. I do think a lot needs to change but to latch on and defend him like they are.
I don’t understand cults
My boss' first instinct was to speculate about the FBI planting them because it would be impossibly stupid to store them at his house
Imagine following someone so stupid your cognitive dissonance convinces you its not possible and something else must be going on
MAGA world is saying DeSantis was behind the whole thing. The GoP may actual have a civil war between DeSantis and Maga folk.
Edit; Which I may get Listen, I’m not saying Ron DeSantis ordered the raid or blew the whistle. I’m just saying the judge that signed off on it lives in Ron’s state. Mar-A-Largo is in Ron’s state so he has plenty of connections. Ron has been losing in the polls consistently to Trump. Less than 24 hours before the raid DeSantis suddenly says he is going to travel out of state to campaign for people Trump endorsed. I’m not saying DeSantis worked with Tucker Carlson to turn Trump in either. I’m just saying Carlson and DeSantis were seen with Trump the week before the raid. I’m just saying out of all the weeks for Carlson to be on “vacation” it happens to be the week of the raid. I’m just saying Tucker didn’t make any comments on social media during the raid, which is odd for him. I’m just saying the guy who is covering for Tucker is a terrible host and even Hannity had trouble standing him.
I’m not saying there are a lot of things about DeSantis and Carlson that are fishy.
The DOJ is aiming at Treasanous Trump right between the eyes. The publicity of the warrant, property list, and events is to socialize the news to the American public before the impending indictment. They will indict him within a few weeks. The recovered docs are physical evidence of crimes he has already committed. It does not ask new questions, it provides more answers. It's not new information, it's icing on the cake. They asked for materials back while already aware of how he was using them. Treasonous Trump's game is officially up.
Greed is the banality of evil, my fellow Americans.
CNN Reporting: The official release of the warrant made sure to redact the names of the agents involved in the search to protect them from radicals.
The right-wing media that leaked the warrant early did not redact their names.
Now they are facing various threats against their, and their families' lives.
1) It is impossible for an individual who can read not to know a document is top secret. They are meticulously and redundantly labeled.
2) Top secret documents have a viewing procedure even for authorized individuals which involves access through a secure facility.
3) No individual other than Donald Trump could conceivably have the power/ability to remove these documents.
4) Donald Trump was aware of the fact that he had top secret documents in his possession and that this possession was unauthorized. The feds subpoenaed these documents months ago, so he clearly knew he shouldn't have them.
Given the above, it is clear that Trump willfully violated federal statute regarding handling of these documents. This should be an open and shut case.
He could have lived out his whole life just enjoying the trappings of wealth and telling people on TV that they're fired, but Obama tells one joke that gets under his skin at a WH dinner and now he might become the first president to go to jail. Thanks Obama
He's basically been shot down already by every new statement he's made in very short order:
This was an illegal search - nope
They're planting evidence - nope
We didn't get to watch - nope
They could have asked - did
What about Obamas 33 mil docs - sorted
They were already de-classified - nope
But, but Hunter's laptop!
Benghazi! E-mails!! All the other GOP buzzword talking points!! It's totally the same thing, guys! Oh yeah, Obama's middle name is *Hussein*!!
-- every GOP apologist in the world right now.
people over on r/conservative have taken Trumps bait. They’re talking about ‘HiLLaRyS EmAiLs’ and how ‘ObAmA tOoK dOcS.’ They can’t be swayed. The issue of radical conservative politics and ideology doesn’t die with Trump. Vote in November.
Just for edification: The argument from Trump and conservatives that former Presidents have taken or transferred plenty of documents fails to mention that they did so THROUGH THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES to ensure that THIS didnt happen.
Moron.
> They didn't need to 'seize' anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago.
Uh, they [asked nicely in Feb](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/07/national-archives-retrieved-15-boxes-of-trump-white-house-documents-from-mar-a-lago.html), but you held back. So they [subpoenaed you in June](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-received-subpoena-spring-documents-turned-investigators/story?id=88252177), which you ignored.
This is *your* fault. And because you were so mad about Hillary's emails, [you made this a felony](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/10/trump-fbi-search-surveillance-law/) with 5 years in prison. Not to mention the [DoJ believes](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-nuclear-weapons-issue-is-hoax-after-washington-post-report-2022-08-12/) you've also violated the Espionage Act, which comes with 10-20 years.
edit: changed "Hillary" to "Hillary's emails"
Not only classified documents they are a subset called TS/SCI. The most controlled documents in the entire United states. The type of secrets if you are found to have had them outside controlled environments, they interrogate you for days in a room underground. What spy movies are made of.
This guy was storing them in a pool house.
This is nearly the plot of a Tom Clancy novel executed by the cast of Tiger King.
America: “The Jan. 6 committee’s findings might be the thing that finally leads to criminal charges for Trump.” Merrick Garland: “Guess what, motherfucker”
Try to imagine yourself in the Post-Trump Period. You get your first look at this "Merrick Garland" as you enter a clearing. He moves like a bird, lightly, bobbing his head. And you keep still because you think that maybe his visual acuity is based on movement like Mueller - he'll lose you if you don't move. But no, not Merrick Garland. You stare at him, and he just stares right back. And that's when the attack comes. Not from the front, but from the side, from the other two treasonous felonies you didn't even know were there. Because Garland’s a pack hunter, you see, he uses coordinated attack patterns and he is out in force today. And he slashes at you with this... *produces FBI Warrant*
I’m baked so I thought that was this: He's following you, about 30 feet back He gets down on all fours and breaks into a sprint He's gaining on you Merrick Garland
Since this is the current refrain, reminder on the following: 1. The president CANNOT declassify documents relating to anything involving nuclear arms and technology. 2. Declassified documents are still government property and CANNOT be taken home.
also, there is a process for declassification, with an audit trail. The president doesn't get to just shout "I DECLARE THESE DECLASSIFIED" also, ex-presidents can't declassify documents, so if they were classified when he left, it's been illegal this entire time.
[https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1558168029766328320](https://twitter.com/mehdirhasan/status/1558168029766328320) >Hold on, Breitbart just put out the names of the FBI agents who did the search? Are you kidding me? And presumably Breitbart got leaked this search warrant from Trump, unredacted? > >Wow good luck to those agents & their families. Sheesh the right don’t give a damn about ‘the blue’. [Salon article](https://www.salon.com/2022/08/12/released-search-warrant-reveals-suspected-of-violating-espionage-act/) >\[Breitbart\] also included the names of the individual FBI agents involved in the search. The court issued release of the warrant, which was approved Friday afternoon, redacts that sensitive information. Team Trump just put a target on the backs of the agents and their families.
That is 100% the intent
Looks like those chuckle fuck traitors want to hit warp speed on the finding out part, which is going to echo in eternity.
These same chuckle fucks (who cheer on police when they gun down people of color) are about to find out that police (particularly FBI agents) will have zero compunctions with gunning them down too if threatened.
Right. And those FBI guys and gals don’t fuck around. Nor do any of the other plethora of alphabet agencies that are going to summarily and permanently handle these traitorous taints
The entire job of the fbi is investigating and stopping domestic terrorism. That’s like trying to burn down a fire truck
Hey blue, do you feel backed?
Local cops don't care, they have an inferiority complex about the FBI. They're not their blue.
The request to unseal the warrant that was submitted to the court by the DOJ mentioned that the names of the agents involved would be redacted if the warrant was released, so Trump's lawyers can't claim they "didn't know" it was important. It's pure maliciousness.
This may come back to bite him in the ass when he is before a judge.
Not surprising. PSA: Just a general reminder that Breitbart, known for its lack of standards, conspiracy-mongering, and bigotry-based articles, is an alt-right site (as proclaimed by its former executive chairman Steve Bannon circa 2016), not merely a “conservative” or “right-wing” site as often described by some news outlets. “Alt-right” being a term coined by infamous neo-Nazi and anti-Semite Richard Spencer (of ‘punching Nazis’ and ‘Hitler salute’ fame, whose protégé, Stephen Miller, is best known for his cruelty-is-the-point immigration policies and sharing neo-Nazi literature among Trump’s White House employees) a rebranding for white nationalists to mainstream their ideas. It’s basically the less in-your-face Daily Stormer for people who aren’t ready to accept the Nazi or white supremacist/nationalist/whatever label yet. Just in case anyone has gotten fuzzy about it. So brown shirt-like stochastic terrorism is 100% in their wheelhouse.
[Link to the warrant listing all documents seized](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.617854/gov.uscourts.flsd.617854.17.0_10.pdf)
He has an executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone and a folder labeled “FrenchPresident”. Weird. *edit* Follow up question: why would the FBI use ambiguous names for practically everything but these 2 pieces?
Roger Stone doesn't surprise me, but wonder what he's doing with regard to Macron
Gathering dirt for when they wanted to get Le Pen in office since she is a Russian asset.
[удалено]
> Various classified/TS/SCI documents Yeah he's done for
That typo on item 28A must be driving whoever did it crazy. Almost made it to the end of writing up a document that will certainly be in history books, and they boffed it on the last line.
I wouldn't be surprised if the evidence in question was already labeled "Topp Secret".
Turns out the FBI raided Trump's baseball card collection.
For all those saying he declassified documents: 1. Declassification is a process that requires re-issuance of documents without classification markings. Anything with classification markings is still, by definition, classified. This cannot be retroactive, removal of docs can only occur after classification has been altered. 2. Even the president may not alter classification on certain materials. Specifically documents pertaining to nuclear secrets and intelligence sources. 3. TS/SCI documents may not just be removed from a SCIF. Period. There is an exhaustive process involved.
Furthermore, nuclear RD/FRD docs must be reviewed by DoE prior to declassification, due to the Atomic Energy Act.
[удалено]
They act like the President can just declare something declassified like Michael Scott 'declaring' bankruptcy, and it shows just how deluded they are. They're grasping at any kind of straw to make this okay in their minds. Meanwhile, while ignoring if he _can_ do so, none of them are discussing _should_ he have done so. Even if a President _can_ so simply declassify materials, are they really okay with Trump grabbing boxfulls of Top Secret / SCI documents and taking them to his clubhouse? What do they think he's intending to do with them? Read them to reminisce?
[удалено]
>[CNN analyst says the intel Trump stole are so sensitive that FBI agents will begin FINGER PRINTING each document to find out who actually touched them.](https://twitter.com/BrianDMcBride/status/1558203639176564736) That's, uh, a pretty fucking big deal if it turns out to be accurate
Jesus Christ. They’re gonna get everyone.
Jared's and Don Jnr's dirty prints will be all over this stuff. And the best part is there is no legitimate reason whatsoever for them to be there. Lots of fifths will be pled that day.
"The documents were planted by the FBI!" "The documents were declassified!" "Obama took lots of classified documents too!" He's basically throwing shit at the wall at this point hoping something will stick.
No, he's just hoping his base will eat it up. And they will. They'll gladly ask for second servings of his horseshit.
It’s absolutely bonkers that a few days ago we were speculating which of the many crimes of the former President were the reason for the raid. [Turns out there’s also a brand new extremely serious crime that we weren’t aware he committed.](https://twitter.com/frankfigliuzzi1/status/1558177631736135680?s=21&t=4o6snVnn3aFebxo-1bDDyg) What a bizarre timeline.
Probably be quicker to list the crimes he hasn't committed.
With all these nuclear secrets rumours swirling around, I'd like to remind everyone of one of the many scandals the nation seems to have just... forgotten about. Specifically that [members of Trump's administration and family were attempting to secretly sell nuclear secrets to the Saudi's during Trump's presidency](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/23/trump-cronies-secret-talks-nuclear-tech-saudi-arabia). Edit: the same Saudis that ~~were at Mar-a-lago recently~~ were at a Trump golf course recently (it might have been the NJ course), by the way...
You mean the Saudis that just inexplicably hosted their first golf tournament at Trump’s golf course and paid Kushner 2billion? Those Saudis sure love golf.
I think attempting may be upgraded to did sell now.
Yes, but they were attempting to *secretly* sell them. That part has gone wrong.
I'd be shocked if he didn't sell a lot of info already. We can just worry about how much and what specifically.
$2 billion investment to Jared and untold millions of dollars to trump via his hotels and the LIV golf league playing on trump courses. Classic case of espionage. Sell state secrets for personal enrichment.
A good quote from the Youtuber Beau of the Fifth Column: > If you choose to stand behind this man politically after this, you never get to talk about supporting the troops again. > > Because you're putting them at risk. > > You never get to talk about wanting a strong country again. > > Because you're weakening it. > > You never get to talk about how diversity training is weakening the military. > > Because nothing weakens it more than not being able to protect it's secrets.
It's important to note as Trump moves the goalposts to say he declassified every classified document seized by the FBI, the president does NOT have the ability to declassify documents that are classified by statute (like nuclear secrets and identification of intelligence operatives): [https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/trump-fbi-raid-classified-nuclear-documents/671119/](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/trump-fbi-raid-classified-nuclear-documents/671119/) So if Trump was in possession of classified documents related to nuclear weapons as the FBI suspected according to the Washington Post report ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/11/garland-trump-mar-a-lago/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/11/garland-trump-mar-a-lago/)), he had no authority to declassify them even as president. We do not yet know if the FBI seized any documents that fit that description. Others have noted that the espionage statutes listed in the warrant do not explicitly require classified information in order to bring charges. "The Espionage Act predates the classification system and thus references not classified information, but 'national defense information.'"([https://www.rightsanddissent.org/news/house-rules-committee-espionage-act-whistleblowers-journalists/](https://www.rightsanddissent.org/news/house-rules-committee-espionage-act-whistleblowers-journalists/)) \*\*\*Edited to include additional info and to fix formatting Original Comment: [https://imgur.com/a/XSnBmWd](https://imgur.com/a/XSnBmWd)
In addition, for the info a president can declassify, there is a procedure that must be followed and documented. You can't declassify stuff like Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy.
And it also doesn't mean he gets to keep it all to himself. Declassified means anyone can access it, not just who he chooses.
Yep. That’s the catch. First of all he would have had to follow procedure but the big reason for that procedure is that it then allows that document to be accessible by the public. You can’t take something classified, and the declassify it so that only you can see it. Doesn’t work that way.
Saying he declassified it will serve only one real purpose - adding talking points to his base. They don't notice and/or don't care that the goalposts continue to move. They don't care about truth. It is all about setting up the narrative.
Yup. Completely not in his purview.
And the laws he's being investigated under don't require that the documents be classified.
The only thing they require is that they are unlawfully in your possession, it's pretty strict liability. Why doesn't matter.
They could even be **lawfully** in your possession! If the government asks for you to return information regarding national defense (regardless of unclassified or classified) and you don't, that's a violation of 18 USC § 793 (d): >Whoever, **lawfully having possession of**, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or **willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it**.... Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both And the FBI and national archives did ask for them back multiple times.
The Espionage Act violations carry up to 10 years in prison PER DOCUMENT.
I’m not a mathematician, but that’s life in prison
To be fair, one document may well be life in prison for Trump considering his age and health
IDK, prison food is probably healthier than anything he eats now. It might extend his life.
Holy shit. We might see a former president of the US arrested for betraying the country.
The irony being it's likely only one of *several* crimes he committed in office. Just, you know, the worst one.
The worst one *we know about so far*.
This is just the shit he's still holding 1.5 years after leaving office. What did he leverage/sell for the 4 years he had unquestioned, unfettered access?
Couldn't happen to a better guy.
I don't even get my hopes up anymore but I am interested what the outcome of this is.
The DOJ isn't going to put ***violations of the Espionage Act*** on a warrant served to the former President of the United States if the case isn't already solid.
You're not wrong, but this is also a guy who has at least 22 credible sexual assault allegations against him, had several secret, no-witness meetings with Putin, defended Putin over his own intel agencies on live TV, and led an attack on the U.S. capitol building on live TV and is still in vacation-land. You can understand why some are skeptical. And god-only-knows how many other tax evasion, money laundering, and campaign law violations they know about on him that haven't been brought to light.
You know I am not even feeling any level of satisfaction with this thing. It scares the heck out of me that he did this and what he might have done with our security. It bothers me that the GOP is looking for excuses instead of real answers. It isn't a celebration. Its a disaster and betrayal of every thing American. May the name Trump and his close family which supported all this live in shame. Let justice be swift and clear.
Same. This egotistical narcissist put our country, it's security, and ALL of our welfares at risk yet again. When he's not even in office.
[удалено]
We KNOW part of his former staff was sharing info with Russia. They've admitted to internal polling data, but it could be so much more than that
I was a 35-Series MOS in the army with a TS/SCI clearance. I would be in jail forever if I did this. This is insane.
I only had a Secret and would have been in trouble if I took a code book for the Stinger missile I used. It is amazing to me that given he had nuclear secrets that any conservative is defending him. EDIT: Reality Winner took one document and served four years.
I wish people understood how security clearances work. My clearance didn't mean I could just walk into the Pentagon and read anything I wanted
Come on! You know as well as I do the first thing that happens when you get your clearance is they set you in front of a SIPRNET computer and tell you to just ‘go nuts!’. The secret war between the Mole Men and Lizard People was fascinating.
At the highest level clearance they take you down to the Alien Room and you get to pick one of the aliens and they'll kill it and cook it for you right there any way you want.
He's trying to get FBI agents killed and cause a damn civil war. Can we please get him behind bars and take away his phone? Please.
For those who don't understand this reference: Breitbart published Trump's copy of the warrant without the agents' information redacted.
I'm not understanding why the FBI isn't raiding Breitbart currently. It is against the law to dox fbi agents.
January 6th didn't work for him, so this is his chance to finally get his base riled up enough to actually potentially do something. This is insane.
Reminder: The National Archive (edit: quietly) demanded the return of [White House records in February](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/07/national-archives-retrieved-15-boxes-of-trump-white-house-documents-from-mar-a-lago.html), which by law must go to the archives. Trump turned over 15 boxes but it was suspected he kept some. So in June [they subpoenaed him](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-received-subpoena-spring-documents-turned-investigators/story?id=88252177) for remaining documents, but he ignored it. This is not out of nowhere. This is not a political hit. They tried to recover sensitive documents without incident, but Trump refused. This could have been avoided. Now the DOJ says the 11 sets of classified documents include some marked Top Secret, indicating probable cause to charge Trump with [violation of the Espionage Act.](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-nuclear-weapons-issue-is-hoax-after-washington-post-report-2022-08-12/) If true, this is bigger than Nixon. Trump would go to prison.
It's always been bigger than Nixon. Since day one.
It’s only a matter of time before Marjorie Taylor Greene is tweeting about repealing the “ESPN Age Act”
Fox : How espionage is good for the economy
>ESPN Age Act I would have to agree with her on that one. When they had Lou Holtz on for college football analysis, I always thought he must've been over 90 years old.
* The fact that the FBI resorted to execute the search warrant in light of the political fallout implies that the **evidence and urgency must be overwhelming** * All other **means of obtaining the requested documents quietly, e.g. via legal councils were exhausted**, forcing the FBI to intervene * Applying for and executing the warrant **personally approved** by Merrick Garland, he himself had previously issued a memo requiring his personal approval of investigations into the former president * There was **probable cause and enough evidence of a crime for a federal judge to grant the warrant** * The **top-level classified nature** of these documents also entails that there is essentially **zero chance that these inadvertently got mixed up** with other records such as diplomatic letters or gifts (the former president does not give the impression of an avid reader in the interest of national security) * 15 boxes with records were previously retrieved by the National Archives, meaning that the **remaining material was willfully withheld** * The storage areas for these document are **woefully negligent** * This raises suspicions with regards to the **motivations behind taking and retaining these documents**, especially in light of billion-dollar investments into Jared Kushner's business or recent Golf tournaments hosted at the scene. It is **highly disturbing to entertain the possibility that access to these documents was up for sale or a return on favors** for foreign influences with nefarious intentions
As a government records manager, this blows my freaking mind. NARA does not fuck around. If I accidentally mishandle an organizational document, my ass is grass. Much less top secret docs, stored in an unsecured, private residence.
A private residence that saudis and Russians frequent
>meaning the remaining material was willfully withheld I don't think it's possible to to interpret this fact as anything other than intent to violate the law.
Conservatives are downvoting brietbart and fox in their own safe space right now. It's hilarious to see how either insane or disengaged they are today. That breitbart article that literally leaked the warrant current is 30% up voted with no comments! Pure insanity!
Of course there is no comments they haven’t been told how far down the field they need to move the goalposts yet.
Remember the backlash for Fox News when they simply announced Biden won the election? Their base lives in an alternate reality and they know it, being truthful about what's going on will cause the network and the republican party too much backlash. They will deflect and lie into their graves.
It's never too late to change your mind or admit you were wrong, and it's perfectly okay to. I hope a lot of conservatives in this country wake up.
Is this it? Is this finally it? High treason. Please, sweet Ganesha, let this be it.
I also choose this guy's elephant god.
His supporters have now moved the bar to "it's not like he was trying to sell them to another country". Are you sure about that guys?
Jared just got two BILLION from the Saudis. And for what? His investment expertise? The little shit has a history of absolutely atrocious investments. So what DID he provide them? And is it really just a funnel to his father-in-law?
For months we've been waiting for the big bombshell to drop from the Jan. 6th Committee, then Garland drops an RKO outta nowhere.
Jan 6th isn't even finished.
This week has been so crazy, I honestly forgot about how J6 committee has the contents of Alex Jones’s phone!
Imagine if Jan6 committee is just a footnote in Trump's criminal history because he will be charged with soooo much worse now. Amazing.
Extorting Zelenzky should have been enough. Heck, all the obstruction of justice in the Mueller report should have been enough.
Nor is the Fulton County investigation.
What's dumb is Trump could've just returned the documents when they asked and we wouldn't know a thing about it.
>What's dumb is Trump ~~could've just returned the documents when they asked and we wouldn't know a thing about it.~~ FTFY
/r/conservative is genuinely concerning. Group psychosis almost.
Imagine being brainwashed to insurmountable truths in favor of Alex Jones
I agree. It used to be kind of funny and now it's deeply disturbing. I can't wrap my head around it, how did THIS man get this many people to want to literally die for him?
They have to play hackey-sack with their singular brain cell just to struggle a cohesive thought together
This is so much worse than what Nixon did.
This is about the 200th thing Trump did that is worse than what Nixon did.
>[The day after a Trump supporter tried to kill FBI agents, Trump leaked the names of FBI agents who served his warrant to Breitbart and Breitbart published it.](https://twitter.com/badler/status/1558191892059377666) 'Nuff said.
Lol he is under criminal investigation for 1. Violating the Espionage Act 2. Obstruction of Justice 3. Criminal handling of government records. - 1 set of records was marked Top Secret/SCI - 3 sets were marked Top Secret - 4 sets were marked Secret - 3 sets were marked confidential. Some of the sets allegedly contained information on nuclear capabilities. Trump is FUCKED
The real question is: Are WE fucked? If these documents are as top secret as we think they are, and Trump has already sold some of the information to countries like Russia or Saudi Arabia, what does that mean for us?
>2A- Various classified/TS/SCI documents. That stands for Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information. By definition, this is information that would cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if it were leaked and likely reveals our intelligence collection sources.
And not allowed out of specific secured locations.
r/conservative in full denial mode. "But her emails", right? "But Hunter's laptop." "But but but but but but but". I feel so vindicated. Conservatives in power who supported this shit are traitors. Them and Trump deserve a traitor's fate.
Just checked out that sub, every comment goes like this. “If it’s true, which it isn’t, but if it might be true, but we know it’s not, then I may feel that he might deserve punishment, which he doesn’t”
It’s coping in real time
Actually a few comments. Like Now we’re a ways out from seeing if that’s true, and what the implications are…but let’s say it’s proven he was trying to sell or utilize classified documents it would be a huge betrayal and something I personally can’t ever look beyond." and Well that explains a lot. If this is true and everything checks out trump is in trouble. As conservative’s though we should all want the truth even if it’s brutal which seems highly possible now. Is honestly a really fucking breath of fresh air from these folks. These are the two top comments on one of the posts.
Thinking about it, man, the 2020's have been absolutely fucking nuts. Worldwide pandemic, War in Europe, Coup attempt, former President steals classified information. We're only two years in. I think I might have aged 50 years by 2030.
Get absolutely fucked, magaworld.
*Florida Man charged in sale of state secrets*
Guys, realize how historic this is. They would have never done the raid if they were not 100% confident that they would find what they have found. They would have never done that if they didn't 100% intend to charge him in the first place. The fact that we have confirmation that they seized Top Secret documents and SCI documents is the proof that he'll be charged. Because that's the statute used to justify the search. Likely the last bit of info they needed to charge him. There may be more for a second round, but my guess is this is it boys and girls.
Thank you! I feel like a lot are missing the big picture here. The FBI will sit until they are 100% sure they have a firm grip on you.
Hey, Conservatives: Please admit it: If Obama did this, you'd be calling for his head on a spike. Please admit it: What Hillary Clinton did was several orders of magnitude less serious than this. Just admit it: You have a double standard.
That would require also "admit it: you're not the good guys." That's the dealbreaker.
That's the thing, they aren't even trying to be the good guys anymore. They actively enjoy being cruel
If Obama did this, *I'd* be calling for his head on a spike. And I voted for Obama twice, would vote for him a third time if it was Constitutional, and consider him one of the 15 best Presidents in our history.
[удалено]
That's the difference between those who vote Democrat and those who vote Republican. Democrat voters actually criticize their own.
I remember someone commented how his Maga uncle was shocked he didn't care about Cuomo resigning. "but he's one of your guys!"
**Why the “but he declassified” argument fails to mitigate culpability**: - Not all Top Secret information can even be declassified—[specifically, *Nuclear* Top Secret/SCI cannot be declassified by a President](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/trump-fbi-raid-classified-nuclear-documents/671119/) - the statutes alleged to be violated do not have an element of classification required, in order to be violated. [See here](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793) - When something *actually* is declassified, it must go through a process, including [submitted to the Justice Department to ensure nothing violates the Privacy Act](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/declassification-memo-trump-russia-meadows-doj-biden), be [clearly marked “declassified” and the date, so can be known who can handle](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-allies-say-declassified-mar-lago-documents-experts-say-unclear-w-rcna42311), and Meadows—representing Trump—argued in federal court that Trump [simply uttering or tweeting “declassified” should not be construed as *actually* declassifying, conceding that such a process would involve the Attorney General](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mark-meadows-trump-russia-probe-did-not-declassify/).
[удалено]
All of the items siezed: | Item | | --- | | 1 - Executive Grant of Clemency re: Roger Jason Stone, Jr. | | 1A - Info re : President of France | | 2 - Leather-bound box of documents | | 2A - Various classified/TS/SCI documents | | 3 - Potential Presidential Record | | 4 - Documents | | 5 - Binder of photos | | 6 - Binder of photos | | 7 - Handwritten note | | 8 - Box labeled A-1 | | 9 - Box labeled A-12 | | 10 - Box Labeled A-15 | | 10A - Miscellaneous Secret Documents | | 11 - Box Labeled A-16 | | 11A - Miscellaneous Top Secret Documents | | 12 - Box labeled A-17 | | 13 - Box labeled A-18 | | 13A - Miscellaneous Top Secret Documents | | 14 - Box labeled A- 27 | | 14A - Miscellaneous Confidential Documents | | 15 - Box Labeled A-28 | | 15A- Miscellaneous Secret Documents | | 16 - Box labeled A-30 | | 17 - Box labeled A-32 | | 18 - Box labeled A-35 | | 19 - Box labeled A-23 | | 19A - Confidential Document | | 20 - Box Labeled A-22 | | 21 - Box labeled A-24 | | 22 - Box Labeled A-34 | | 23 - Box Labeled A-39 | | 23A - Miscellaneous Secret Documents | | 24 - Box labeled A-40 | | 25 - Box Labeled A-41 | | 25A - Miscellaneous Confidential Documents | | 26 - Box Labeled A- 42 | | 26A - Miscellaneous Top Secret Documents | | 27 - Box Labeled A-71 | | 28 - Box Labeled A-73 | | 28A - Miscellaneous Top Secret Documents | | 29 - Box labeled A-14 | | 30 - Box Labeled A-26 | | 31 · Box Labeled A-43 | | 32 - Box Labeled A-13 | | 33 - Box Labeled A-33 |
> Miscellaneous Top Secret Documents That phrase alone, used ***NINE TIMES***, is just unbelievable.
> Various classified/TS/SCI documents That's the bigger deal. >[SCI is not a classification. SCI clearance has sometimes been called **"above Top Secret,"** but information at any classification level may exist within an SCI control system. When "decompartmentalized", this information is treated the same as collateral information at the same classification level. ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_compartmented_information)
This is the one he won’t be able to escape from, no matter how hard him and his supporters try to fight it.
How did he get it out of the SCIF? Better question is who took it out of the SCIF for him? That person or persons would likely candidates for an immunity deal. They could even be the informant who was working with the FBI before the search.
From the warrant, he's under investigation for USC 18 793 (Espionage Act), 1519 (Obstruction of Justice destruction of evidence and records), 2071 (Removal of records). There's reports that have come out sprinkled in with these other mentions of a grand jury meeting concerning these crimes. If that's the case, someone's about to have a really bad weekend. From the bottom of my heart, let me say... Good. Fuck that guy.
Reminder that Trump's son in law just got like two billion dollars from Saudi Arabia. Can't help but wonder if that's in any way related to classified nuclear documents.
Republicans became the espionage party today. They were already the insurrection party, but now they're the espionage party, too. All for this grifting con man. Bunch of pathetic assholes, the lot of them.
So...who had **"The LIV Tournament is a front for nuclear espionage committed by Trump for the Saudis"** on their bingo card at the start of the week?
Nice guy Phil Mickleson turns out to have chosen poorly while Tiger emerges as the true decent human being.
Phil hasn't been a nice guy for a good long while
Republicans in a few minutes: “Violating the Espionage Act is a totally patriotic thing to do!”
"He had to do this to stop the Deep State and MAGA"
Here's the PDF. https://apps.npr.org/documents/document.html?id=22131380-trump-warrant-unsealed?responsive=1&ti
[your reminder that Reality Winner took one document and spent four years in prison. one document. four years. no negotiations](https://twitter.com/itsJeffTiedrich/status/1558091721359196165?s=20&t=G1C1ph9ooHPhxXp8III1dw)
The ex-president of the United States is under investigation for espionage. Holy shit.
Unfortunately, his corruption is _so outlandish_ that it makes it easy for the Republicans to convince their base that it’s a lie.
>[Trump apparently leaked the warrant to Breitbart. The DOJ had sought to redact or shield the names of agents involved. Trump took no caution. The Breitbart article has names of agents, which obviously puts a target on their back. Reprehensible. Trump needs to be stopped. Enough.](https://twitter.com/donlew87/status/1558159389650984962) Very, very troubling if true
r/conservative tomorrow: "Donald Trump has been replaced by three ANTIFAS in a trenchcoat!"
Oh wow, some of the comments in r/conservative now are looking more reasonable today? Here is one comment I read that had a high upvote: > Well that explains alot. If this is true and everything checks out trump is in trouble. As conservative’s though we should all want the truth even if it’s brutal which seems highly possible now. > >Edit: for everyone sending me messages and hate if you truly are against punishing people who commit legit crimes even if you’re a supporter you’re part of the problem ALSO im not saying he definitely did this or is guilty just saying if he is he should be held accountable
I assume that user has been banned by now?
No, that user actually posted the thread, in addition to making the comment. It's a flaired user.
It's important to point out for perspective: The evidence against Ethel Rosenberg was less than the physical evidence taken from Trump. And we executed her. For violating the same laws Trump is suspected of having violated. This is not a nothing burger.
To be fair it came out later we had much more evidence for the Rosenbergs than we showed at trial, we just kept it secret to not tip off the Soviets we had broken their ciphers. But your point stands.
I’m assuming the same is very possible for Trump. If he’s already sold secrets, the government likely knows but doesn’t want to show their hand to foreign nations.
Lmao r/conservative in absolute shambles right now. The copium of ‘he’s allowed to declassify whatever he wants!’ is just astounding.
You don’t declassify things by mumbling “I declassify thee” as you tuck them into your trousers. There’s an official process.
To understand how serious the Espionage Act is since it's one of the crimes Trump is being investigated for, it's one of the highest violations of federal law one can commit and basically one step below treason. Trump being indicted for violation of the Espionage Act would be one of the biggest news stories of the century, let alone the trial of the century.
at the very least his passport should be immediately cancelled, he should be arrested and given an ankle monitor. he is a flight risk
To everyone saying he'll get away with it. If the Wapo sources are right: his is treason of the highest order. Think beyond this being a procedural fuck up. Think of what this means for national security. If information like that ends up in the hands of the wrong people. What Putin, Xi, Kim, the Saudi's and god knows who would do for that informatio. Understand that nuclear deterrence is a cornerstone of national security and understand that it might've been completely breached and/or, god forbid, straight up sold. It literally doesn't get worse than that. The US executed spies for that with less evidence. He's officially the biggest criminal in the history of the US.
Violating the Espionage Act Obstruction of Justice Criminal handling of government records. 1 set of records was marked Top Secret/SCI 3 sets were marked Top Secret 4 sets were marked Secret 3 sets were marked confidential. Some of the sets allegedly contained information on nuclear capabilities. Trump is FUCKED
This is a watershed event in American history. If Trump survives THIS, the American experiment is effectively done. Some vestigial elements of democracy will remain for awhile, but it would just be too much a body blow to the whole idea of constitutional government in the US. If Trump winds up paying heavily for this (in whatever way: prison, his followers (finally) dumping him, utter across-the-board disgrace), then we have some hope that we can begin the process of turning fascism back into the fringe movement it's been for most of our history.
For anybody still questioning: **Trump will be indicted for this.** The DOJ doesn't unseal info until **there is nothing left to investigate.** They then either drop the case if they feel the grand jury won't indict, or bring charges against their investigation's target. Which path does Garland seem to be taking, based on yesterday's press conference? Writing is on the wall, at this point. Charges of espionage will be brought against a former President of the United States. Can't wait for the trial. Happy F5 Friday, yall.
I’ve heard Hillary mentioned on Fox today more than I have in the last 6 years. Did I miss an alternate timeline where Hillary was President?
Conservatives are actually going to double down on attaching themselves to the sinking ship of this unfathomably stupid, worthless pile of shit with no redeeming qualities. It's amazing to watch in real time. It's like scientists created a lab experiment to design the most useless sack of barely sentient human garbage imaginable, then American conservatives looked at the result of their work and said "yep, I'm going to dedicate my entire life to religiously worshiping this man." These fucking people actually wield real political power in this country. Incredible.
[удалено]
And now /r/conservative has moved on to excusing the behavior by saying as president he has authority to declassify material at any time and not tell anybody that he has declassified it. That’s. Not. How. It. Works. There are actual procedures to declassify information so that people working within our government ACTUALLY KNOW HOW THEY NEED TO HANDLE IT. Holy fucking shit. It’s true that the president can declassify information at any time, but the president can’t mishandle classified information, get caught after he’s no longer president still mishandling it, and say he waved his hand over the documents while he was still president declassifying them as he carried them out of the building without telling anybody so it’s all good. Come the fuck on people. I am just so fucking sick of this goddamn cult of assholes wrecking our country and excusing the absolute worst behaviors of a president who has zero good qualities about him other than he’s so fucking narcissistic and stupid that he’s bad at hiding his wrongdoing and scheming from the public.
So lemme get this straight: Trump beefed up the penalty for improperly handling classified documents. FBI finds classified documents improperly handled at a Trump facility. This is the slammiest slam dunk anyone could ever get.
i love the "what about hunter's laptop!!!!???". im over here alright like arrest him too if he broke the law idgaf
The ironic thing about r conservative is that they often claim “liberals” are like children who don’t understand how the real world works. Yet you spend two seconds on their forum and you see they think life operates like a TV show.
I was a technical surveillance countermeasures specialist in the Marines. Basically, any space that rated SCI (it’s usually TS if its SCI) rates routine surveillance countermeasure support to ensure there is no one installing sneaky devices to gain access to highly classified information. Usually it’s foreign adversaries we are worried about, not a former POTUS. LOL. I doubt Trump was safeguarding any of this information. Therefore, we might as well assume everything he was in possession of has been compromised. This means sources, methods, classified programs, etc. Just the breach alone is astounding and would put any normal person in jail for many years. Who knows what he was actually doing with the information. I hope we find out.
If you don't even draw the line at espionage, you're in dire need of cult deprogramming
From the Bloomberg analysis, of course Donnie is saying he waved his magic sharpie over everything before it went out the door ... > “Number one, it was all declassified,” Trump said. “Number two, they didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request.” No, Donnie - it was not all declassified. And if there is anything nuclear in there, even you couldn't have declassified it. And #2, yes the National Archives did ask. Once in person. Once with a subopena. You basically told them to fuck off each time. That shows consciousness of guilt. That removes any "oh, I didn't know" defense you might have hoped to mount. You're fucked, dude. **Lock. Him. Up.**
Just a reminder that this is only happening because enough people voted blue in 2018 and 2020 for there to be an Attorney General who isn't a Trump sycophant. Elections matter (for now)
I just popped into r/conservative to check it out. Right to Hilary.. wasn’t she grilled for 11 hours straight and nothing was found? Saying Obama took 30k or million documents.. which was debunked by the national archives today. I don’t understand it, I cannot comprehend how people can become so blinded. I get there is a lack of trust in the government and for good reason. I do think a lot needs to change but to latch on and defend him like they are. I don’t understand cults
My boss' first instinct was to speculate about the FBI planting them because it would be impossibly stupid to store them at his house Imagine following someone so stupid your cognitive dissonance convinces you its not possible and something else must be going on
MAGA world is saying DeSantis was behind the whole thing. The GoP may actual have a civil war between DeSantis and Maga folk. Edit; Which I may get Listen, I’m not saying Ron DeSantis ordered the raid or blew the whistle. I’m just saying the judge that signed off on it lives in Ron’s state. Mar-A-Largo is in Ron’s state so he has plenty of connections. Ron has been losing in the polls consistently to Trump. Less than 24 hours before the raid DeSantis suddenly says he is going to travel out of state to campaign for people Trump endorsed. I’m not saying DeSantis worked with Tucker Carlson to turn Trump in either. I’m just saying Carlson and DeSantis were seen with Trump the week before the raid. I’m just saying out of all the weeks for Carlson to be on “vacation” it happens to be the week of the raid. I’m just saying Tucker didn’t make any comments on social media during the raid, which is odd for him. I’m just saying the guy who is covering for Tucker is a terrible host and even Hannity had trouble standing him. I’m not saying there are a lot of things about DeSantis and Carlson that are fishy.
That is possible one of the better possible outcomes
Put that on pay-per-view and we can eliminate the national debt
The DOJ is aiming at Treasanous Trump right between the eyes. The publicity of the warrant, property list, and events is to socialize the news to the American public before the impending indictment. They will indict him within a few weeks. The recovered docs are physical evidence of crimes he has already committed. It does not ask new questions, it provides more answers. It's not new information, it's icing on the cake. They asked for materials back while already aware of how he was using them. Treasonous Trump's game is officially up. Greed is the banality of evil, my fellow Americans.
Take a shot of alcohol each time someone on Fox mentions Hillary Clinton/Hunter Biden/ Obama tonight. Good luck.
All I want for Christmas is for Trump to be officially charged and arrested this weekend.
CNN Reporting: The official release of the warrant made sure to redact the names of the agents involved in the search to protect them from radicals. The right-wing media that leaked the warrant early did not redact their names. Now they are facing various threats against their, and their families' lives.
1) It is impossible for an individual who can read not to know a document is top secret. They are meticulously and redundantly labeled. 2) Top secret documents have a viewing procedure even for authorized individuals which involves access through a secure facility. 3) No individual other than Donald Trump could conceivably have the power/ability to remove these documents. 4) Donald Trump was aware of the fact that he had top secret documents in his possession and that this possession was unauthorized. The feds subpoenaed these documents months ago, so he clearly knew he shouldn't have them. Given the above, it is clear that Trump willfully violated federal statute regarding handling of these documents. This should be an open and shut case.
He could have lived out his whole life just enjoying the trappings of wealth and telling people on TV that they're fired, but Obama tells one joke that gets under his skin at a WH dinner and now he might become the first president to go to jail. Thanks Obama
He's basically been shot down already by every new statement he's made in very short order: This was an illegal search - nope They're planting evidence - nope We didn't get to watch - nope They could have asked - did What about Obamas 33 mil docs - sorted They were already de-classified - nope
But, but Hunter's laptop! Benghazi! E-mails!! All the other GOP buzzword talking points!! It's totally the same thing, guys! Oh yeah, Obama's middle name is *Hussein*!! -- every GOP apologist in the world right now.
Donnie is gassing up the jet for a rally in Alaska, and he may overshoot his landing by a few hundred miles.
Well, libs… are you owned yet?
Person. Woman. Man. Camera. Felony.
people over on r/conservative have taken Trumps bait. They’re talking about ‘HiLLaRyS EmAiLs’ and how ‘ObAmA tOoK dOcS.’ They can’t be swayed. The issue of radical conservative politics and ideology doesn’t die with Trump. Vote in November.
Man, that Graham quote about Trump destroying the Republican Party as we know it seems pretty eerie right about now.
This makes watergate look like a parking ticket
Just for edification: The argument from Trump and conservatives that former Presidents have taken or transferred plenty of documents fails to mention that they did so THROUGH THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES to ensure that THIS didnt happen. Moron.
First member of the WWE Hall of Fame facing charges for violating the Espionage Act. Tremendous. Sports entertainment history being made every day!
> They didn't need to 'seize' anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. Uh, they [asked nicely in Feb](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/07/national-archives-retrieved-15-boxes-of-trump-white-house-documents-from-mar-a-lago.html), but you held back. So they [subpoenaed you in June](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-received-subpoena-spring-documents-turned-investigators/story?id=88252177), which you ignored. This is *your* fault. And because you were so mad about Hillary's emails, [you made this a felony](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/10/trump-fbi-search-surveillance-law/) with 5 years in prison. Not to mention the [DoJ believes](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-nuclear-weapons-issue-is-hoax-after-washington-post-report-2022-08-12/) you've also violated the Espionage Act, which comes with 10-20 years. edit: changed "Hillary" to "Hillary's emails"
Not only classified documents they are a subset called TS/SCI. The most controlled documents in the entire United states. The type of secrets if you are found to have had them outside controlled environments, they interrogate you for days in a room underground. What spy movies are made of. This guy was storing them in a pool house.