The President Biden bribery claims have already proven to be nothing more than laughable lies.

 

They haven't been proven to be anything of the sort.
And you know it.
If it was Trump you'd be demanding another investigation.
But it's your man(woman) Biden so you want it swept under the carpet.

Still waiting for you to show us those infamous Pee tapes by the way.

 

Former Trump Defense secretary brands him a security threat

Virginia Mayo/AP Photo
854
David Cohen
Sun, June 18, 2023 at 10:37 AM MDT




Painting him as a security risk, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday added his voice to those critical of former President Donald Trump for his handling of classified information after his presidency.

Esper, who served in Trump's Cabinet, said: "People have described him as a hoarder when it comes to these type of documents. But clearly, it was unauthorized, illegal and dangerous."

Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Esper compared Trump's legal case — he was recently indicted on 37 charges related to his post-presidency handling of secret documents — to that of Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of posting secret and sensitive military documents on social media. Teixeira was indicted Thursday.

"We have a case playing out right now in Massachusetts where that young airman from the Massachusetts National Guard is being charged on similar types of accounts under the Espionage Act for taking and retaining unauthorized documents that affected our national defense," Esper told host Jake Tapper.


Esper outlined scenarios in which the mishandling of classified documents could cause trouble for the United States.

"Imagine if a foreign agent, another country were to discover documents that outline America's vulnerabilities or the weaknesses of the United States military," he said. "Think about how that could be exploited, how that could be used against us in a conflict, how an enemy could develop countermeasures, things like that. Or in the case of the most significant piece that was raised in the allegation about U.S. plans to attack Iran, think about how that affects our readiness, our ability to prosecute an attack."

Tapper asked Esper if he thought that Trump, if elected president in 2024, could ever be trusted with the nation's secrets again.

"Based on his actions, again, if proven true under the indictment by the special counsel, no," Esper said.

"I mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation's security at risk. You cannot have these documents floating around."

Trump picked Esper to serve as Defense secretary in June 2019 and fired him in November 2020. "Mark Esper has been terminated," he tweeted then.

Esper was critical of Trump in his book, "A Sacred Oath," which was released in May. Among other things, Esper described his shock and dismay over a plan to send as many as 250,000 American troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. He also said Trump asked about launching missile strikes on Mexican drug labs.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-trump-defense-secretary-brands-163754624.html

 

So Trump steals hundreds of classified documents, and somehow going after him is political.

Man, I've always thought that pence doesn't really have a brain in his head, now he confirms it... Basically he is saying we can't ever prosecute ex-high ranking elected officials, because no matter what, some part of that protection is political!

Fuck him and the Republican party!

 

Really gee what a shock

 

And if it were Hillary, you'd be on the 11th and demanding another...

So then, why didn't Trump do anything about it while still president?

 

Judge overseeing Trump's federal case has been acting like 'Trump advocate in a robe': Whitehouse

Judge overseeing Trump's federal case has been acting like 'Trump advocate in a robe': Whitehouse
1.9k
MEGAN BARNES
Sun, June 18, 2023 at 11:12 AM MDT




It remains to be seen whether the judge assigned to Donald Trump's federal case, who was appointed by him three years ago, can act independently in light of her past rulings related to the former president, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Whitehouse, D-R.I., likened U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to a "Trump advocate in a robe" but said she may correct herself going forward given that her biggest ruling to-date in Trump's federal case was summarily rejected by an appellate panel.

"As we all know, her first intervention in the case was very badly smacked down by the 11th Circuit, a conservative circuit, that not only overruled her but schooled her. And as a new judge, I'm not sure how often you want to do that," Whitehouse told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl.

He was referring to Cannon initially approving the appointment of a third party to review documents seized from Trump's home during the federal investigation, which halted part of the case.


"We will find out whether she goes back to regular normal judging or continues to be a Trump advocate in a robe," Whitehouse said.

"I suspect there's a pretty good chance that she will just decide this is a good time in her career for her to act like a real judge and she'll take the correction of the 11th Circuit and act accordingly," he said.

Cannon was named to the federal bench by then-President Trump in 2020. She has been randomly selected to oversee Trump's prosecution in federal court in Florida, where he is charged with illegally holding onto government secrets. He has pleaded not guilty.

Whitehouse said on "This Week" that "there's going to be a lot of proceedings beforehand for special counsel Jack Smith to test [Cannon's] behavior, to see how she's conducting herself and have time to move for her recusal if she's not providing proper rulings."

Trump is the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to early polling, and has argued he is being unfairly targeted by law enforcement in the Biden administration's Department of Justice -- something Smith has pushed back on.

Whitehouse echoed that, saying there are "at least two firewalls" between President Joe Biden and the case: Biden doesn't discuss criminal matters with Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Garland named Smith as an independent prosecutor to look into Trump.

Karl noted that Trump has made his charges "the centerpiece of his campaign" while Biden has largely avoided discussing it.


PHOTO: In this March 9, 2023, file photo, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse speaks during the news conference at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, FILE)
"I don't think that works well for Trump, to tell you the truth," Whitehouse said. "He goes into this sort of bullying, bombastic mode where he tries to make the other side as miserable as possible and hopes that they'll go away or settle on good terms," the senator continued. "When you're dealing with a federal prosecutor, that stuff just doesn't work. It doesn't matter. It's just background noise."

Whitehouse defended Biden "steering well clear of" Trump's case and his decision to slowly ramp up his 2024 campaign.

The president held his first campaign rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, 54 days after announcing his bid for reelection.

"He's got a lot of time ahead of him, a lot of runway," Whitehouse said, adding, "I don't know that people are interested in a whole lot of campaign noise out of him, and I think he's doing it right."

Karl pointed to a comment from the senator last week regarding Biden's age, when Whitehouse said, "I think everybody would certainly like a younger Joe Biden." At 80, Biden is already the oldest-ever president. (Trump is 77.)

But in responding to concerns about his age -- which voters have repeatedly worried about in polls -- Biden can tout his experience, wisdom and record, Whitehouse said: "He can [address] that by continuing to talk about his successes."

"He's got a really good story to tell about the end of COVID, the reduction of inflation, the explosion in infrastructure jobs and manufacturing," he said of Biden, "and I think that's going to be a really solid baseline for him."

Karl also asked about Whitehouse's relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has mounted a long shot bid to challenge Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination. Whitehouse and Kennedy attended law school together, with Kennedy supporting Whitehouse's campaigns and even joining him on the trail.

When asked if the two are still in touch, Whitehouse said "not so much, particularly since this political episode has begun," and he pledged his full support to Biden.

He said he disagrees with Kennedy's criticisms of vaccines and America's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"I think Joe Biden has those issues and others right," he said.


https://www.yahoo.com/gma/judge-overseeing-trumps-federal-case-171200258.html

 

They Are Trump’s Aides and Lawyers. Now They Could Be Trial Witnesses.

933

Alan Feuer, Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush
Thu, June 15, 2023 at 5:45 AM MDT·7 min read


In this article:

• 
  Donald Trump
  President of the United States from 2017 to 2021

Jack Smith, the special counsel, arrives to deliver remarks about the indictment of former President Donald Trump in Washington, June 9, 2023. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)

Throughout the inquiry into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified material, his insular world at Mar-a-Lago was rife with intrigue, anxiety and competing motives as investigators sought testimony and evidence from his some of his closest aides, advisers, lawyers and even members of his Secret Service detail.

Now, with Trump under federal indictment and with people who currently, or used to, work for him seen as potential prosecution witnesses, the pressure on those around him — both at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and at his summer residence in Bedminster, New Jersey — has only increased.

Trump is in the position of waging a presidential campaign and preparing a defense at the same time. Complicating matters, he has been forbidden from discussing the latter with a number of people who could presumably help him with the former, some of whom are no doubt wondering who is saying what to the government as they go about their jobs.


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In court in Miami on Tuesday, the federal magistrate judge who handled Trump’s arraignment ordered the former president not to discuss the case with his co-defendant and personal aide, Walt Nauta, saying that any communications about it would have to go through their lawyers.

The judge also made clear that he did not want Trump talking about the facts in his indictment with any potential witnesses, leading prosecutors to agree to provide him and his lawyers with a further list of people with whom he would have to be careful in conversation.

As was the case with the House select committee’s investigation last year into Trump’s efforts to retain power after his election loss, much of the evidence in the documents inquiry has come from people in Trump’s inner circle, underscoring the costs and limits of loyalty to him.

The difficult nature of the situation was made clear at the court proceeding by one of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, who argued that the entire case against Trump was “about what happened at Mar-a-Lago, it’s about what happened at Bedminster.” Trying to bar the former president from interacting with members of his staff, Blanche went on, was “unworkable.”

To take just one example of the challenges that Blanche described: Nauta and his lawyer had joined Trump for dinner just the night before, according to a person with knowledge of the encounter.

The question of whether Trump has interfered with witnesses has come up in previous investigations. The inquiry led by the special counsel Robert Mueller examined, among other things, whether Trump’s Twitter posts declaring that his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, would not flip on him constituted obstruction of justice. (Trump was not charged.)

And during a House select committee investigation into Trump’s efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election, former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, a leader of the committee, said Trump had placed a telephone call directly to a witness.

Throughout the documents investigation, which is being led by the special counsel Jack Smith, many employees at Mar-a-Lago were interviewed about Trump by Smith’s team at a time when, like Nauta, they were being represented by lawyers paid by Trump’s political action committee.

Some of the lawyers Trump hired to defend him in the case have also wound up being questioned by the government and may appear as witnesses as well.

The provision that Trump not discuss the case with potential witnesses could be difficult to enforce, given that Trump’s speaking style is often ungovernable. It could be especially challenging with regard to Nauta, whose job is to trail the former president, day in and day out, catering to his every minor need.

Prosecutors under Smith have agreed to provide a list of potential witnesses to Trump’s team — though it may be narrowly tailored to avoid revealing too much about their investigation. To that end, David Harbach, a senior prosecutor on Smith’s team, said in court that it was not likely to be “an exhaustive list” that would place undue burdens on Trump and the people working for him.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, said of the witnesses who may be called: “The Department of Justice has continually shown a total lack of respect for the rule of law by harassing President Trump, his team, his lawyers, and his supporters.” He said the prosecutors’ move was a “politically motivated attempt to interfere with the 2024 election.”

The indictment filed against the former president last week included some hints as to who they might be.

Chief among the possible witnesses mentioned in the indictment is Molly Michael, Trump’s former assistant, who worked for him in the White House and then went on to work at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people familiar with the matter. Michael is described as “Trump Employee 2” and appears at several key moments laid out in the charging document.

A lawyer for Michael did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Prosecutors described a text she sent another employee about how far away from Trump the boxes should be stored: “Anything that’s not the beautiful mind paper boxes can definitely go to storage,” she wrote in one message. At another point, the indictment says, Michael took a photograph of boxes before Trump went through at least some of them in late 2021, as National Archives and Records Administration pressed for their return.

Trump has been skeptical of Michael since she left his employ at the end of last summer, according to one person familiar with his thinking. By then, she had been approached multiple times by investigators who had begun their inquiry into the material in the spring, according to the person familiar with the comments.

The indictment also makes reference to “Trump Representative 1,” who was said in the indictment to have sent a message to Michael in late 2021, searching for an answer about how many boxes Trump was planning on returning to the archives. That representative was the lawyer Alex Cannon, according to two people familiar with the matter. Cannon, who no longer works directly for Trump, declined to comment.

Cannon was in touch with officials at the archives and repeatedly urged Trump to return the government records in his possession, according to multiple people familiar with his discussions with the former president. The indictment focuses narrowly on allegations of obstructing the grand jury subpoena for remaining documents, but like others around Trump, Cannon could provide a window into that period of time.

The indictment also mentions two lawyers, Trump Attorney 1 and Trump Attorney 2, who told Trump that they needed to conduct a search to comply with a May grand jury subpoena demanding the return of all classified material in his possession.

Those lawyers are M. Evan Corcoran and Jennifer Little, both of whom were subpoenaed for testimony and records, nearly all of them possessed by Corcoran, by Smith’s team during the investigation. According to the indictment, Trump told Corcoran that he wanted to be at Mar-a-Lago when Corcoran did a search, and that Little did not have to be there.

Corcoran, in particular, could prove to be a pivotal witness should the case go to trial, given that he recorded extensive audio notes about his dealings with Trump concerning both the receipt of the subpoena and the search of boxes in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago undertaken in an effort to comply with it.

A federal judge allowed prosecutors to pierce attorney client privilege and obtain testimony and most of Corcoran’s notes. Several damning excerpts from them were quoted in the indictment, apparently showing Trump trying to get around the demands set forth in the subpoena.

Corcoran did not respond to a message seeking comment. Little declined to comment.

The indictment also mentions a third lawyer — Trump Attorney 3 — who signed an attestation, at Corcoran’s request, certifying that a “diligent search” of “the boxes that were removed from the White House to Florida” had been conducted and that “any and all responsive documents” had been found.

Prosecutors say the attestation signed by that lawyer, Christina Bobb, was false because Trump had already directed Nauta to move several boxes in a way that kept them from being searched.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-aides-lawyers-now-could-114507798.html

 

What's funny to watch about this if you have followed the mental health experts discussing Trump's FORMS of mental illness you know exactly what he is doing. And some mental health experts accurately predicted what Trump would do after he was indicted. Trump cannot bear to have things out of his control. And one way he always tries to do that is by always trying to control the narrative. But he haw no control over Jack Smith so he tries to double and triple down on trying to control the narrative. But he cannot grasp the consequences of his own actions so can't see he keeps making confessions that will e used against him in court.


Conservative Legal Commentators Horrified by Trump’s Confessions During Baier Interview: ‘Game Over, Legally. What an Idiot.’
By Sarah RumpfJun 20th, 2023, 5:09 pm
3601 comments




Donald Trump’s interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier made headlines, not just for the former president’s penchant for colorful commentary, but also for the potential legal consequences for his responses that may be viewed as admissions in the federal criminal case against him — a fact that many conservatives noted with dismay.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation with 37 criminal counts spelling out how Trump retained boxes of documents that “included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign counties; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attack.”


Some of the most shocking allegations in the indictment relate to communications from Trump, his family members, his attorneys, and other staffers acknowledging that he had retained classified information that had not been declassified — plus the now-viral photos showing boxes of documents that allegedly contained classified information, stacked up in bathrooms, ballroom stages, storage rooms, and other nonsecure areas.

Trump pled not guilty to all the charges against him and has vociferously insisted the prosecution against him is a “WITCH HUNT!”

The topic of the federal charges came up multiple times during the interview, and while the ex-president insisted he had “zero” worries about the indictment, he might be wise to worry now in the aftermath of that interview, specifically regarding his discussion of how he responded to the National Archives and Records Administration’s request for the return of the documents and attempts to explain why he took and kept the documents.

Many conservative legal commentators were shocked by Trump seemingly admitting to key elements of these crimes on national television — a confession that is almost certain to be admissible in court. The ex-president, like all criminal defendants, has the constitutional right to refuse to testify, but Smith’s prosecutorial team can gather up all of Trump’s television appearances, Truth Social posts, campaign rally speeches, and other public comments and enter them into the record to his legal detriment.

Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor and one of Trump’s challengers for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, lambasted his “horrible political and legal strategy” exhibited in the Baier interview.

“I mean, does anybody in America believe this?” Christie said about Trump’s attempts to explain his actions. “I think he knows he’s in trouble,” Christie, a former prosecutor argued, adding:

And last night, I think the worst moment for him was talking about the fact that he just didn’t have time to go through these boxes. Well, in response to the grand jury subpoena, yet he told the government and had his lawyer certify that he had returned all of the documents that were responsive to the subpoena. That is obstruction of justice. And it appears to me last night as a former prosecutor, that he had he admitted obstruction of justice on the air last night to Bret Baier. I can tell you this, his lawyers this morning are jumping out of whatever window they’re near.

Erick Erickson was right to the point in a tweet Monday evening. “Guys, Trump admitted on TV tonight he withheld documents from the grand jury,” he wrote. “Game over, legally. What an idiot.”




Erickson, a former Georgia attorney, expanded on this in a Substack post headlined, “That Was Not Smart.”

“Trump sat with Bret Baier last night and all but admitted to a felony,” wrote Erickson, explaining how the grand jury subpoena meant “Trump had only one of two choices: hand over the documents or challenge the subpoena. He did not do the latter, so he had to do the former.” The former president’s claims he was “very busy” and needed to sort through his personal belongings was simply “not a defense to a grand jury subpoena.”

“This was a really, really bad idea for him to do this,” Erickson added. “It’s no wonder he is struggling to find and retain good counsel.”

Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey was incredulous at what Trump said during the interview, writing, “Did Trump just admit to obstruction — on national television?”




Morrissey then answered his own question, including a transcript of the interview and writing, “It certainly sounds like a tacit admission of deliberate obstruction in regard to the subpoena.”


“Trump just made it almost impossible for a jury to believe any denial on these allegations, and his justification here would be damning in court,” he explained, and “likely ruined a potential defense strategy for his attorneys” because he has now forced them “to work around” Trump’s publicly televised comments when they go to trial:

Bear in mind too that criminal defendants don’t have to testify in court. Trump could have refused to expose himself to cross-examination at trial and make Smith and his team prove obstruction on their own beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, Trump put himself on national TV and let Bret Baier cross-examine him, in a way that prosecutors can use whether Trump agrees to testify or not. And Trump botched the exchange and ended up making a potentially fatal admission, not because of a skilled attorney, but because a journalist simply read the elements of the indictment to him.

Now Smith and his team can play this to a jury, and Trump can’t stop it. Public admissions are admissible in court whether or not defendants choose to testify, and probably carry even more weight when they’re on videotape. (Even private admissions are admissible if direct witnesses to the admission are willing to testify to them.) Trump will almost certainly have to testify now to explain this away — and everyone can imagine how Trump will hold up under prosecutorial cross-examination.

Jonathan Turley, a frequent legal commentator for Fox News, posted a Twitter thread that broadly praised his colleague Baier and noted that Trump has now forced his defense attorneys to change tactics:







Trump is “Every Lawyer’s Nightmare Client,” declared National Review’s Noah Rothman, writing that during the interview, Trump “rocketed off into a prolonged and ill-advised homily ostensibly aimed at establishing his innocence,” but instead “appeared to confirm many of the charges against him.”

The former president “appeared to corroborate the allegation that he withheld evidence from a grand jury,” wrote Rothman. “There are no ‘too busy’ and ‘I don’t want to’ clauses that allow targets of a federal subpoena to avoid compliance.”

A sampling of other reactions:

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/c...er-interview-game-over-legally-what-an-idiot/

 

Bill Barr isn't just hurting Trump although it is clear it is personal and he's kicking the living fuck out of him. But Barr is also hurting all treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republicans and the whole treasonous MAGA movement. Barr is standing there screaming the emperor has no clothes. And treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republicans can stand there saying oh no just look at his golden flowing robes. Which is fine for the blind brainwashed Trump cult followers. But thinking people and especial independents are sitting there saying no that fat fuck is naked. And his cut followers are blind fools. Which puts the spotlight on all of them.


Trump, Barr feud reaches fever pitch

398
Brett Samuels
Wed, June 21, 2023 at 4:00 AM MDT




The escalating feud between former President Trump and his one-time Attorney General Bill Barr is reaching a fever pitch, with Trump’s indictment on federal charges last week adding accelerant to what had already been a fiery break between the two men.

Barr has been among the most prominent conservatives or former Trump administration officials to publicly criticize their former boss’s behavior and vouch for the strength of the federal indictment against him, undercutting defenses offered up by Trump and his allies.

Barr has called special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment “damning,” dismissed Trump’s defenses as “absurd,” and compared Trump to a “defiant 9-year-old kid.”

In response, Trump has called Barr a “gutless pig,” a “RINO,” meaning Republican in Name Only, and a “coward,” reserving some of his harshest language for the man he once praised as “one of the most respected jurists in the country.”



“So nice to see that Sloppy, Low Energy RINO Bill Barr, gets loudly booed and shouted at everywhere he goes! He is sooo bad for America,” Trump wrote Tuesday on his Truth Social platform.

Barr served as Trump’s attorney general for two years before resigning in December 2020, when he first broke with Trump as the former president pushed claims that the 2020 election was rigged and fraudulent. Barr had declared that the Justice Department he oversaw at the time found no basis to claims of widespread voter fraud that led to Trump’s election loss.

In the past year in particular, Barr has emerged as an outspoken critic of his former boss, testifying before the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol and becoming one of the most outspoken Republicans regarding the seriousness of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago last August to retrieve classified documents from Trump’s time in the White House.

The indictment details that Trump sought to retain documents containing some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets, including the withholding of national defense information and the concealment of his possession of classified documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In an op-ed published Monday in The Free Press, Barr laid out the facts of the documents case and pushed back on Trump’s various defenses, including that he had a right to keep the classified material under the Presidential Records Act and that he’s the victim of a double standard.

“For the sake of the country, our party, and a basic respect for the truth, it is time that Republicans come to grips with the hard truths about President Trump’s conduct and its implications,” Barr wrote. “Chief among them: Trump’s indictment is not the result of unfair government persecution. This is a situation entirely of his own making. The effort to present Trump as a victim in the Mar-a-Lago document affair is cynical political propaganda.”

Trump has been particularly irate at Barr in the roughly two weeks since he announced he’d been indicted in the documents case, lashing out on Truth Social, savaging him on a radio show hosted by political operative and Trump ally Roger Stone and again targeting his former attorney general in an interview conducted Monday.



“Bill Barr was a coward. Bill Barr didn’t do what he was supposed to do. I fired him. And he has great hatred,” Trump said in a Fox News interview aired Monday. “And that’s OK, because some people do. And some people love me very much.”

Trump’s ire is consistent with his habit of dumping on officials he previously nominated or appointed who have since criticized him in some way.

In Monday’s interview, Fox anchor Bret Baier noted that Barr, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, former Vice President Mike Pence, former national security adviser John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are among those who have questioned Trump’s judgment or character in some way since the end of his administration.

Baier also listed to Trump a litany of insults the former president has issued to each of those former officials in return.

Those who previously worked under Barr in the Justice Department have argued that he is committed to the rule of law and issues of national security. They also noted that he has been far more outspoken in defending probes led by the DOJ, a department he led under two different presidents.

Others have noted that there are political factors at play as well. The former attorney general is a dedicated, longtime Republican who has made it clear he would like to see the GOP move on from Trump.

“I think Barr is trying to cleanse himself of his Trump association, which is not likely to work with anyone who paid attention to what he did for Trump as AG,” said Alan Morrison, a law professor at George Washington University. “I also think that he is trying to get Republicans to move away from Trump as the best means of taking the White House in 2024.”

In an interview Sunday on CBS, Barr again made the case that Trump is unfit to serve another term in the White House.

“He will always put his own interests, and gratifying his own ego, ahead of everything else, including the country’s interest. There’s no question about it,” Barr said.

“Our country can’t be a therapy session for, you know, a troubled man like this,” Barr said.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-barr-feud-reaches-fever-100000438.html

 

Trump receives first batch of evidence against him in classified documents case, including audio tapes

Alex Brandon/AP
311
Tierney Sneed
Wed, June 21, 2023 at 7:26 PM MDT




Special counsel Jack Smith has begun producing evidence in the Mar-a-Lago documents case to Donald Trump, according to a Wednesday court filing that hints that investigators collected for the case multiple recordings of the former president – not just audio of an interview Trump gave at Bedminster for a forthcoming Mark Meadows memoir.

Prosecutors in the filing used the plural “interviews” to describe recordings of Trump – made with his consent – obtained by the special counsel that have now been turned over to his defense team. It is unclear what the additional recordings may be of or how relevant they will be to the Justice Department’s case against the former president, though the recordings include the Bedminster tape where Trump speaks about a secret military document to a writer and others, the prosecutors said in the filing.

The prosecutors’ update to the court on Wednesday night marks another swift move toward trial, which the Justice Department has said should happen quickly, and captures at least some of the extent of the evidence investigators secured to build their historic case against Trump.

The first batch of discovery production – made up of unclassified materials – includes transcripts of witness testimony in front of the grand juries in Washington, DC, and Florida that were probing the mishandling of government documents from Trump’s White House. It also includes materials collected via subpoenas and search warrants; memos detailing other witness interviews given through mid-May in the investigation; and copies of the surveillance footage investigators obtained in the probe.


The first batch of evidence, provided on Wednesday, “includes the grand jury testimony of witnesses who will testify for the government at the trial of this case,” the special counsel’s office wrote.

“Defense counsel can contact the government to arrange for inspection of unclassified items seized at Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022,” the filing said.

The new submission indicates that Trump’s co-defendant, Walt Nauta has not yet received discovery, but the Smith team said they will promptly provide it once a lawyer enters an appearance for him in the case. Nauta is scheduled to be arraigned next Tuesday.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges Smith has brought against him, which include charges for willful retention of national defense information as well charges stemming from alleged obstruction of the investigation.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-receives-first-batch-evidence-012610002.html

 

Trump documents investigation examined New Jersey club from outset
172
Hugo Lowell in Washington
Thu, June 22, 2023 at 5:00 AM MDT



Photograph: Amr Alfiky/Reuters

Federal prosecutors investigating Donald Trump’s retention of national security material were examining evidence within weeks of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago last year that he might have handled classified documents at his Bedminster club in New Jersey, according to two people close to the matter.

The indications of classified documents at Bedminster so alarmed prosecutors that they focused part of the investigation on whether Trump might have transported the materials or disclosed their contents there in addition to refusing to return them to the government, the people said.

Related: Some Republicans denounce Trump over classified documents but question DoJ’s motives


Trump was charged this month with retaining national defense information and obstruction of justice, in an indictment that also notably alleged that Trump discussed a military plan to attack Iran and waved a classified map of Afghanistan in front of a staffer in 2021 at the New Jersey property.

The suspicion that Trump travelled with classified documents between Mar-a-Lago, his winter residence, and Bedminster, his summer residence, started early in the criminal investigation that intensified after the FBI search and culminated in Trump being accused of violating the Espionage Act.

A justice department spokesperson declined to comment.

Within weeks of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, the justice department sought to act on the indications of classified documents at Bedminster when it told the Trump legal team that prosecutors believed the former president still possessed classified materials, the people said.

The message in the letter, which became a formal court motion filed under seal weeks later, was clear: arrange for new searches of all of the Trump properties because, as of that time, the only place that had been combed for classified documents was the Mar-a-Lago resort.

Whether to acquiesce with the request split the Trump legal team. Trump in-house counsel Boris Epshteyn and Trump lawyer Chris Kise were uneasy about being ordered around by the government, while the other Trump lawyers Tim Parlatore and Jim Trusty suggested a cooperative approach.

The legal team ultimately decided on working with the justice department and, in one exchange, asked prosecutors which Trump properties and where at the Trump properties they wanted them to search.

The prosecutors were noncommittal and told the Trump legal team that they were not in the business of providing specific locations because they might not know about all of the properties in the former president’s control. But, notably, they did specifically request a new search of Bedminster.

Bedminster had not previously been searched after Trump received a subpoena last May for any classified-marked documents because it had been issued to the Trump political office, which is registered at Mar-a-Lago and a building in Palm Beach – not the golf club in New Jersey.

(The reason why the subpoena was issued to the Trump political office was not certain, though the justice department typically issues subpoenas to organizations because of the fifth amendment act of production doctrine that protects individuals from being compelled to turn over contraband.)

But when the new searches of the Trump properties by contractors took place, they found no classified documents at Bedminster, according to people familiar with what they certified to the then chief US judge in Washington, Beryl Howell, who was overseeing the grand jury litigation.

The results of the Bedminster search left prosecutors uneasy given the earlier evidence about indications of classified documents at the club, the people said, and prompted them to ask the Trump team for a custodian of records to attest that no further documents remained in Trump’s possession.

It was when the Trump legal team declined to make a custodian available – principally because Trump did not have one and suggested instead that Parlatore could testify to the grand jury about the new searches of the Trump properties – that prosecutors sought contempt proceedings, the people said.

The absence of classified documents at Bedminster led prosecutors to suspect that Trump treated it like a vacation home, where he took boxes of things away from Mar-a-Lago at the start of the summer, and then returned with all of his things to Mar-a-Lago at the end of the season, the people said.

Though it remains uncertain when exactly prosecutors learned about the audio tape of Trump discussing the military plan to attack Iran in July 2021 at Bedminster, their suspicions were confirmed by March when they subpoenaed Trump aide Margo Martin, who made the recording, to confirm its authenticity.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-documents-investigation-examined-jersey-110007963.html

 

Ex-CIA official highlights most frightening top secret docs pilfered by Trump

Matthew Chapman
June 26, 2023, 8:03 AM ET



Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago / Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead


Former CIA official and George Mason University Hayden Center director Larry Pfeiffer broke down exactly the types of documents former President Donald Trump was hoarding in his Mar-a-Lago stash in an article for The Bulwark — and he made it clear that Trump's actions were dangerous to national security.

The key point, noted Pfeiffer, is that prosecutors have revealed many of the "top secret" documents actually went even higher than that classification, as they were part of "special access programs," a type of intelligence so secret that prosecutors even had to redact the codenames, because just the disclosure of those without any information about what they were could put military and intelligence officials in danger.

"These included documents about the nuclear capabilities of another country, military attacks by a foreign country, the military capabilities of a foreign country, the timeline and details of an attack in a foreign country, the regional military activity of a foreign country, the military activity of foreign countries and the United States, and military activity in a foreign country," wrote Pfeiffer. "And as sensitive as the subjects of those documents are, what was really put at risk by our former commander-in-chief were the nation’s most sensitive activities and information derived from them."

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"These are programs or activities so sensitive they require enhanced safeguards and the strictest access requirements," wrote Pfeiffer. "Even those who go through the arduous and sometimes years-long process of obtaining a Top Secret clearance often require additional security adjudication for to gain access to SAPs. Details of SAPs are usually limited to the bare minimum number of people with a 'need to know.' Some are divided into several compartments with individuals given access only to those compartments requiring their expertise or knowledge; only a select few — a dozen or so, maybe fewer — might have access to the totality of the SAP."

Examples of the sort of information found in SAPs, wrote Pfeiffer, include research on new, experimental weapons systems, which could tell our adversaries how to neutralize our capabilities; information about active spies, which could compromise critical operations, get operatives killed, and make it much harder to even recruit new operatives; and documents that detail the “planning, execution, and support” of elite military operations, like the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Eight of the documents Trump is charged with removing, noted Pfeiffer, may contain at least some sort of SAP information — including from so-called "unacknowledged" SAPs, which are so secret that even the top-level reference to what program they are about is classified.

"It may be months or even years before a jury determines whether the former president is guilty," concluded Pfeiffer. "The president, his lawyers, and his political supporters will make legal arguments about the Espionage Act, the Atomic Energy Act, and the constitutional powers and privileges of the presidency ... But ultimately they are independent of the more important consideration: Trump endangered our national security, putting us all at greater risk, and must be held accountable."



https://www.rawstory.com/trump-mar-a-lago-documents-2661879728/

 

Legal experts: 'Devastating' Trump audio 'as close to a smoking gun as you can get'

Sarah K. Burris
June 26, 2023, 8:56 PM ET



Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP


CNN published a recording of Donald Trump showing biographers classified documents that he took from the White House when he left in 2021.

“These are the papers,” Trump says in the tape, talking about Gen. Mark Milley. It's a quote, CNN remarks, was not in the indictment.

Trump and his aide then cracked jokes about former Sec. Hillary Clinton, whom Trump said he would "lock up" because she had classified information on her email server at home.

“Hillary would print that out all the time, you know. Her private emails,” Trump’s staffer said.

Speaking to the Fox News network about the transcript after it was released, Trump swore it was all fake news. “There was no document. That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things. And it may have been held up or may not, but that was not a document. I didn’t have a document, per se. There was nothing to declassify. These were newspaper stories, magazine stories and articles.”

Bradley Moss, MSNBC legal analyst, referred back to the interview explaining after hearing the audio, "This wasn’t newspaper articles. He has the document right there. He is talking about how DoD presented it to him."

The tape appears to negate that claim.

"CNN has the Trump tape where he bragged about and showed off a classified battle plan for invading Iran — and that he KNEW it was classified and he shouldn’t have it," legal analyst Tristan Snell tweeted. "This is like the Access Hollywood tape, except here Trump was assaulting America’s national security."

Taking to Twitter on Monday evening as the news broke, political pundits and legal analysts flocked to give their observations and how it will likely impact the public perception of Trump's documents trial.

"Key evidence for the prosecution in the trial of Donald J Trump. The defendant in his own words — essentially narrating his crime," tweeted Just Security's Ryan Goodman.

"Remember, we already knew that the August 11 Bedminster tape was instrumental in the government’s decision to charge Trump in a document’s case. Now that we hear it, it’s more obvious why that was," LA Times legal analyst Harry Litman tweeted. He later remarked that "the jury will hear [it] whether or not Trump testifies." He also called it "devastating."

"This recording is as close to a smoking gun as you can get. This proves willfulness," said recent GW University graduate Aaron Parnas.

Adam Smith, who serves as the VP at CREW (Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington) tweeted: "I appreciate the criminal simplicity of 'these are the papers.'"

Some, like Katie Phang, said simply, "this is so bad for Trump."



https://www.rawstory.com/trump-tape-iran-documents-analysis/

 

'We have to assume our enemies know about' Trump’s documents: Former NSA and CIA director

Sarah K. Burris
June 27, 2023, 12:42 PM ET



Photo: CIA/Wikipedia


Michael Hayden, the former director of the CIA and the NSA, spoke out on Tuesday about the recently released tape of Donald Trump yucking it up with a group over a classified document in his possession that apparently details plans for attacking Iran.

Hayden spoke on a video produced for the group The Republican Accountability Project, which features Republicans willing to criticize Trump.

"The president is supposed to keep our secrets secure, not show our secrets off," Hayden says in the video.

The former general has been largely silent in recent years after suffering a stroke in 2018. The video explains that this was such an important issue that he wanted to make his voice heard.

"Donald Trump has been indicted. He mishandled classified information," Hayden continued. "He had many top-secret documents at Mar-a-Lago for more than a year. We don't know who saw them, but we have to assume those documents were compromised. And we have to assume that our enemies know about them."

Hayden also explained that after spending 40 years in intelligence, he's never seen anything like what has happened with Trump's document scandal.

"Trump must face consequences for his actions," he said. "The consequences will be really important."

See the video below or at the link here.









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Watch former NSA and CIA director General Michael Hayden speak out against Trump's mishandling of classified documents.












8:18 AM · Jun 27, 2023



https://www.rawstory.com/trump-documents-tape-michael-hayden/

 

And bidens and pences .......

 

I think this is right. Even when Jack Smith revealed the transcripts of the tape recording of Trump you would have to ask is that all he has? And the actual audio makes it sound 10 times worse. But again would Smith use that if that's all there is? There was a room full of witnesses to this interview. Would Smith not bring them in for questioning? And if he did and some of the witnesses said well no Trump never showed us actual classified documents would he have still included the tape? I don't think so.




“We haven’t seen anything yet”: Despite tape, experts say it “only gets worse for Trump from here”





Donald TrumpDrew Angerer/Getty Images

CNN on Monday released an exclusive audio recording in which former President Donald Trump can be heard discussing "secret" classified documents in his possession that he acknowledged he could no longer declassify after leaving office – a conversation legal experts suggest will be pivotal for the government's case.

The two-minute recording, made at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club, captures a moment where Trump suggests that he possesses a classified Pentagon document outlining potential plans for an attack on Iran.

Trump can be heard referencing a "big pile of papers" and talking about former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, who reportedly urged him not to attack Iran at the end of his presidency.


"The audio clip is powerful evidence for the government on multiple fronts," Adam Kamenstein, a former federal prosecutor and current partner with Adams, Duerk & Kamenstein, told Salon. "It also proves not just that he possessed classified documents but that he knew he possessed classified documents, which will be crucial to the government's case."

Related



The tape also reveals that "the classified documents were not subsequently planted by the government," unlike what the former president has claimed in social media posts, he said.

"In addition, it's an admission that he had not taken steps to declassify it, as he has claimed and that he knew he had no authority to declassify it once his term ended," Kamenstein said. "As damning as it is on its own, it likely only gets worse for Trump from here, because those in the room with him at the time have probably testified before the grand jury and, at trial, would be expected to provide additional context to the conversation, further cementing the government's case."

The audio clip was recorded in July 2021 during a meeting between Trump and publishers working on the autobiography of former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Trump aide Margo Martin, who regularly tapes conversations with authors to ensure accuracy, recorded the conversation.

Smith cited the recording in the indictment when Trump was charged with 37 counts related to stashing documents at Mar-a-Lago and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them earlier this month.

But, the recording will not serve as "the singular piece of 'smoking gun' evidence" that the special counsel "uses to litigate the case for the criminal charges," Javed Ali, a former senior counterterrorism official at the Department of Homeland Security, told Salon.

Instead, it "could be a key factor that shapes the jury's perceptions of Trump's claim that he followed the strict guidelines for properly declassifying documents that he then took once he left office," Ali said.

"There is a specific process overseen by the National Archives and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to ensure that formerly classified US government documents are declassified and approved for public release if so requested by presidents or other senior government officials while in office, and by all accounts President Trump did not follow these rules before leaving the White House," he added.



Attorney Andrew Lieb suggested that Smith likely has more damning evidence.

"Make no mistake that he has the goods and we haven't seen anything yet," Lieb said. "This is going to be a multi-front war with federal indictments going on in different district courts simultaneously."

Despite making claims in an interview last week that he had no classified documents in his possession, the recording contradicts Trump's previous claims.

In a Fox interview with host Bret Baier, the former president insisted "everything was declassified" and said he did not "know" if the materials he took contained documents detailing an attack plan against Iran even though the July recording suggests that he did.

Trump has continued to defend himself on his social media platform Truth Social and lashed out at Smith after the leak.

"The Deranged Special Prosecutor, Jack Smith, working in conjunction with the DOJ & FBI, illegally leaked and 'spun' a tape and transcript of me which is actually an exoneration, rather than what they would have you believe," Trump wrote. "This continuing Witch Hunt is another ELECTION INTERFERENCE Scam. They are cheaters and thugs!"

Even though Trump has admitted the recording was leaked and alleges it was spun, he doesn't "deny its authenticity," Lieb pointed out.

"Yes, the tape is terrible evidence against Trump, but the real story is he is challenging to be the worst client of eternity for any criminal defense attorney because he gives real time admissions rather than keeping his mouth (Truths) shut while his attorneys do their job," Lieb said. "It's almost like he wants to be convicted."


https://www.yahoo.com/news/haven-t-seen-anything-yet-185611794.html

 

The latest news reports are Jack Smith is going to hit Trump with an additional 30 to 40 charges. As well indict some of his attorneys

 

Jack Smith looks to hit Trump with up to 45 new charges and indict attorneys: report

Gideon Rubin
June 29, 2023, 3:04 PM ET



Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump (Photo via Don Emmert/AFP)


Donald Trump could soon be facing additional indictments from the Department of Justice, The Independent reports.

The DOJ has made preparations for a “superseding indictment,” which are additional charges that may include allegations of more serious crimes against a defendant, according to the report, which cites sources familiar with the matter.

Andrew Feinberg writes for The Independent that "Prosecutors are now prepared to 'stack' an 'additional 30 to 45 charges' on top of the 37-count indictment brought against Mr Trump on 8 June. They would do so using evidence against the ex-president that has not yet been publicly acknowledged by the department, including other recordings prosecutors have obtained which reveal Mr Trump making incriminating statements."

The decision over whether to pursue additional charges from a grand jury along with the venue in which they would be pursued, will likely hinge on the extent to which prosecutors believe the judge hearing the case is capable of acting as an impartial jurist, according to the report.

Aileen Cannon’s impartiality is considered an open question after the Trump-appointed federal judge’s decisions in the case were overturned by the conservative 11th Circuit.

Feinberg writes, “Additionally, it is understood that special counsel Jack Smith’s team is ready to bring charges against several of the attorneys who have worked for Mr. Trump, including those who aided the ex-president in his push to ignore the will of voters and remain in the White House despite having lost the 2020 election.”

Among the most prominent potential indictment targets is Rudy Giuliani, who voluntarily met with prosecutors earlier this week, fueling speculation that the former Trump attorney and New York City mayor is looking to cut a deal.

Trump and Giuliani are also believed to be targets of a Georgia probe focusing on efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Feinberg writes that “That probe, which is being conducted by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, is expected to result in multiple indictments which could be unveiled as early as next month. Ms Willis, who last year oversaw a special purpose grand jury probe into efforts by Mr Trump and his allies to reverse his loss to Mr Biden in Georgia, is reportedly considering indictments against the ex-president, his former attorney, top Republican figures in the state, as well as Mr Trump’s final White House chief of staff, ex-North Carolina congressman Mark Meadows.”

Read the full article here.



https://www.rawstory.com/jack-smith-2662044533/

 

Former Top FBI Official: ‘Certainly Possible’ Trump Could Face More Criminal Charges In New Jersey
By Phillip NietoJun 29th, 2023, 7:10 pm

Former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that it was certainly possible that former President Donald Trump could face additional criminal charges from federal prosecutors in Bedminster, New Jersey, for his handling of classified material.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz reported on Thursday that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office is still investigating the former president and the federal grand jury in Florida is still active.

Moreover, senior Trump campaign official Susie Miles, who Trump allegedly showed a classified map during a meeting at his New Jersey golf club, has spoken to federal investigators multiple times.


Blitzer asked McCabe on Thursday whether the continued investigation and new witness testimony could leave to additional charges for Trump in New Jersey.

“It’s certainly possible,” McCabe responded. “I think it still remains a big question. You have these two incidents in which classified documents, national defense information, were shared with people who were not authorized to receive it. Both of them take place at Bedminster. And yet Bedminster is somewhat notoriously the one location that the government has not searched.”

He went on to explain that a search of the property by the government is possible, but not likely.

“We know that the Trump team conducted their own search. We also know that the special counsel team ultimately identified the people who conducted that search and brought those people in for interviews,” McCabe added. “I think it’s probably a concern on the part of the prosecutors, but I would expect that at this point, they don’t believe they have enough current recent probable cause to execute any sort of a search warrant there.”

Earlier this month, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his handling of classified material at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Southern Florida. His personal aide and co-defendant, Walt Nauta, is expected to enter a plea of not guilty on the federal charges sometime next week.

https://www.mediaite.com/trump/form...uld-face-more-criminal-charges-in-new-jersey/