OPINION: Unsealed Mar-A-Lago search warrant reveals government has no case against Trump
Government has no case

"We now know why the DOJ wanted the affidavit which is supposed to articulate the probable cause needed for a legitimate search to be kept under seal. After the magistrate who authorized the search forced the DOJ to unseal a redacted version, two realities came into better focus.

First, the affidavit confirmed that the FBI's investigation was triggered in January 2022 at the request of the National Archives, which wanted certain documents, especially classified documents, that it considered to be presidential records to be turned over to it by Trump. Second, from what I have seen, I don't believe the affidavit articulates how a federal law was or is being broken. For those who hold out hope that the affidavit's redacted sections fill that gap, there is almost no chance that they do. (More on that below.)

As to the first point, this matter is, as suspected, nothing more than a document dispute that was chugging along, appropriately, as a negotiation behind the scenes and apparently making some progress. I don't see anything in the affidavit asserting a refusal by Trump to cooperate.

Any clinging hope in certain quarters that the affidavit possessed "pulverizing" cause to believe Trump was engaged in a truly serious federal violation can I think be considered dashed. The pipe dream that Trump was engaged in espionage, actively providing secrets to an enemy I think is as fanciful as the Steele dossier's Moscow hotel bed reverie. And, no, I don't believe a smoking gun of espionage or something equally shocking will be in the redacted sections. If the FBI had that, it would have fronted that in the unredacted portions. "

dajo9 said:

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Why hasn't Trump been arrested yet?

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No case?
I just heard he had top secret in his desk drawer.

"New legal filings paint Trump as a flailing liar surrounded by lackeys"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/31/trump-legal-filings-liar-lackeys

Guardian op-ed byline fwiw..
> Lloyd Green
> An attorney in New York, Lloyd Green is a regular freelance contributor and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992.

What's the punishment for stealing Top Secret information, for xeroxing Top Secret information, for selling Top Secret information?

Maybe worse than jail, right?



Is capital punishment legal in Florida?

The death penalty is reserved for only the most extreme of criminal offenses. 99 people have been executed in Florida since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976. 44 were executed by electric chair and 45 by lethal injection.


Is there still the death penalty in Florida?

In January 2000, the Florida Legislature passed legislation that allows lethal injection as an alternative method of execution in Florida. Florida administers executions by lethal injection or electric chair at the execution chamber located at Florida State Prison.

"The federal death penalty applies in all 50 states and U.S. territories but is used relatively rarely. About 45 prisoners are on the federal death row, most of whom are imprisoned in Terre Haute, Indiana."

Federal Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center


https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/federal-death-penalty

As I've said for years now - he deserves his own private island.




Just scouted a place for him via Google Earth.
208 miles south of Mar a Lago is a place called Key Who. It's currently empty and ready for him!
There's an airport and the freeway nearby so he can watch people come and go to jolly Key West.
But he can never go himself.

The costs to build him a palace and transport him there shouldn't be too much. He can have the Secret Service continue to guard so that nobody comes or goes.

But, again, he'll have that great view of traffic letting him know just all that he's missing out on.

When the hurrican comes, he can learn to get religion and pray that he makes it through to morning.

Unit2Sucks said:

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For any lawyers out there, Trump's team responded to the DOJ today with absolute comedic gold. Just within the first page or so they generically referenced Wong Sun with no citation, made unsupported and juvenile claims about the "doctrine of standing" and wrote "as more described in more detail below."

This reply should be an embarrassment to anyone involved but I'm not sure any of them are smart enough to understand why. I would expect better work from a first year associate but I guess that's my privilege talking because I worked at real law firms.

I suppose I should give them credit for accidentally recognizing that Trump committed a crime but he's been doing that for weeks on his bankrupt social media platform so they didn't have anything to lose.

JUST IN: Trump’s lawyers have responded to the DOJ and it’s unclear whether they understand that acknowledging their client’s “possession of … Presidential records” is admitting that he did crimes pic.twitter.com/gE0b9sojCg

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) September 1, 2022

The reply also drops all references to Trump taking these materials by accident, which was the pretext last time around. The argument now seems to be lot of big words for: “Miiiine.” https://t.co/9H2PhMehiP

— Lindsay Beyerstein (@beyerstein) September 1, 2022

I read trumps reply brief. It is utter nonsense. It invokes the presidential records act to assert that it says literally the opposite of what it actually says. Only the best lawyers.

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 1, 2022

For those keeping score at home, Trump's reply does not contain the words or phrases "declassify," "declassified," "not classified," "formerly classified," or "unclassified." And I do not see any other inventively-worded argument that the seized materials were declassified.

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 1, 2022

LOLOL his lawyers are so dumb. I can't wait until they tell us he lets spies look through his memorabilia.

Habba: I’m somebody who has been in his office.. I have firsthand knowledge. I have never seen that. That is not the way his office looks.. He has guests frequently there. pic.twitter.com/TJitoYZ7dM

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 1, 2022

---

Does it matter if the Judge is a Trumper? Until Trump is in Court defending himself against a crime this is all fun and games for lawyers.

dajo9 said:

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Unit2Sucks said:

---

For any lawyers out there, Trump's team responded to the DOJ today with absolute comedic gold. Just within the first page or so they generically referenced Wong Sun with no citation, made unsupported and juvenile claims about the "doctrine of standing" and wrote "as more described in more detail below."

This reply should be an embarrassment to anyone involved but I'm not sure any of them are smart enough to understand why. I would expect better work from a first year associate but I guess that's my privilege talking because I worked at real law firms.

I suppose I should give them credit for accidentally recognizing that Trump committed a crime but he's been doing that for weeks on his bankrupt social media platform so they didn't have anything to lose.

JUST IN: Trump’s lawyers have responded to the DOJ and it’s unclear whether they understand that acknowledging their client’s “possession of … Presidential records” is admitting that he did crimes pic.twitter.com/gE0b9sojCg

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) September 1, 2022

The reply also drops all references to Trump taking these materials by accident, which was the pretext last time around. The argument now seems to be lot of big words for: “Miiiine.” https://t.co/9H2PhMehiP

— Lindsay Beyerstein (@beyerstein) September 1, 2022

I read trumps reply brief. It is utter nonsense. It invokes the presidential records act to assert that it says literally the opposite of what it actually says. Only the best lawyers.

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 1, 2022

For those keeping score at home, Trump's reply does not contain the words or phrases "declassify," "declassified," "not classified," "formerly classified," or "unclassified." And I do not see any other inventively-worded argument that the seized materials were declassified.

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 1, 2022

LOLOL his lawyers are so dumb. I can't wait until they tell us he lets spies look through his memorabilia.

Habba: I’m somebody who has been in his office.. I have firsthand knowledge. I have never seen that. That is not the way his office looks.. He has guests frequently there. pic.twitter.com/TJitoYZ7dM

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 1, 2022

---

Does it matter if the Judge is a Trumper? Until Trump is in Court defending himself against a crime this is all fun and games for lawyers.

---

In the ultimate criminal trial or in this moot proceeding?

I think a trial judge can certainly have a major impact on a criminal proceeding - we've seen it from a number of high profile trials including OJ, the Kenosha Killer, George Zimmerman and others that escape my memory. Of course, a trial would ultimately be decided by a jury, that is unless Desantis becomes president and pardons Trump on January 21st 2025. Given how slow the FBI/DOJ move, I wouldn't be surprised if a trial doesn't occur before then and I would expect Desantis to run on a platform of Trump, without being dumb enough to get caught and a side of Trump pardons. That's probably the best chance the Republicans have at convincing enough people to vote their way, but I still think it's a loser in 2024.

As for this moot proceeding? It was an idiotic kamikaze move that even if "successful" wouldn't have shielded Trump (and his dumb lawyers who now need their own lawyers) from all the pain that is coming. It wasn't going to shield him from the consequences of possessing NDI that he is not legally entitle to possess.

2/ As a starting point, it's apparent the DOJ was concerned that the judge took Trump's motion -- which was bizarre, unprecedented, and without basis in law -- seriously.

Their filing is full of factual information rebutting Trump's false claims and compelling legal arguments.

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) August 31, 2022

And for what it's worth - there is a reason that BearGoggles is conspicuously absent right now. When he does eventually come back to point out a dangling participle in a DOJ motion or whatever he'll tell us he isn't a fan of Trump and that he doesn't defend him, but the fact that he's not here banging the drum is telling. None of the other reasonable conservatives are here either because there is no defense of Trump.

Look at what his defenders are trying to do - they're claiming that he declassified these extremely dangerous documents which (a) isn't true, (b) is damning - why did he declassify NDI? to what end? how does it help the US and why didn't he tell anyone? and (c) is utterly irrelevant to the crimes he's being investigated for. Trump's screwed and the only question is how hard the DOJ decides to go after him.

For any questions about (b) above, look here:

THREAD. The fact that Trump never formally declassified anything, and also never raised it to DOJ, but is asserting it (unofficially) now, is actually an incredibly damning admission by Trump. That's because it means that *he wanted these secrets to still have value*

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) August 31, 2022

Listen to John Yoo here for a more genuine response from someone who is conservative and a real lawyer.

Even my old Fox News sparring buddy John Yoo doesn’t know what to make of the Trump team’s filing. pic.twitter.com/3DGZf1REDJ

— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) September 1, 2022

Sorry I can't stop bec this is too funny and these people are such morons. Mark Levin is arguing that the FBI/DOJ should be held liable for the espionage act because they shared photos of classified document covers. Does Levin think Trump was lying when he says he declassified everything?

2. and taking a photograph even of the covers purely for gratuitous public use (i.e., for no reasonable or legal purpose), is a grossly negligent use of classified documents and the FBI should be held accountable under the Espionage Act:

— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) September 1, 2022

2. The former president has the legal right to access any and all of the documents created during his presidency, classified or otherwise. Moreover, the second before he left office, by his very actions alone in taking the documents, it can be said that he declassified them.

— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022

dajo9 said:

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Until Trump is in Court defending himself against a crime this is all fun and games for lawyers.

---

Will he take the 5th?

Unit2Sucks said:

---

dajo9 said:

---

Unit2Sucks said:

---

For any lawyers out there, Trump's team responded to the DOJ today with absolute comedic gold. Just within the first page or so they generically referenced Wong Sun with no citation, made unsupported and juvenile claims about the "doctrine of standing" and wrote "as more described in more detail below."

This reply should be an embarrassment to anyone involved but I'm not sure any of them are smart enough to understand why. I would expect better work from a first year associate but I guess that's my privilege talking because I worked at real law firms.

I suppose I should give them credit for accidentally recognizing that Trump committed a crime but he's been doing that for weeks on his bankrupt social media platform so they didn't have anything to lose.

JUST IN: Trump’s lawyers have responded to the DOJ and it’s unclear whether they understand that acknowledging their client’s “possession of … Presidential records” is admitting that he did crimes pic.twitter.com/gE0b9sojCg

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) September 1, 2022

The reply also drops all references to Trump taking these materials by accident, which was the pretext last time around. The argument now seems to be lot of big words for: “Miiiine.” https://t.co/9H2PhMehiP

— Lindsay Beyerstein (@beyerstein) September 1, 2022

I read trumps reply brief. It is utter nonsense. It invokes the presidential records act to assert that it says literally the opposite of what it actually says. Only the best lawyers.

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) September 1, 2022

For those keeping score at home, Trump's reply does not contain the words or phrases "declassify," "declassified," "not classified," "formerly classified," or "unclassified." And I do not see any other inventively-worded argument that the seized materials were declassified.

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 1, 2022

LOLOL his lawyers are so dumb. I can't wait until they tell us he lets spies look through his memorabilia.

Habba: I’m somebody who has been in his office.. I have firsthand knowledge. I have never seen that. That is not the way his office looks.. He has guests frequently there. pic.twitter.com/TJitoYZ7dM

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 1, 2022

---

Does it matter if the Judge is a Trumper? Until Trump is in Court defending himself against a crime this is all fun and games for lawyers.

---

In the ultimate criminal trial or in this moot proceeding?

I think a trial judge can certainly have a major impact on a criminal proceeding - we've seen it from a number of high profile trials including OJ, the Kenosha Killer, George Zimmerman and others that escape my memory. Of course, a trial would ultimately be decided by a jury, that is unless Desantis becomes president and pardons Trump on January 21st 2025. Given how slow the FBI/DOJ move, I wouldn't be surprised if a trial doesn't occur before then and I would expect Desantis to run on a platform of Trump, without being dumb enough to get caught and a side of Trump pardons. That's probably the best chance the Republicans have at convincing enough people to vote their way, but I still think it's a loser in 2024.

As for this moot proceeding? It was an idiotic kamikaze move that even if "successful" wouldn't have shielded Trump (and his dumb lawyers who now need their own lawyers) from all the pain that is coming. It wasn't going to shield him from the consequences of possessing NDI that he is not legally entitle to possess.

2/ As a starting point, it's apparent the DOJ was concerned that the judge took Trump's motion -- which was bizarre, unprecedented, and without basis in law -- seriously.

Their filing is full of factual information rebutting Trump's false claims and compelling legal arguments.

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) August 31, 2022

And for what it's worth - there is a reason that BearGoggles is conspicuously absent right now. When he does eventually come back to point out a dangling participle in a DOJ motion or whatever he'll tell us he isn't a fan of Trump and that he doesn't defend him, but the fact that he's not here banging the drum is telling. None of the other reasonable conservatives are here either because there is no defense of Trump.

Look at what his defenders are trying to do - they're claiming that he declassified these extremely dangerous documents which (a) isn't true, (b) is damning - why did he declassify NDI? to what end? how does it help the US and why didn't he tell anyone? and (c) is utterly irrelevant to the crimes he's being investigated for. Trump's screwed and the only question is how hard the DOJ decides to go after him.

For any questions about (b) above, look here:

THREAD. The fact that Trump never formally declassified anything, and also never raised it to DOJ, but is asserting it (unofficially) now, is actually an incredibly damning admission by Trump. That's because it means that *he wanted these secrets to still have value*

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) August 31, 2022

Listen to John Yoo here for a more genuine response from someone who is conservative and a real lawyer.

Even my old Fox News sparring buddy John Yoo doesn’t know what to make of the Trump team’s filing. pic.twitter.com/3DGZf1REDJ

— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) September 1, 2022

Sorry I can't stop bec this is too funny and these people are such morons. Mark Levin is arguing that the FBI/DOJ should be held liable for the espionage act because they shared photos of classified document covers. Does Levin think Trump was lying when he says he declassified everything?

2. and taking a photograph even of the covers purely for gratuitous public use (i.e., for no reasonable or legal purpose), is a grossly negligent use of classified documents and the FBI should be held accountable under the Espionage Act:

— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) September 1, 2022

2. The former president has the legal right to access any and all of the documents created during his presidency, classified or otherwise. Moreover, the second before he left office, by his very actions alone in taking the documents, it can be said that he declassified them.

— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 26, 2022

---

My point is, who cares until Trump is finally arrested and charged criminally.

I recall the OJ jurors did a little jig after acquitting him and it was apparently 100% on racial terms. Revenge vs the justice system that has for so long been so wrong vs people of color.

So, all it takes is a few nut cases.
But this time, I would hope for a mistrial, followed by another, followed by… ah hell, he'll have that fatal heart attack at some point.

The trials will be televised. Oh what fun to watch him be flayed in public.

concordtom said:

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The trials will be televised. Oh what fun to watch him be flayed in public.

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It will be held in Prime Time so that all of America can witness this country's #1 Traitor.
The ratings will be HUGE. The advertising dollars will be HUGE. And Trump will be HUGE.

DiabloWags said:

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concordtom said:

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The trials will be televised. Oh what fun to watch him be flayed in public.

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It will be held in Prime Time so that all of America can witness this country's #1 Traitor.
The ratings will be HUGE. The advertising dollars will be HUGE. And Trump will be HUGE.

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And won't say a word.


A parade of Americana!!

dajo9 said:

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My point is, who cares until Trump is finally arrested and charged criminally.

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How's the witch hunt going? Seems like you are all full steam ahead. Just wanted to drop by and say good luck with that.

918 people died.
276 were children.

Cults dont end well.
They really dont.

DiabloWags said:

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Welcome to the United States of America, where there are individuals who continue to drink the "Kool-Aid" of a Cult . . . and actually believe that a private citizen holding classified "top secret" documents that go to "sources and methods" of our intelligence community, is nothing but a witch hunt.

We all know how this story ends.

I was a senior in high school when 5 people were killed by a Cult, including Congressman Leo Ryan.
It's really difficult trying to "disconnect" from a Cult.
We see it here all the time at Bearinsider.

---

I was 24 years old and in school in the City when these two stories broke 9 days apart. I had never bought so many newspapers in my life as I did during that period.

Wow.
Brings back a lot of memories for sure!
Thank You.

DiabloWags said:

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concordtom said:

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The trials will be televised. Oh what fun to watch him be flayed in public.

---

It will be held in Prime Time so that all of America can witness this country's #1 Traitor.
The ratings will be HUGE. The advertising dollars will be HUGE. And Trump will be HUGE.

---

I would even plunk down the same amount of PPV cash as I do to view a Tyson Fury fight, and Tyson Fury gives bang for the buck.

If they televised tRump's execution at USP Terre Haute? GET OUT OF DODGE!

MinotStateBeav said:

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How's the witch hunt going? Seems like you are all full steam ahead. Just wanted to drop by and say good luck with that.

---

Let me ask you.
You mock this "witch hunt", but what would it take for YOU to flip?

An indictment?
A conviction by a jury?
What if there's a transaction by trump for secrets that he stole?

What if insiders tell of his crimes?
Which crimes do you need to see?

Or will you never flip, always to be a trump fan?

Big C said:

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concordtom said:

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MinotStateBeav said:

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How's the witch hunt going? Seems like you are all full steam ahead. Just wanted to drop by and say good luck with that.

---

Let me ask you.
You mock this "witch hunt", but what would it take for YOU to flip?

An indictment?
A conviction by a jury?
What if there's a transaction by trump for secrets that he stole?

What if insiders tell of his crimes?
Which crimes do you need to see?

Or will you never flip, always to be a trump fan?

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That's what just freaks me out: tens of millions of Americans like this.

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I've posted "us vs them" psychology stuff on here before. Here's Sapolsky 5 months ago. Just insert MAGA and Radical Socialists for Russia and Ukraine, you get the idea.



Now, the key is not to throw up hands in despair and declare that "both sides do it", but to

1) not be manipulated yourself by that attempts
2) recognize that both are human and deserve to be treated appropriately
3) be aware enough to separate the evolutionarily patterned responses from a sea of sometimes confusing fact and fiction.

In this light, Biden's speech was indeed designed to elicit that manipulated response of disgust toward the MAGA faction.

I don't actually agree with it, but years of trying to reason hasn't particularly had stellar results, and now we sit on the precipice of the MAGA empire striking back in November, so what are you going to do?

If the Rs take the house and senate, all investigations will end, will be reversed, and Biden's term will crumble to a close. They've strategized at the state level to manipulate elections, they've already got the Supreme Court…. Gotta stamp out them cockroaches, politically speaking.

Melania has reportedly bought new underwear after the search: “Melania is a bigger germaphobe than her husband. She hates people touching her and certainly doesn’t want to put on lingerie that FBI Agents had their hands all over.”https://t.co/gyY3xruq8K

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) September 1, 2022