I admit to being surprised and stumped by this. Trump always runs to the Supreme Court where he had already racked up a huge record of being a loser. But in his reptilian brain the only thing he can feel is his own survival from moment to moment so running to the Supreme Court would at least buy him some time. But this makes sense. Any court seeing the evidence agrees Trump has committed crimes and revokes attorney/client privilege. And the appeals court did that in what appears to be astonishing speed. So no his legal team would not want to risk the Supreme Court seeing the evidence and doing the same thing.


Trump is scrambling to keep evidence of criminality out of the hands of the Supreme Court — here's why

Tom Boggioni
March 25, 2023



Donald Trump (Photo by Brendan Smialowski for AFP)


Donald Trump's decision to allow one of his lawyers to speak before a grand jury on Friday morning, instead of appealing all the way to the Supreme Court, may have been made out of fear of what the justices on the nation's highest court might see if they reviewed the case.

According to MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, under normal circumstances, the former president would have dragged out a legal fight over attorney-client privilege that would have kept attorney Evan Corcoran from testifying under oath about Trump's possession of government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort that led to the FBI showing up with a warrant.

As Rubin notes, the fact that Trump let Corcoran testify over three hours raised eyebrows.

"For one, yes, it is indeed unusual, if not unheard of, for a lawyer to be litigating against a party one day and then testifying under court-ordered examination by that same party the next one," she wrote before suggesting Trump and his legal team were looking at the long game when he might need the predominantly conservative Supreme Court to lend him a helping hand.

RELATED: Revealed: Emails show how Trump lawyers drove Michael Cohen to turn on the president

Writing, "Trump has made clear he believes this Supreme Court — controlled by conservative justices, three of whom he appointed — owes him one," she added, "My hunch is that Trump’s team let Corcoran’s testimony happen because of what’s likely involved in any request to pause, much less, review a crime-fraud-related ruling: the evidence."

"Put another way, if Trump had petitioned the Supreme Court to stay Corcoran’s testimony and document production, the justices would have seen some, if not all, of what Judge Howell and the three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit have already reviewed: proof that Trump misled Corcoran and engaged in criminal conduct," she elaborated.

Rubin went on to note that Trump would likely appeal any conviction to the Supreme Court, writing, "And for someone whose one last hope, if he is ultimately charged or tried by any of the multiple entities now investigating him, is that same Supreme Court, letting the justices see evidence of his alleged crimes now would be a bridge too far."

"Trump can’t afford to lose the Supreme Court yet," she suggested.

You can read more here.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-supreme-court-2659654655/

 

DOJ warrant cites fresh evidence Trump may have moved his documents around to hide them after FBI searches

Sarah K. Burris
April 02, 2023



Donald Trump (Photo: By Nicole S Glass/Shutterstock)


The Washington Post reported Sunday afternoon that more evidence might have become available to prove obstructions of justice for the theft of the government documents taken back to Mar-a-Lago.

Trump refused to turn the documents over for nearly a year when the Justice Department and FBI got involved. The FBI was then given an envelope with additional documents, but that still wasn't everything. Ultimately, the DOJ got a search warrant and went to Mar-a-Lago to get the documents.

According to the fresh evidence, there is more that has been discovered pointing to former President Donald Trump's obstructions of justice, those familiar told the Post.

"The additional evidence comes as investigators have used emails and text messages from a former Trump aide to help understand key moments last year," the report explained, citing the sources.

Special counsel Jack Smith is at work on the documents case as well as anything around the Jan. 6 attack.

The report highlighted that the key difference between documents found at Trump's home and those found at former Vice President Mike Pence's or President Joe Biden's is the intent and the obstruction. Both Pence and Biden say they were unaware that they had the information. Trump knew because he was told about it so many times when being asked for it to be returned prior to the DOJ being involved.

"Investigators now suspect, based on witness statements, security camera footage, and other documentary evidence, that boxes including classified material were moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area after the subpoena was served, and that Trump personally examined at least some of those boxes," the Post said, citing their sources. "While Trump’s team returned some documents with classified markings in response to the subpoena, a later FBI search found more than 100 additional classified items that had not been turned over."

The details are coming from court documents that are asking for judicial authorization for the FBI to do a search of Trump's home, because of “evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises.”

Court papers filed seeking judicial authorization for the FBI to conduct the search of Trump’s home show agents due to “evidence of obstruction will be found at the premises.”

The violations of statutes cited in the documents include 18 USC 1519, which says that it is a crime to alter, destroy, mutilate or conceal a document or tangible object “with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency.”

This information could be additional evidence to prove Trump's intent.

Trump admitted on his social media site that he "did" steal the documents.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-documents-obstruction-evidence/

 

Claim that Trump showed classified docs to donors could be what brings him down: former FBI agent

Sarah K. Burris
April 03, 2023



Donald Trump at at Trump International in New Jersey (Shutterstock)


Bombshell revelations claiming former President Donald Trump was showing classified documents to donors at his Mar-a-Lago home could be what brings him down, former FBI agent and Donald Trump foe Peter Strzok said Monday.

Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, he cited a Sunday Washington Post article that claimed the Justice Department had obtained new evidence that proves obstructions of justice in the classified case.

Before that report, Trump could reasonably claim that he knew nothing about the documents, the report said. He could say his staff had packed them into boxes when he moved from the White House, without Trump's knowledge.

But if he was showing them off to visitors, that argument would be killed.

Former Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who joined Strzok on Wallace's panel, explained that these facts remove Trump's ability to use that excuse. It ties Trump directly to obstruction.

"That's where the reporting from yesterday comes in that's so important," Katyal told Wallace. "It ties Trump directly to the scheme. If it holds up and, of course, we don't know — and Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence and all that, but if that's what [special counsel] Jack Smith is looking at and looks like what he got, that's going to be very devastating."

But it was ultimately Strzok that connected the dots between all of those details and warned that Trump is "quite encircled" on the conspiracy to obstruct the documents probe.

"I think part of the reason he hasn't been charged yet — remember one of Trump's key lawyers, Evan Corcoran, was engaged in this long fight about whether or not he'd be compelled to testify before the grand jury and recently he did go ahead and do that," Strzok said.

"This article very clearly points out that special counsel Smith's folks are asking whether or not he shows this information to donors," he continued. "So, if you're trying to figure out the 'why,' what's your theory of the case, why on Earth did he want to do it, if he's using this to convert it for fundraising and showing it to people who absolutely have no business seeing it and he's hiding it at the same time. That really starts to flesh out the story about, one, why this occurred and, two, how integral Trump was to this entire enterprise."

Wallace read the piece of the Post report saying that Trump would flash his classified documents, "including maps," to political donors. This isn't the first time Trump is accused of playing fast and loose with the nation's secrets or security. During the early years of the Trump presidency, Mar-a-Lago club members were seen having their photos taken with the nuclear football, the briefcase that contains all authorization for a president to launch a nuclear attack while away from the White House.

See the clip of the discussion below or at the link here:



https://www.rawstory.com/trump-showing-donors-classified-documents/

 

Here is a transcript of Trump's "speech" last night at Mar a Lago. And if you read it its clear that with all the legal peril Trump is facing the one that has him more terrified than any other is Jack Smith and his stolen classified documents investigation. No one knows how guilty he is better than Trump himself. And now he knows Smith has gotten everything. Emails, texts, documents, security video, tape recordings, contemporary notes, and witnesses.

https://www.rev.com/blog/transcript...ar-a-lago-following-ny-arraignment-transcript

 

This is the one that has Trump's lawyers panicked more than anything else. If you read the search warrant you know Trump is being investigated for very serious crimes in the stolen classified documents case. And because Trump is mentally ill he committed those crimes right out in the open with lots of evidence and witnesses.



Source: Secret Service officials to testify before grand jury in Trump probe

98
Nicole Sganga
Thu, April 6, 2023 at 8:59 PM MDT




A handful of current and former U.S. Secret Service officials are set to testify on Friday before a Washington, D.C., grand jury as part of the special counsel investigation into last year's FBI search at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in which classified documents were seized, a source familiar with the ongoing investigation told CBS News.

Multiple current and multiple former USSS officials are expected to testify, the source said, declining to provide an exact number.

The grand jury proceedings are part of special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the Mar-a-Lago search. Last November, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith to oversee the Justice Department's investigation into the Mar-a-Lago search, along with the agency's investigation into Trump's role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Last week, a judge ordered Trump attorney Evan Corcoran to also testify before the grand jury in connection with the Aug. 8 Mar-a-Lago search in which the FBI seized 33 boxes, including dozens of documents with classified markings that were supposed to have been handed over to the National Archives.

The source told CBS News that this is believed to be the first appearance of USSS officials, either current or former, before the D.C. grand jury, but stressed it is likely not the last.

Several other USSS officials will be slated to appear in the coming weeks, the source said, and some have not yet been approached by the FBI.

CBS News has reached out to USSS for comment. Friday's scheduled testimony was first reported by Fox News.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/source-secret-officials-testify-grand-025933608.html

 

It would be very naive to think Bill Barr doesn't still have people inside the DOJ that are willing to talk to him



Bill Barr: DOJ could have 'very good evidence' of possible Trump obstruction in documents case

831
Ken Tran, USA TODAY
Sun, April 9, 2023 at 9:37 AM MDT




Former Attorney General Bill Barr, once one of Donald Trump's most loyal defenders, said the investigation of classified documents could pose a real threat for the former president, even as he slammed a prosecutor's indictment of Trump in a separate probe last week.

Barr said Trump played "games" with federal investigators as they sought to retrieve the documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Those games, Barr said on ABC's "This Week", could amount to obstruction of justice.

"I think that's a serious potential case. I think they probably have some very good evidence there," Barr said.


Former President Donald Trump and former Attorney General Bill Barr step off Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Sept. 1, 2020.
Possible Trump obstruction in Mar-a-Lago documents case
Trump is currently facing a probe from the Department of Justice special counsel into his handling of classified documents kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate, which Barr said Trump "had no claim to."

“He had no claim to those documents, especially the classified documents. It belonged to the government,” Barr said. “I think he was jerking the government around.”


Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday.
“The government is investigating the extent to which games were played and there was obstruction in keeping the documents from them. I think that’s a serious potential case, I think they probably have some very good evidence there,” Barr continued.

Jim Trusty, who has represented Trump in the documents case, said on ABC’s “This Week” he is absolutely certain that Trump no longer has any classified documents in his possession.

“Every step of the way, if we found anything of interest, even if it’s probably not classified, we’ve turned it over to the FBI and DOJ,” Trusty said.

Trusty also dismissed the notion of obstruction charges against Trump, calling it “nonsense” on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and that the Justice Department is “desperately trying to find an obstruction angle that just isn’t there.”

Barr: Manhattan DA 'trying to hide the ball'
While the documents case could prove fraught for Trump, Barr criticized the former president's indictment, saying the indictment and statement of facts released by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is “very opaque,” and that Bragg is “trying to hide the ball.”

“I found what’s been put out, very opaque. And I think if he has a good case he would specify exactly what his case is, but he’s trying to hide the ball,” Barr said.

Trusty said on ABC’s “This Week” that the case was “a ham sandwich of an indictment” and that the former president’s legal team in the Manhattan case should prioritize motions to dismiss the case.

“I think the motions to dismiss have to be a priority because they amputate this miscarriage of justice early on,” Trusty said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bill-barr-doj-could-very-145425944.html

 

I wonder how long it will be before what the documents are leaks out? One big hint. If we don't hear anything its because its really bad for Trump.


‘Gang of Eight’ now has access to classified documents found at Trump, Biden and Pence homes
by Rebecca Beitsch - 04/11/23 9:32 AM ET

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The Department of Justice has begun to provide some lawmakers access to the classified documents recovered from the homes of President Biden and former President Trump following a pressure campaign from senators threatening to withhold funding, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The documents were provided to the Gang of Eight, comprised of the top four leaders in Congress and the head Republican and Democrat from both the Senate and House Intelligence committees. They include a set of documents found at the home of former Vice President Mike Pence.


The capitulation comes after months of complaints from lawmakers and assurances from both DOJ and the intelligence community, which argued turning over such sensitive documents was complicated by the appointment of two special counsels reviewing the matter.

Punchbowl News first reported the development.

Senators had been especially vocal in recent weeks about plans to block funding to the Justice Department over what they viewed as department limitations on their oversight.

“They’re ruining their relationship with a committee that has always been very responsible and a very good working partner with them,” Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), the top Republican on the committee, told The Hill.

“There’s no doubt that there’s going to be consequences for it. There has to be. We have to protect our role on oversight. And the way you do that, unfortunately, is to leverage [the power] that appropriations and authorizations give us. We would prefer not to, but if we have to, we will.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the Intelligence Committee, said the panel was looking for ways to reach into the executive office of the Justice Department.


“We have the ability to be able to fence off certain amounts [so] that you don’t actually receive that until you’re actually operating in full faith,” he told The Hill previously.

Lawmakers, who likewise has access to documents from the Mueller investigation, argue they need to oversee the potential national security fallout from the failure to keep the documents properly stored. That includes weighing if the intelligence community has taken all necessary steps to remedy the damage.

The Justice Department on Tuesday declined to comment.


Attorney General Merrick Garland, however, late last month said the documents could soon be shared.

Louisville doctor pleads for policy makers to ‘do something’ on gun violence Judge rules Dominion can’t bring up Jan. 6 at Fox News trial

“We believe that there is an accommodation possible. We’ve been trying to work towards accommodation. We do have to balance the concerns of ongoing criminal investigations. But we also well recognize the oversight responsibilities and obligations of the committee. And we intend to work out an arrangement that will accommodate those interests,” he said during an appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Lawmakers have been working to get access to the records since Trump’s home was first searched last August.


While about 20 records are believed to have been found among Biden’s former office and home, in total authorities recovered some 300 classified records from Mar-a-Lago between various exchanges with Trump and his attorneys.



https://thehill.com/homenews/senate...cuments-found-at-trump-biden-and-pence-homes/

 

Stumbler forgets; transmitting, publishing or even describing a "top secret" document is itself a crime.

So, if we don't hear anything it is likely just because those in the know are following the law.

 

Legal expert: Jack Smith could charge Donald Trump with espionage after latest revelations

Sarah K. Burris
April 12, 2023



Jack Smith, Donald Trump (Smith photo by Robin Van Lonkhuijsen for AFP/ Trump by Saul Loeb for AFP)


A little over a week ago, The New York Times reported that among the things former President Donald Trump was doing with the documents he took from the White House was showing them off to people visiting him at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump was already in hot water for having the documents and spending a year refusing to give them back. What this adds to the piece of the story, reporter Michael Schmidt explained, is another piece of Trump's "intent."

"Yeah, his son kills elephants, and he's got classified maps," said MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace.

National security experts have feared what else Trump was doing with the documents and whether they were in a safe and secure place.

IN OTHER NEWS: Legal expert drops the hammer on Jim Jordan’s ‘clown show’ in New York

Wallace went on to ask if there was a connection between special counsel Jack Smith's probe and the recent statements from former Attorney General Bill Barr, sounding more confident that Trump will be indicted for obstruction of justice. She noted that Barr sounded so invested as if he testified himself.

Schmidt said that one thing he's observed from Barr is that no one else in the Trump universe has the savvy and political instincts to "move around on the chess board" of politics. Barr has already tried to maneuver himself into the best position in the past year. Wallace agreed, observing that he seemed to play to the audience.

But it was Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg who warned these new factoids could get Trump charged with espionage.

"Obstruction is the big whammy here because it's punishable by up to 20 years in prison. I think the reason that they asked about the map is another statute, 18 USC 719 (e), 'The Espionage Statute,' says that someone who is unauthorized to have possession of a map and then shows it to someone who can't see it violates that statute," Aronberg explained. "So, they're not just going after him for obstruction, but also espionage, which is punishable by up to ten years in prison. That's why there's a lot of trouble ahead. That's why Bill Barr is saying, hey, this is the tough one. It's not New York that will do in the former president. I think it's the Mar-a-Lago documents because there's a direct tie between the former president and the alleged criminality there."

See the full conversation below or at the link here.



https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-documents-espionage/

 

Oh no! Not espionage!!!

But I guess if RawStory says it's true, then...



Oh.
No.
Whatever.
Shall.
We.
Do?

 

Bill Barr Tells CNN Docs Case ‘Most Threatening’ To Trump — DOJ Likely Has ‘Strong Evidence of Obstruction’ And Informants
By Tommy ChristopherApr 14th, 2023, 9:25 am
1875 comments

Former AG Bill Barr told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that ex-President Donald Trump is at “high risk” of being indicted in the classified documents probe, and that DOJ likely has “strong evidence of obstruction” and cooperating insiders.

In addition to the 34-count indictment for which he was arraigned last week, Trump is also facing Special Counsel Jack Smith-led Justice Department probes into Trump’s mishandling of classified information under the Espionage Act and his conduct surrounding the January 6 insurrection.

On Thursday night’s edition of CNN Primetime, Collins asked Barr about his recent remark that Trump “dug himself a hole” in the Smith investigations. Barr said he’s still “skeptical” about the Jan. 6 case, but piled on Trump over the docs case:


COLLINS: Why do you think that one’s more threatening to him?

BARR: Because, when it first came out that he had the documents, a lot of people sort of immediately ran and said, why didn’t the government seek him, talk to him about it? Why didn’t the government subpoena it? Why did they have the raid and so forth — or the search?

And it turns out, as I suggested, that they jawboned him for a year-and-a-half. They did subpoena him. And I think the real question there is not whether he kept the documents and had them in Mar-a-Lago, so much as, once this was raised with him, and it was clear that he was being asked to return the documents as the government’s property, that games were played for quite a long time.

And I think that that exposes him. And…

COLLINS: Do you think…

BARR: Yes.

COLLINS: Do you think he can be charged on obstruction only here, or does there need to be an underlying crime, in your view?

BARR: I think, in this case, the underlying offense was his having these documents, which he shouldn’t have had, and he was subpoenaed.

And if he doesn’t provide them and hides them from the government, there’s both an underlying offense and there’s the offense of obstruction. But the thing that I think actually brings this — that raises this and makes it a more significant threat is the obstruction aspect of it.

COLLINS: And so do you…

BARR: And I — I’m not saying he — I just think there’s a high risk here.

And, just based on the government’s conduct here, I suspect that they have some evidence of — that they would consider to be strong evidence of obstruction. And that’s why I feel that this is probably the most threatening case.

COLLINS: What do you mean by that, based on what the government’s doing here? Do you mean because of how aggressively Jack Smith’s investigation is progressing, the fact that he was able to talk to Evan Corcoran, one of Trump’s defense attorneys, without the shield of attorney-client privilege?

What is it that makes you realize that it might be a serious case for your former boss?

BARR: Well, they did — they did puncture the attorney-client privilege, as you said, through the so-called crime-fraud, establishing before the judge the crime-fraud exception, which was to say there was probable cause that this — there was evidence of a crime here.

So, that and just the things I read in the newspaper make me feel that there’s probably a likelihood that they have people — people who have cooperated with the government and may be able to establish that he well knew he had not delivered all the documents back to the government.

COLLINS: It’s a pretty extraordinary case if they do move forward with it.

If you were the attorney general, do you think you could feel comfortable moving forward with indicting a former president?

BARR: Well, I think that this is the kind of case that requires a lot of discretion, prosecutorial discretion.

And one of the things that I think is appropriate to consider is, what will this do to the body politic, the precedent it sets, and having to deal with the question of uneven justice. People will point to Hillary Clinton and so forth. And those are legitimate points to consider.

And I’m not paid the big bucks to make that call right now, so I’m not going to offer my views on it. But one of the things I have said is that the appointment of Jack Smith makes me feel that they have decided not to — if — that, if the facts are there to sustain a case, that it’s a supportable case that would ordinarily be indicted, that they have made the decision to indict it, and that they’re not going to tank the case because of these discretionary considerations.

That’s — now, this happened — you know, that was my view before they found President Biden had taken some documents and Vice President Pence. And that complicates things. So, we will see where it falls out.

But, again, I do think that that’s the most serious thing facing the president — the former president.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/bill-...trong-evidence-of-obstruction-and-informants/

 

Funny how all the article's posted from democrats are full of modality and therfore its truth....hahaha

 

How nice of you to say that.


mo·dal·i·ty
noun
noun: modality; plural noun: modalities

1. 1.
   modal quality.
   "the harmony had a touch of modality"
   
   
2. 2.
   a particular mode in which something exists or is experienced or expressed.
   • a particular method or procedure.
     "traditional modalities of representing time and space"
   • a particular form of sensory perception.
     "the visual and auditory modalities"
   • (in medicine, particularly homeopathy) a symptom or pattern that aids in diagnosis.
     "The modality of “worse with activity” is associated with Rhus Tox"

 

Or it means this when you show all the information

Modality is the grammaticalized expression of the subjective attitudes and opinions of the speaker including possibility, probability, necessity, obligation, permissibility, ability, desire, and contingency.

Informally you could call them weasel words –
Jim
Jun 18, 2017 at 17:25

Second source, just in case....

Also called mode. Logic. the classification of propositions according to whether they are contingently true or false, possible, impossible, or necessary.

 

And once again we have proof that treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republicans are in fact and in deed traitors to the United States of America, the Constitution, the rule of law, and even our national security. They have no allegiance or loyalty to any of those or any of the other things that have made the United States of America great for more than 230 years. Their only loyalty is to Traitor Trump who they believe is above all laws and the Constitution and must become dictator for life. Turning the United States of America into a third would banana republic, shit hole country run by a mad king tin horn dictator.

And just look how many support that right here on our little forum.


And here's the proof.

Trump: ‘Nixon had no support … I have great Jim Jordan’
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brie...nixon-had-no-support-i-have-great-jim-jordan/

Nixon was forced to resign because he was caught breaking multiple laws and conservative/Republicans in Congress told him if he did not resign they would impeach him and remove him from office. And they had the votes to do it Conservative/Republicans back then chose loyalty and allegiance to the country over party.

But then Trump comes along and conservative/Republicans instantly turn into treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republicans that lie, cover up, and protect Trump no matter what he does. Shitting on the Constitution the ruled of law and the United States of America for just one man. Which they are still doing even now and even on our own little forum.


Now let's look at the facts that so easily prove this letter is nothing more than a pack of lies in an attempt to coverup and get the treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republicans in the House lie, cover up, protect and come to Trump's aid to keep him above the Constitutions and all laws.

And how do we know that. First the White House Counsel was informed by the National Archives they were already aware of multiple things that were not being turned over. Second, the White House Counsel informed both Trump and Mark Meadows that Trump had a horde of documents in his residence that had to be turned over to the National Archives and if he didn't and took them with him it would be a crime. That has already been testified to under oath. Third ,the National Archives began telling Trump they knew he was in possession of both documents and gifts that had to be returned to the National Archives as soon as he left office. And Trump refused to do it until they threatened to notify the DOJ. And finally it does not matter if any of the documents were classified or not. What matters is none of that belonged to Trump. Every bit of it belongs to the American people and Trump stole them from all of us us.

So this is just a pack of lies so the treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republicans can try and stop another criminal investigation of Trump. Which must be pretty close to indictments if they are this desperate.



Trump lawyers reveal new details about recovered documents in letter to Congress

Evan Vucci / AP
639
Robert Legare
Wed, April 26, 2023 at 9:00 PM MDT




Washington — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump sent a letter to Congress on Wednesday urging the Justice Department to "stand down" in its investigation into the former president's handling of sensitive records after he left the White House, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by CBS News.

The correspondence — from attorneys Timothy Parlatorre, Jim Trusty, John Rowley and Linsdey Halligan — offers a possible preview of the Trump team's defense of the former president as he faces the possibility of criminal prosecution by special counsel Jack Smith after documents with classified markings from Trump's time in office were recovered at his Florida residence.

The letter portrays a hasty transition from the White House after the 2020 election amid Trump's unproven claims of election fraud in which "White House staff simply swept all documents from the President's desk and other areas into boxes" that were then transported to Florida.

According to the letter, earlier this year Parlatore and Trusty were given access to the initial 15 boxes of records and documents sent from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort to the National Archives in January 2022. Archived officials ultimately uncovered documents with classified markings, prompting a referral to the Justice Department.


The lawyers' search of those boxes revealed briefings for phone calls with foreign leaders were likely interspersed with "newspapers, magazines, notes, letters, and daily schedules," the letter said. Staff from the National Archives had replaced the potentially classified records with placeholder inserts that described their contents. The specific contents of the 15 boxes, including the potential notes from calls with foreign leaders, had not been previously reported before the letter was sent to Congress.

News of the letter was first reported by CNN.

But the letter neither addresses why the attorneys were given access to the records, nor whether the Trump legal team was able to look through another 33 boxes of additional records taken from Mar-a-Lago by the FBI after the execution of a search warrant last August. That court-authorized search yielded an additional 103 documents with classified markings, according to the Justice Department.

The attorneys lay the blame for the transfer of the classified documents not on their client, but on "inconsistent" White House practices for handling sensitive records. They accuse federal investigators of going outside the norms by shutting down what they describe were cooperative talks in order to put Trump on the defensive.

"Any doubts that the presence of marked documents in the boxes was the result of White House institutional processes, rather than intentional decisions by President Trump, should have been dispelled by the recent discovery of marked documents at the residences of President Biden and Vice President Pence," the letter argues, pointing to recent discoveries that both Mr. Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence notified the Justice Department that they, too, had uncovered documents with classified markings from their tenures as vice president.

"All indications are that the presence of marked documents at Mar-a-Lago was the result of haphazard records keeping and packing by White House staff and GSA," the lawyers wrote, "President Trump has directed us to immediately notify DOJ of the discovery of marked documents at Mar-a-Largo and we have faithfully done so."

The lawyers point out that they are not making any representations as to whether the documents with classified markings were in fact classified and allege the Justice Department has not given them any update on their status. Trump has previously argued he declassified the documents, though he has never offered any proof of doing so.

A spokesman for the special counsel's office declined to comment.

The attorneys' letter to Congress excludes certain details from the federal probe into Trump's handling of potentially sensitive records, including that the Justice Department said it is investigating the potential obstruction of federal investigators as they attempted to recover the potentially classified documents.

Last year, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News that federal investigators questioned a Mar-a-Lago aide who said he moved boxes of documents at the behest of the former president. Investigators subpoenaed security camera footage in Mar-a-Lago, which contributed to their concern that the investigation was being obstructed.

And last month, Trump's attorney, Evan Corcoran, was compelled to answer questions about communications with his client after an appeals court enforced a Justice Department subpoena for his testimony.

Corcoran no longer represents Trump in the documents matter, sources tell CBS News, and he is not listed on the letter sent to Congress on Wednesday. But he is still representing the former president in special counsel Jack Smith's probe into the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Trump's attorneys accused Justice Department officials of being "misguided" and "eager to criminalize this document dispute with NARA," later alleging that the Biden and Pence documents cases — which so far do not seem to include concerns of obstruction after the two ment acted cooperatively — were handled differently.

The former president's legal team conducted subsequent searches at Trump properties, according to the letter, and sources familiar with the matter told CBS News a small number of additional documents with classified markings were recovered.

The attorneys criticized the Justice Department and special counsel's work on the document case as "antithetical to the principles of a fair and impartial search for the truth" and urged Congress to instead try to come up with effective procedures for handling classified documents in the White House.

"The stakeholders to these matters should set aside political differences and work together to remediate this issue and help to enhance our national security in the process," they wrote.

It would be unusual for lawmakers to attempt to influence a federal investigation, but the letter sent on Wednesday did offer House Republicans further material for their efforts to discredit the Trump probes as political.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-lawyers-reveal-details-recovered-030004837.html

 

Just another page full of propaganda from the American hater.

 

And it only took you four minutes to read... Can you give us a point by point breakdown of what's propaganda and what's real?

 

No all he can do is see a screen name and personally attack.

 

You do know nothing is going happen...... Even the smart dems are saying biden screwed it up for them

 

This is breaking story is now shaking up the evening cable news shows. Its kind of like an octopus with multiple tentacles reaching in different directions. Especially since it may prove some who9 have already testified before the grand jury deliberately lied. And tentacles that reach Trump himself.



Insider witness could help DOJ determine if Trump hid classified documents: NYT

Gideon Rubin
May 04, 2023



Scott Olson/Getty Images


A confidential insider witness who worked for Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago could help the Justice Department as it intensifies its efforts to determine whether the former president sought to conceal sensitive classified documents after the agency issued a subpoena in May 2021 demanding their return, The New York Times reports.

The DOJ has issued a new wave of subpoenas as part of an aggressive effort to understand how Trump stored classified documents he took from the White House and determine who had access to them, how Mar-a-Lago’s camera system works and what the former president told his aides and attorneys about what documents he had and where they were kept, the report said.

Maggie Haberman, Adam Goldman, Alan Feuer, Ben Protess and Michael S. Schmidt write for The Times: “At the heart of the inquiry is whether Mr. Trump sought to hide some documents after the Justice Department issued a subpoena last May demanding their return.”

“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.”


At least four additional Mar-a-Lago employees and another person with knowledge of Trump’s thinking when he initially returned material to the National Archives have been subpoenaed in recent weeks, according to the report.

“Two people said that nearly everyone who works at Mar-a-Lago has been subpoenaed, and that some who serve in fairly obscure jobs have been asked back by investigators,” the report said.



https://www.rawstory.com/insider-wi...ermine-if-trump-hid-classified-documents-nyt/