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Wait, I though Trump declassified everything bing bong boom?The Justice Department has never said exactly what was in the classified material found in Trump’s possession after the presidency. Trump’s lawyers say in their letter that the Justice Department has refused to tell them whether any of the documents remain classified.
They were in Tip Toppy shapetek wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 2:58 pmWait, I though Trump declassified everything bing bong boom?The Justice Department has never said exactly what was in the classified material found in Trump’s possession after the presidency. Trump’s lawyers say in their letter that the Justice Department has refused to tell them whether any of the documents remain classified.
The lawyers urge Republicans to tell the Justice Department to “stand down,” even as special counsel Jack Smith’s probe has shown signs of nearing its end and even though Congress doesn’t have the power to control DOJ criminal investigations.
* * *
Wednesday’s letter was sent to House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner, and it represents Trump’s legal team seeking a political lifeline by asking Congress tell the Justice Department to step aside because they believe the intelligence community should conduct the investigation into what happened with the classified documents.
“DOJ should be ordered to stand down, and the intelligence community should instead conduct an appropriate investigation and provide a full report to this Committee, as well as your counterparts in the Senate,” the lawyers wrote to Turner.
* * *
“As demonstrated by the discovery of documents with classification markings in the homes of President Trump, President Biden, and Vice President Pence, deficient document handling and storage procedures are not limited to any individual, administration, or political party,” the lawyers wrote.
Trump’s legal team did not send a similar letter to the Democratic-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee.
raison de arizona wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 5:47 pm The letter: https://justthenews.com/sites/default/f ... 0Final.pdf
The Letter (in a footnote) wrote:The purpose of this letter is not to opine about whether these documents are actually classified or have been declassified, but still retain their classification markings. Despite our requests to DOJ, it has refused to tell us whether in its judgment any of the documents remain classified. Similarly, DOJ has refused to allow for inspection of the documents at any time during the last eight months despite the fact that one of our attorneys has sufficient clearance to view the majority of the documents marked as classified.
NARA unfortunately has become overtly political and declined to provide archival assistance to President Trump’s transition team....
To be clear, had NARA offered President Trump the same assistance that it had provided to all previous Presidents, he would have accepted the offer and there would have been no reason to transfer the documents to Mar-a-Lago.
"My lawyer said it, that settles it!"We have seen absolutely no indication that President Trump knowingly possessed any of the marked documents or willfully broke any laws.
History will not be kind to DOJ or the administration that supports this assault, while excusing much more serious conduct by the current President.
"If they only asked nicely!", Al Capone; probably.By unleashing a grand jury subpoena, DOJ intended to put President Trump on the defensive, not to invite his cooperation....
DOJ’s unnecessarily aggressive use of a grand jury subpoena was not intended to ensure full compliance.
"With tears in their eyes," undoubtedly.This is consistent with the demeanor of the field agents who met with Mr. Corcoran and expressed their gratitude for being permitted to inspect the storage room, which they acknowledged that most attorneys and their clients would not permit under similar circumstances.
[It] is clear that DOJ utterly failed to make an accurate presentation to the Magistrate Judge ....
bob wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 3:36 pm CNN:The lawyers urge Republicans to tell the Justice Department to “stand down,” even as special counsel Jack Smith’s probe has shown signs of nearing its end and even though Congress doesn’t have the power to control DOJ criminal investigations.
* * *
Wednesday’s letter was sent to House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner, and it represents Trump’s legal team seeking a political lifeline by asking Congress tell the Justice Department to step aside because they believe the intelligence community should conduct the investigation into what happened with the classified documents.
“DOJ should be ordered to stand down, and the intelligence community should instead conduct an appropriate investigation and provide a full report to this Committee, as well as your counterparts in the Senate,” the lawyers wrote to Turner.
* * *
“As demonstrated by the discovery of documents with classification markings in the homes of President Trump, President Biden, and Vice President Pence, deficient document handling and storage procedures are not limited to any individual, administration, or political party,” the lawyers wrote.
"Funny" how these lawyers believe the House supervises the executive branch's investigations.
Bonus:Trump’s legal team did not send a similar letter to the Democratic-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee.![]()
Federal prosecutors investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s handling of classified documents have obtained the confidential cooperation of a person who has worked for him at Mar-a-Lago, part of an intensifying effort to determine whether Mr. Trump ordered boxes containing sensitive material moved out of a storage room there as the government sought to recover it last year, multiple people familiar with the inquiry said.
Through a wave of new subpoenas and grand jury testimony, the Justice Department is moving aggressively to develop a fuller picture of how the documents Mr. Trump took with him from the White House were stored, who had access to them, how the security camera system at Mar-a-Lago works and what Mr. Trump told aides and his lawyers about what material he had and where it was, the people said.
The existence of an insider witness, whose identity has not been disclosed, could be a significant step in the investigation, which is being overseen by Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. The witness is said to have provided investigators with a picture of the storage room where the material had been held. Little else is known about what prosecutors might have learned from the witness or when the witness first began to provide information to the prosecutors.
The National Archives has informed former president Donald Trump that it is set to hand over to special counsel Jack Smith 16 records which show Trump and his top advisers had knowledge of the correct declassification process while he was president, according to multiple sources.
In a May 16 letter obtained by CNN, acting Archivist Debra Steidel Wall writes to Trump, “The 16 records in question all reflect communications involving close presidential advisers, some of them directed to you personally, concerning whether, why, and how you should declassify certain classified records.”
The 16 presidential records, which were subpoenaed earlier this year, may provide critical evidence establishing the former president’s awareness of the declassification process, a key part of the criminal investigation into Trump’s mishandling of classified documents.
The next time he cites the Presidential Records Act, trying to say it means exactly the opposite of what it means, I'm going to explode.
Trump was warned about retaining classified documents, notes reveal
Exclusive: Unreported warning contained in notes taken by lawyer Evan Corcoran that prosecutors have viewed in recent months
Hugo Lowell in Washington
Mon 22 May 2023 11.00 BST
Federal prosecutors have evidence Donald Trump was put on notice that he could not retain any classified documents after he was subpoenaed for their return last year, as they examine whether the subsequent failure to fully comply with the subpoena was a deliberate act of obstruction by the former president.
The previously unreported warning conveyed to Trump by his lawyer Evan Corcoran could be significant in the criminal investigation surrounding Trump’s handling of classified materials given it shows he knew about his subpoena obligations.
Last June, Corcoran found roughly 40 classified documents in the storage room at Mar-a-Lago and told the justice department that no further materials remained at the property. That was later shown to be untrue, after the FBI later returned with a warrant and seized 101 additional classified documents.
The federal investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith has recently focused on why the subpoena was not compiled with, notably whether Trump arranged for boxes of classified documents to be moved out of the storage room so he could illegally retain them.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... mar-a-lago
I'm going to guess that Walt Nauta is the new cooperating witness mentioned a few weeks ago.The notes described how Corcoran told Nauta about the subpoena before he started looking for classified documents because Corcoran needed him to unlock the storage room – which prosecutors have taken as a sign that Nauta was closely involved at essentially every step of the search.
It must have been a tough choice for Nauta: behind the bar at Mierda Larda or behind bars in a federal prison.
Ty Cobb says Smith moving in fast & that he thinks Trump is going to jail
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 5:49 pm https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5 ... ng-to-jail?
Ty Cobb says Smith moving in fast & that he thinks Trump is going to jail
Well Ty Cobb can't be wrong, he's in the Hall of Fame!somerset wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 7:51 pmTiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 5:49 pm https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5 ... ng-to-jail?
Ty Cobb says Smith moving in fast & that he thinks Trump is going to jail
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