Trump's Classified Docs Theft: Mar-A-Lago, FBI Subpoenas, Searches & Seizures - DOJ, Garland, GOP Madness - Spy Hard

[Foggy]

I'm going to be okay with this.

The short version is,

1) it's only a delay, not the end of the criminal investigation, and,

2) if they are going to indict Trump, it might be better to wait until after the midterms (less political violence), and,

3) it makes ALL the Trump-appointed judges in this great land of ours look like pathetic hacks, and

4) I think America has already reached a verdict on whether Trump violated the Espionage Act, and everyone knows he's a thief, and,

5) like I said above (way above), the content of the documents he stole will never be revealed (I hope ), so "you can't look at them" might not be a problem for the government, and,

6) I don't seem to have a lot of influence to change the order, so I'm not going to waste energy on it.

And, umm ... yeah. If it was me, Motion to Reconsider that blasts the Cannon, and don’t worry about the (majority Trump-appointed) 11th Circuit until later.

If Cannon thought it was a good idea to delay the case until after the midterms, that's where we stand, and that leaves plenty of action for the DOJ if they are ready to take advantage. When a judge does something really, really dumb and crazy like this, the trick is to find a way to turn it to your advantage. That's what good lawyers do.

[Foggy]

I would like to nominate bob to be Special Master.

[RVInit]

Hasn't the DOJ already seen all the documents that were not set aside by the taint team? So, presumably, if the special master tries to set aside documents that the DOJ believes should not have been excluded, can't they pipe up and say something? Or have the taint team do it?

The thing that I'm really concerned about is how this judge believes that just because he's a former president that he should be especially carefully dealt with by the justice system. So, this is pretty much saying out loud what most of us already have known for a long time - there is one system of justice for the powerful and another for the masses. She's literally saying it out loud from what I can see.

[Greatgrey]

Just as a reminder, the parties have till Friday to come up with a list.

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[Slim Cognito]

I didnt realize it was a joint filing. Thanks, GG. That makes me feel a little better.

[RTH10260]

Just as a reminder, the parties have till Friday to come up with a list.

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I see no resolution but an really long list as per (4)

[Foggy]

Giuliani would actually be a perfect fit.

His law license is suspended for Trump election lies. He hasn't been paid a nickel by Trump since at least the Four Seasons landscaping fiasco and the hair dye dripping down his head. He's in huge trouble because of his allegiance to Trump, but Trump thinks he's something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Bottom line is, Giuliani is both resentful AND needs to toady up to the boss, because nobody else is ever going to give him a job again.

Who could possibly be better than him?

[bob]

I didnt realize it was a joint filing. Thanks, GG. That makes me feel a little better.

It means they file together. It doesn't mean they have to agree.

I expect it'll list around six candidates, with each side nominating three.

* * *

I would like to nominate bob to be Special Master.

I have Very Special Clearance.

[bob]

And, yes, people regularly cite the Clinton precedents.

(Hers and the Big Dawg's sock-drawer tapes.)

[Chilidog]

For SM, Isn't there a fellow named Vindmam who recently retired, is a lawyer, should be able to get the appropriate clearances ....

[Kendra]

For SM, Isn't there a fellow named Vindmam who recently retired, is a lawyer, should be able to get the appropriate clearances ....

Oooh, good idea.

[Chilidog]

AND he's a subject matter expert on ethics.

[Suranis]

Nunes? "How to milk a cow the government"

Nunes is too busy being rewarded for his 5 years of unswerving Loyalty by being put in the blame position for the upside down rocket that is Truth Social.

[RVInit]

Nunes? "How to milk a cow the government"

Nunes is too busy being rewarded for his 5 years of unswerving Loyalty by being put in the blame position for the upside down rocket that is Truth Social.

Yes, and is dealing with a court order that says his employment with "Truth" Social is rightly subject to investigation. Oops. Wonder what that is going to turn up.

[RVInit]

I just had a thought. What if the Special Master tries to hold back some kind of communication between Trump and those incompetent lawyers that fall into the crime-fraud exception? Wouldn't the possible filing by DOJ be delicious? Assuming they already know of it's existence. This could turn into yet another "be careful of what you ask for". That would make it almost worthwhile.

I am probably hallucinating here, though.

[Chilidog]

Nunes? "How to milk a cow the government"

Nunes is too busy being rewarded for his 5 years of unswerving Loyalty by being put in the blame position for the upside down rocket that is Truth Social.

This

[Ben-Prime]

Am I misremembering due to age and exhaustion (it's the end of a long day at US Embassy London and I worked out over lunch and it was chest day and I am sore and can barely spoon my dinner into my mouth) or wasn't the Special Master supposed to be able to see the unredacted search warrant affidavit, too? I'd be more worried about that than about the documents themselves right now.

[RVInit]

Am I misremembering due to age and exhaustion (it's the end of a long day at US Embassy London and I worked out over lunch and it was chest day and I am sore and can barely spoon my dinner into my mouth) or wasn't the Special Master supposed to be able to see the unredacted search warrant affidavit, too? I'd be more worried about that than about the documents themselves right now.

That would terrify me. There is absolutely no reason a special master should be able to see the affidavit, is there? If so, I agree, this would be most concerning. This is what TFG is really after. He wants the names of all the witness, he wants to see what DOJ already knows or doesn't know. At least as far as what is contained in the affidavit. I know they don't put everything they know in those documents, but, since this was Trump I would bet DOJ put more info into that affidavit than they normally would if it was some poor schmuck that wasn't an ex-President.

[Ben-Prime]

Am I misremembering due to age and exhaustion (it's the end of a long day at US Embassy London and I worked out over lunch and it was chest day and I am sore and can barely spoon my dinner into my mouth) or wasn't the Special Master supposed to be able to see the unredacted search warrant affidavit, too? I'd be more worried about that than about the documents themselves right now.

That would terrify me. There is absolutely no reason a special master should be able to see the affidavit, is there? If so, I agree, this would be most concerning. This is what TFG is really after. He wants the names of all the witness, he wants to see what DOJ already knows or doesn't know. At least as far as what is contained in the affidavit. I know they don't put everything they know in those documents, but, since this was Trump I would bet DOJ put more info into that affidavit than they normally would if it was some poor schmuck that wasn't an ex-President.

That's why I'm hoping I'm wrong and misremembering.

[RVInit]

I'm with you on that for sure!!

[Luke]

Said the same thing as Foggy:





Here's my vote for Special Master:





Another MAGAt #FAIL -- now they're saying IT'S THE GSA'S FAULT, THEY PACKED THE BOXES!!! Um, no.

[Luke]

10:54 AM · Sep 6, 2022
Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton

I can’t believe we’re still talking about this, but my emails…

As Trump’s problems continue to mount, the right is trying to make this about me again. There’s even a “Clinton Standard."

The fact is that I had zero emails that were classified.

Comey admitted he was wrong after he claimed I had classified emails.

Trump’s own State Department, under two different Secretaries, found I had no classified emails.

That's right: ZERO.

By contrast, Trump has hundreds of documents clearly marked classified, and the investigation just started.

I’m more tired of talking about this than anyone, but here we are.

If you’re interested in the facts, you can read more here:

[Luke]

Opinion | Trump’s Lawyers Might Think They Just Won. They Still Botched the Case.
Trump’s incompetent attorneys turned an administrative matter into a possible criminal indictment. The appointment of a special master doesn’t change that.
Opinion by RENATO MARIOTTI 09/06/2022 11:39 AM EDT
Renato Mariotti is the Legal Affairs Columnist for POLITICO Magazine. He is a former federal prosecutor and host of the “On Topic” podcast.

Donald Trump has a history of using questionable lawyers to his advantage. From the disbarred Roy Cohn to fixer (and felon) Michael Cohen, Trump used lawyers as a tool to expand his empire. As president, he used unethical lawyers like Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman to carry forward schemes to hold onto power. Even when those lawyers got into trouble, Trump has managed to avoid serious consequences.

But now Trump’s attorneys have managed to help him get into a legal jam the likes of which he has never faced. Whether out of incompetence or a desire to please their notoriously rules-averse client, they have committed a series of unconscionable errors that turned the government’s document recovery effort into an ongoing criminal investigation of the former president that could result in an unprecedented criminal indictment. Monday’s ruling by a judge agreeing with Trump’s request to appoint a third party to review the documents might look like a win, but it is a limited response to a catastrophe that they could have avoided.

What is almost as shocking as the jeopardy Trump now faces is how easily it could have been avoided with even a modest amount of competent legal advice. Obviously, a lot of this is Trump’s own doing. He is ultimately responsible for the decision to bring tens of thousands of government documents — many of them highly classified — to his country club home in Palm Beach. But one reason lawyers have jobs is because their clients have already made poor decisions. A good attorney quarterbacking this situation for Trump would have prevented those bad decisions from compounding by ensuring his residence wasn’t searched and negotiating a deal to avoid any risk of criminal charges.

Trump’s lawyers’ performance here is a case study in poor defense. Instead of cooperating with the government to negotiate the return of its records when this was a civil matter, Trump’s team produced boxes of haphazard records that contained classified documents that were not organized and appear not to have been reviewed or catalogued prior to production. Once a criminal investigation was open, instead of negotiating a deal with DOJ, Trump’s lawyers lied to the Feds and made themselves witnesses (and potentially subjects) in the criminal investigation, making criminal charges against Trump more likely.

More: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... t-00054926

[Kriselda Gray]

I'm with you on that for sure!!

As far as I know, they requested he be given such access, but she has not granted that as of yet. IANAL, so this is just guesswork, but I believe that she's asked the parties to not just recommend a Special Master but also to recommend what his responsibilities and limits will be, so there's perhaps one more chance to convince her not to give him that access.

[bob]

I'm with you on that for sure!!

As far as I know, they requested he be given such access, but she has not granted that as of yet. IANAL, so this is just guesswork, but I believe that she's asked the parties to not just recommend a Special Master but also to recommend what his responsibilities and limits will be, so there's perhaps one more chance to convince her not to give him that access.

I believe that is the state of affairs as well: He proposed that the special master and he get to see the unredacted affidavit. I suspect this point (of disagreement) will be noted in the upcoming joint filing. Then the judge will decide. (And then perhaps the 11th Cir.)

Of course, there's an easy way for him to see the unredacted affidavit: Indict him.