WaPo's Greg Sargent snarks, in "Trump’s bizarre threat to release Mar-a-Lago footage is revealing."
[W]on’t that footage show that he is hoarding lots of documents — including highly classified national security secrets — at his resort for suspiciously unknown reasons? Wouldn’t that show the search was reasonable, and that Trump just might have done something wrong, after all?...
Hoarding? It will show that he was storing lots of documents, but what does that mean? The new images will fall on top of our pre-existing assumptions.
There is a legacy of political witch hunts at the FBI, and for this reason, we should take seriously the need for congressional oversight of the Mar-a-Lago search. We should approach its rationale with a trust-but-verify skepticism until we know more. But Trump and his allies aren’t arguing for reasoned good-faith skepticism. They insist it has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to its core, that it’s one of the most flagrant abuses by law enforcement in all of U.S. history.
So the footage will inflame and activate Trump's supporters. That's what he does. Sargent's warning about backlash won't stop Trump. That's not how Trump works. He always leans in.
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121 comments:
The DC establishment lived in abject fear of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI for many decades. He had dirt on all of them and they knew to never cross him or fire him.
It seems the next generation of psychopaths learned from this and they all applied for jobs at the FBI. Knowledge is power.
Preemptively to GustyWinds:
A few threads ago you and I speculated how long it would be before Trump-favoring meetings might be suppressed.I
Well...
legalinsurrection.com
Why would it be bizaare? Our culture is awash in people's private security videos shared across the interwebz for the amusement of the viewers.
Why would the MAL video be any different? Just because Sargent has already established in his own mind that Trump is the Biggest Danger to Democracy EVAH! doesn't mean that releasing the security video would be anything other than a common practice for the entertainment of viewers.
Why not release it?
Libs go nuts every time a cop's body cam malfunctions or is turned off.
Why isn't there a law mandating body cams (with audio) for every single federal agent?
For that matter, why aren't there cameras in every federal office and in every public school classroom?
If they're not breaking the law they have nothing to hide : )
Oh, and all interviews by federal agents must be audio- and video-taped or they should be inadmissible in court.
An honest, non-snark question: Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading? Or does everyone except me know how to sneak around the paywall?
No doubt they were neat and careful.
Coincidentally, recently watched one of the true crime shows where a woman described how the authorities totally trashed her home while looking for evidence of a crime her teen age son had committed.
And I will be reallllllly disappointed if Trump doesn't have copies of all documents squirreled away somewhere...
Seems like it is in the public interest to release the footage. Especially since the FBI insisted the cameras be turned off.
Doesn't everyone want to see the FBI going through Melania's underwear drawer?
What planet is this clown living on? Trump had lots od documents. Whoo hah. There's a whole industry in the unit states of storage units handling the overflow from people's houses. The guy who founded Public Storage became a billionaire and a bit more than that.
If he was a Democrat they'd be naming schools after him, inviting him to Harvard and Stanford commencement ceremonies, and having Hollywood stars clamor to be in his camera shots.
Greg Sargent exposes the same blind spot the entire media and left has on Trump. This is not news. Trump was not the cause of the right's separation from the old GOP. Trump is the symptom of a long simmering feeling of being ignored or shunned, looked down on, harassed, and intimidated- from our schools to our media to our government. With the advent of Trump, the curtains were pulled back, masks removed and we could all see each other for what we are.
When Sargent says "Trump and his allies appear so certain the public is being seduced by his tale of persecution — so certain that release of the footage can only help him — that only a few scattered allies are seriously entertaining how this stunt might backfire..." he's missing the point we're seeing. The 'stunt' was what was occasioned on Trump's property by our Department of Justice, the FBI, and the willing press. The same people who ran a similar stunt on the Steele Dossier, Russia Collusion, Ukraine phone call and scores of other items. It's been non-stop. So yeah- we're pretty certain this was a stunt in which the government did not think it through. They don't believe they have to. They can just intimidate, indict, and, as former FBI man Peter Strzok would say, 'insure' that Trump does not get (re)elected.
What they don't seem to understand is that there are 100,000,000 people out here watching and getting more pissed off by the week. Even if Trump is gone, we're not.
They insist it has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to its core, that it’s one of the most flagrant abuses by law enforcement in all of U.S. history.
After the Russian collusion hoax, lying to FISA judges to get 'permission' to spy on the Trump campaign, spreading the fake Steele Dossier (with John McCain's help remember), and the entrapment of Michael Flynn...it has been established the DOJ and FBI are flagrant abusers. They are totalitarian and corrupt, and now operate a two tiered system of justice.
We're supposed to believe that this time it's not political and completely legit. Oh bullshit.
Could Sargent really be so stupid as to think Trump doesn't know what the tapes will show? Does he really think the American public is so crass and jaded that they will yawn at the sight of two dozen armed agents swarming a house, looking through closets, Melania's underwear drawer, to get their hands on few dusty old boxes of files that may or may not be classified?
'Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading?'
I'm not.
I read the professor's synopsis and the excerpts.
I already know about these issues from other media and I can predict ahead of time with near-100% reliability what the NTY and WaPo have to say...
I suppose the FBI will explain that it asked that the video cameras be turned off because some secret text might be legible on the video. However, the FBI did not insist that the cameras be turned off.
The videos will show the FBI searchers behaving calmly and properly.
So, this video issue probably will turn out to be a nothing-burger.
Even so, everyone will want to watch at least some of the video.
I don’t pay for WaPo or NYT. I just go by the context and whatever portions she excerpts, and if I can’t get the gist I just go on with my day.
When the tapes are published, the lefties will insist they are "edited." I look forward to the scenes in Melania's closet.
How bizarre it must be to live in a hermetically-sealed bubble like Sargent’s. Those outside the sphere never doubted the possibility that Trump would release the footage. As he should. What is the FBI trying to hide? This isn’t ‘sources and methods’ bullshit.
why not make all FBI wear bodycam all the time?
then nobody will FIB to them and they cannot FIB back!
"But Trump and his allies aren’t arguing for reasoned good-faith skepticism. They insist it has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to its core"
Confession by projection, since they know this is how they are conducting the "investigation" of J6. Nowhere can you find the word "alleged" in front of "insurrection" in any coverage of it. No news outlet dares inject that minor note of skepticism to deny the foregone conclusion even though use of alleged" was considered journalism 101 prior to Trump.
Hoarding? It will show that he was storing lots of documents, but what does that mean? The new images will fall on top of our pre-existing assumptions.
Without assuming anything, we know that the FBI seized 27 boxes of records out of 73 examined.
We know that the warrant permitted the seizure of:
*Presidential or Governmental Records created during Trump’s term, which because they weren’t turned over under the Presidential or Federal Records Act, might be evidence that someone removed records from a public office and therefore a potential violation of 18 USC 2071.
*Any evidence of the knowing alteration, destruction, or concealment of Government and/or Presidential Records, or of any documents with classification markings, which in addition to being a potential violation of 18 USC 2071, might also be evidence that Trump obstructed the Archives’ efforts to fulfill its duties under 18 USC 1519.
*Any physical documents with classification markings, along with any containers/boxes (including any other contents) in which such documents are located, as well as any other containers/boxes that are collectively stored or found together with the aforementioned documents and containers/boxes.
And we know that the FBI routinely takes photos of the areas searched which show the arrangement and condition of the record containers before the search begins.
Finally, we know from the FBI seizure list that classified documents were found, so bring on the videos as final evidence of the documentation to show to the D.C. grand jury. DOJ will soon possess these Trump Organization videos anyway if they exist.
I still believe the initial leaks that Merrick Garland did not know that the FBI was planning to search Trump's home. Later, when Garland says he approved the search, he actually meant that he approved it after-the-fact.
I think that Garland would have tried to resolve the problem by the least intrusive method -- which he stated to be his policy.
If necessary, Garland himself might have phoned Trump and told him that the problem of classified documents in Trump's home had to be fixed quickly. Then some of Garland's people could have talked with some of Trump's people, and a quick fix could be agreed to.
I still think that the FBI acted in a sneaky manner -- not informing the DOJ -- because getting the FBI documents that Trump might have was an FBI concern. This is all about FBI documents about FBI investigations of Trump, which began many years ago.
The FBI has been telling the public a false story that the FBI never investigated Trump himself. Rather, it investigated only his campaign staff members -- Carter Page, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos.
[W]on’t that footage show that he is hoarding lots of documents — including highly classified national security secrets — at his resort for suspiciously unknown reasons? Wouldn’t that show the search was reasonable, and that Trump just might have done something wrong, after all?...
Sure! That part is right next to the video of the unicorn pooping Skittles.
What that video will show is the FBI stealing Crossfire Hurricane documents that Trump had declassified, where the FBI fought the declassification because the documents show how corrupt they are.
So you did that hole, Sargent
Hey DAN, here's how I get around the paywall. There may be more efficient ways.
1. Copy the URL.
2. Go to archive.is
3. Paste the URL into the box.
4. Press "search".
Occasionally this doesn't work.
DAN said...
An honest, non-snark question: Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading? Or does everyone except me know how to sneak around the paywall?
Highlight or copy a sentence or title from the WaPo or NYT article and find it with a Google search. You will be surprised about the no-paywall access that you have from other sites. The Washington and New York papers drive the news.
Congressional oversight
Sure. That's the ticket. I 'm sure everyone concerned about the FBI raid will be satisfied once the January 6th committee provides oversight.
*facepalm*
News Flash! Stop the Presses!
Reportedly!
Supposedly!
DAN said...
An honest, non-snark question: Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading? Or does everyone except me know how to sneak around the paywall?
Generally speaking, the people at WaPo & NYT are tech idiots.
So option 1 is go into your browser and delete all cookies from that company, then try the link
Option 2 isif you can click anywhere in the document, do a "Select ALL" then a Copy from the Edit menu, and paste into another document
But no, I'm not ever going to give those creatures any of my money
They insist it has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to its core, that it’s one of the most flagrant abuses by law enforcement in all of U.S. history.
If it wasn't, then when the warrant was being served:
1: There would have been a DoJ press conference detailing what they were searching for, and why
2: The search warrant would not have been so over broad
3: They never would have grabbed Trump's passports, because they would have only grabbed things clearly covered by the warrant
Oh, and
1: The DoJ wouldn't be fighting the release of the affidavits they filed in order to get the search warrant
2: They wouldn't have delayed getting the warrant, and they wouldn't have delated after getting the warrant before executing it
Because you dont' play political games when you're doing actual law enforcement
"They insist it has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to its core, that it’s one of the most flagrant abuses by law enforcement in all of U.S. history."
It has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to it's core. But as the FBI and DOJ have been going lately, it's not particularly unusual. I'm not sure what Sargent thinks he means by "most flagrant abuses by law enforcement in all of U.S. history". "Flagrant" means evident, undisguised. Like Lincoln suspending habeus corpus. Sargent meant something else, but he's too lazy to take the trouble to say what he means..
Mr. Trump embodied Louis XIV’s phrase “L’état, c’est moi,” or “I am the state,” his own advisers and several outside observers said.
“From my own experiences with him, which is bolstered by those around him who are speaking in his defense, his actions seem to fit the pattern that as ‘king,’ he and the state are one and the same,” said Mark S. Zaid, a lawyer who frequently handles cases related to national security and security clearances, including during the Trump presidency. “He seems to honestly believe that everything he touches belongs to him, and that includes government documents that might be classified.”
Another Trump Mystery: Why Did He Resist Returning the Government’s Documents? - NYT
Gusty Winds:. Nobody cares what you people think. We know you are a lifer forever loyal. We just need to peel away 10% of the 2020 Trump voters.
OK, I've read the post and the comments. I still don't get the main claim, that is would be "bizarre" for Trump to release the raid video. Why? Trump has good reason to float the possibility, at the very least.
And if it somehow is bizarre, would it be more bizarre than the unprecedented raid itself?
An honest, non-snark question: Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading? Or does everyone except me know how to sneak around the paywall?
I tend to ignore her links to those news outlets because I don’t believe in supporting them. And I’ve found that it’s often futile to find free access. I also try not to comment on things I don’t read.
I can picture Trump in the final days of the White House with stacks of boxes from Home Depot. Meticulously checking 10s of thousands of documents. Then using his packing tape roll to secure the boxes before putting them in his rental can van to move to his residence. I am sure he personally packed all those boxes.
Since the precedent has been set I think we should similarly raid the homes of all living former presidents to ensure they did not remove something inadvertently. I mean, I am sure they have nothing to hide.
The Justice Department has been adamant that the affidavit should remain sealed. A Justice Department official told the judge Thursday that its investigation is “open and in its early stages.”
Early stages??? This right here should lead the court to quash the search warrant as illegal. To get a warrant, they need to show PROBABLE CAUSE, not "we're just now scratching the surface looking for something/anything." Probable cause means that they have enough to arrest and charge, not, we're just beginning.
If DOJ is still in its "early stages," then they did not have probable cause to believe a crime was committed.
They need to end this farce NOW.
Howard: "Gusty Winds:. Nobody cares what you people think. We know you are a lifer forever loyal. We just need to peel away 10% of the 2020 Trump voters."
LOL
You will pull away approximately zero 2020 Trump voters.
What you have done is deliver back to Trump 20% of the republicans who did NOT vote for Trump in 2020.
Well played you political rocket scientist you!
"But Trump and his allies aren’t arguing for reasoned good-faith skepticism. They insist it has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to its core, that it’s one of the most flagrant abuses by law enforcement in all of U.S. history."
Which is self-evidently correct.
Greg, shouldn't the burden of proof here be on the people who committed this outrage--this gross violation of "norms"?
"let's wait and see" is an apology and excuse for the crime.
I still believe the initial leaks that Merrick Garland did not know that the FBI was planning to search Trump's home. Later, when Garland says he approved the search, he actually meant that he approved it after-the-fact.
This is my theory. Someone at the WH gave the order to the FBI, bypassing Garland either deliberately, or just through incompetence. Garland had to come out afterwards and claim to have been in the loop because admitting that he wasn't would have made him look weak. The problem is that they're trying to justify what was obviously a poorly thought-out raid, and in doing so continue to make themselves look worse.
You want to release the tapes because the FBI asked for the camera to be turned off.
'We just need to peel away 10% of the 2020 Trump voters.'
Well, you've already got 100% of the groomer, communist, and fascist vote sewn up so you will be in good shape...
The FBI's investigatory approach is fundamentally and unnecessarily unfair with respect to interviews, which in my mind creates a presumption of the same with respect to other aspects of their approach to investigations.
With respect to interview, they do not record them and they always have two agents interviewing one witness. Thus, the FBI controls the account of what the witness said and, just as importantly, what the FBI agents said and did.
Blogger Howard said...
Gusty Winds:. Nobody cares what you people think. We know you are a lifer forever loyal. We just need to peel away 10% of the 2020 Trump voters.
Ok. Enjoy the decent into Animal Farm Howie. You and Inga can be the sheep and I'll be that old horse the pigs sent off to the glue factory.
It's not a "lifer forever loyal thing". Concrete example. The biggest resisters to the fake, dangerous vaccine and its totalitarian mandates were Trump voters, even though Trump told us all how great it was, and how many lives it saved. He was wrong. And we didn't listen. You guys shoved that shit as far up your asses as Fauci could reach.
In 2016 we abandoned former loyalties to GOP establishment when the opportunity presented itself. You can't even correctly analyze the dynamic of people you hate. Yoda taught us all that hatred is blinding.
And if "nobody cares what you people think" why is Trump, and the activities of his supporters always front and center? The reality is, people like you are actually obsessed with what the MAGA supporters think and do. But you can pretend you don't care.
I don't care what the Kardashian's think, say, or do so I don't spend a minute on it. Just like the pro-golfers.
Trump and the rest of us are right about 2020. And like Sam Harris, you know it too, but you're in the "by any means necessary crowd". At least you're committed to your cause. I'm committed to smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. We all need something. But your belief in the benevolence of the power entrenched is foolish. You know that somewhere inside. You can't be THAT blind.
It's ok though dude. I have "friends" and relatives like you. They sold their souls long ago for self preservation. Just like the teachers, professors, and medical professionals. I know you're not alone.
I'm bet you're fun at parties too.
Bypass most paywalls by going to 12 foot ladder, https://12ft.io/ and follow instructions.
Funny, I keep thinking back to a day in earlyish 2017. I was traveling, waiting for the next leg of my trip, and CNN was on.
Trump had just accused Obama-appointed figures in the DoJ, WITHOUT EVIDENCE, of wiretapping Trump Tower. Can you believe it?
They had a roundtable on how appalling it was that he would make such an accusation WITHOUT EVIDENCE. I'm not sure the point of the roundtable, since every person around it agreed: It was shocking. Here he was undermining and maligning our federal law enforcement / counterintelligence, WITHOUT EVIDENCE.
Anyway, in the fullness of time I realize just how ridiculous this was. There was no wiretap. They just doctored a FISA warrant, with the help of an insider who turned a statement on its head (and just got his law license back), got it past a compliant FISA judge, and used it to spy on a ringer who wasn't even part of the campaign! That'll teach Trump to make outlandish accusations!
Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading?
Not me. I don't even click on the links.
Don't need to step in dog shit to know it stinks.
Why would Sargent want to warn Trump or his supporters about the potential negative ramifications? Isn't he concern-trolling? If there were risks to Trump, Sargent would secretly cheer it on and THEN do the celebratory dance. If there were risks to the establishment, he would try to head them off by issuing dire warnings of risks to Trump. I don't think that sort of stuff works any more.
@Mike Sylvester
So, this video issue probably will turn out to be a nothing-burger.
If it is a nothing-burger, there will be no videos. Trump controls that media and so would only release if there were positive ramifications. I am, of course, relying on the rational actor argument. Trump does make mistakes, but he has pretty good instincts and is a showman.
I don't even pay for newspapers that I like anymore, let alone the NYT and WaPo. Let's Go Brandon!
"Nobody cares what you people think."
You owe me for another irony meter.
He's not going to release the video. He wants us to know or suspect that he has video. Our imagination is better than any reality for Trump.
From the movie Wag the Dog
Winifred Ames: So when we touch down tomorrow, Big Bird is going to meet Schumann at the airport, huh?
Stanley Motss: Big mistake, big mistake. You gotta bring them in by stages. Big mistake to reveal Schumann before the election.
Winifred Ames: How so?
Stanley Motss: Sweetheart, Schumann is the shark. Okay? Schumann is Jaws, you know? You have to tease them. You gotta tease them. You don't put Jaws in the first reel of the movie. It's the contract, sweetheart. The contract of the election, whether they know it or not, is "Vote for me Tuesday, Wednesday I'll produce Schumann." See, that's what they're paying their seven bucks for.
Is Howard admitting Trump won the last election? If he didn't win with the 10% why do you need to peel them off?
I looked for a Trump lawsuit declaring that his 4th Amendment rights were violated by the search of MAL, but he hasn't filed one of his gazillion retaliatory court actions because he doesn't stand a chance of winning or more likely of even getting a hearing.
Don't forget that in June, Trump attorney Christina Bobb signed a legal document declaring that all documents controlled by the National Archives had been returned. Oopsies!
Trump should release the Footage. Let the public see. Let the public know what the american gestapo have been up to. What reason is there not to release it? None. It will either show Trump to have exaggerated, or telling the truth.
Does it really matter what Greg Sargent, DNC Propagandist and Trump hater, thinks? we know that he will portray EVERY action by Trump as "Bad" or "crazy" or "Bizarre" or whatever. We know that, because he's been doing it ever since August 2015.
BTW, does everyone know the Judge in the case, is an Obama supporter? or defended jeffery Epstein's employees? He's not the pick of the litter. It'd be nice to know who recommended the POTUS appoint him.
Howard, nobody gives a rats ass how a pedo supporter thinks. Got it?
Remember, if the search had actually turned up anything damaging to Trump, the FBI would have leaked it by now.
Another Trump Mystery: Why is the Government So Hell-Bent on Getting Trump's Documents?
Ask yourself that, Heywood.
Hint--it isn't "National Security." An injunction, while presumably unnecessary, would accomplish the prevention of dissemination of any purported "National Secrets." (If Trump wanted to he could do it anyway, whether he has posession of the documents or not).
Donald Trump is pursuing a RICO lawsuit against several parties who allegedly engaged in malicious persecution against him in the RussiaGate affair. Those parties include five Justice Department employees James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Kevin Clinesmith.
On July 14, the DOJ motioned to replace those five parties with the US Government (i.e. with the DOJ itself). As soon as that replacement was accomplished, the judge then should dismiss the lawsuit for a jurisdiction reason.
On July 21, the judge did agree to that replacement but invited Trump to argue against the subsequent dismissal.
On August 4, Trump submitted to the judge his legal argument against the dismissal.
On the very next day, August 5, the FBI warrant to raid Trump's home was requested and approved.
The FBI's raid on Trump's home was motivated by the FBI's urgent fear that the judge might, within the next few days, allow Trump's RICO lawsuit to proceed.
Two pings on the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago: Classification kerfuffle and Trump’s RICO suit, an article by Jen Dyer
(h/t Mark Wauck at MeaningInHistory)
"We just need to peel away 10% of the 2020 Trump voters."
...without adding 50% of the 2020 Biden voters.
Interesting to see Mark Zaid referenced. He represented the whistleblower (probably Eric Ciaramella) in connection with the impeachment where the Democrats asserted that it was a shocking constitutional violation for a president to try to conduct an investigation of a political opponent. It would be amusing to ask him if he still thinks that's true.
Greg Sargent ... graduate of ... wait for it ... "Hunter College."
You cannot make this shit up.
Reminder: The "magistrate" who authorized the Trump search was literally pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's employee's lawyer.
"Blogger DAN said...
An honest, non-snark question: Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading? Or does everyone except me know how to sneak around the paywall?"
Hello Dan, we are (I suspect) mostly circumventing the various paywalls. Go to https://www.archive.is and the Internet is yours to view. They even have a plug-in for Firefox that does all the work.
Greg The Class Traitor said...
What that video will show is the FBI stealing Crossfire Hurricane documents that Trump had declassified, where the FBI fought the declassification because the documents show how corrupt they are.
Get a life! Security cameras are fixed in place, thus they incapable of determining any details of the documents seized. Besides, Crossfire Hurricane documents are government documents that do not belong to Donald Trump. If he has them, he stole them!
"They insist it has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to its core ..."
That's because it was.
And the proof of that is that the US Department of Justice is fighting the release of the documents they submitted to this Epstein pedophile lawyer in order for him to have a reason to issue the search warrant. Just the same way they refused to release the FISA warrant application, because they knew they had lied to the FISA court (no punishments meted out for their felony perjury, btw.)
Garland literally judge-shopped this warrant application for weeks. Finally found a judge they can control. Maybe because they have Epstein's videos of him and some underage children having sex? And got him to issue the search warrant.
Seems wholly corrupt to me.
If a Trump DoJ was doing this shit to Hillary Clinton the entire East Coast Journ-O-List establishment would be having a fucking stroke.
The search was just as corrupt as the employees of the Washington Post who wrote this shit.
If Trump gets back in, he should know he can just certify that these people are threats to national security and order them droned. Like Obama did to American citizens. There's precedent for it.
What's the over-under on how many G-men were sniffing Melania's G-strings?
@Dan, who asked: "Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading?"
Nobody here is stupid enough to give their mortal enemies money to hang them with.
Except Ann.
"why not make all FBI wear bodycam all the time?"
The FBI don't even record their interviews with suspects.
That way, they can later claim that the suspect said something and there's no actual proof of it. You just have to trust them.
And our courts let them do this. That's how corrupt of a country you live in.
Howard: "Nobody cares what you people think."
You obviously care. Enough to go ad hominem.
Are you afraid? You should be.
tim in vermont said...
"But Trump and his allies aren’t arguing for reasoned good-faith skepticism. They insist it has already been established that the search is wholly corrupt and illegitimate to its core"
Confession by projection, since they know this is how they are conducting the "investigation" of J6. Nowhere can you find the word "alleged" in front of "insurrection" in any coverage of it. No news outlet dares inject that minor note of skepticism to deny the foregone conclusion even though use of alleged" was considered journalism 101 prior to Trump.
8/18/22, 2:06 PM
More common on local news, "machete in one hand, decapitated head in other, blood soaked alleged murderer ..."
This is a great day for NeverTrump/NeverDeSantis/NeverRepublican/AlwaysDemocratical!
Brian "The Human Potato" Stelter is now available to serve as the gender non-specific Spokesperson for The Abraham Cheney (D-DC/Pelosi/Northern VA) "Presidential" (wink wink) Grifter Campaign!
Oh Happy Days!
Once again, the more lefties post here indicates how nervous they are about shit hitting the fan.
gadfly:
Besides, Crossfire Hurricane documents are government documents that do not belong to Donald Trump. If he has them, he stole them!
Yes, by all means necessary hide the evidence of the FBI's war on Trump, directed by Obama and his minions, like "Benghazi" Rice.
Blogger Howard said...
Gusty Winds:. Nobody cares what you people think. We know you are a lifer forever loyal. We just need to peel away 10% of the 2020 Trump voters.
Howard is revealing that he agrees Trump won in 2020. Why else would you need to "peel away 10% of Trump voters?"
The insane hatred of Trump by you lefties is an interesting psychological phenomenon that might be studied by psychologists if the country survives the present insanity that is presently in power. "Extraordinary Popular Delusions" might need a new edition.
"why not make all FBI wear bodycam all the time?"
All government employees should have to wear. Let's see when they're stealing, let's see when they're jaking, let's see when they're conspiring against the public good.
"[W]on’t that footage show that he is hoarding lots of documents — including highly classified national security secrets"
G-Man#1: Damn! There's no fucking light in this place!
G-Man#2: Just hold those highly classified national security secrets up to the lights that these security cameras have on them.
G-Man#1: Those cameras are up by the ceiling, and I got this Petzl ACTIK CORE Headlamp through the Althouse Amazon portal. It's much more convenient.
G-Man#2: Greg Sargent is going to be pissed!
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2022/08/18/fbi_unit_leading_mar-a-lago_probe_previously_led_russiagate_hoax_848582.html
as for zaid
https://www.yaacovapelbaum.com/2019/11/13/mark-zaid-the-superhero-fortune-teller/
Blogger Buckwheathikes said...
Garland literally judge-shopped this warrant application for weeks. Finally found a judge they can control.
Barnes and Frei discussed this in some depth. The duty magistrates rotate on weekly (bi-weekly? Monthly?) basis. I guess it could be considered judge shopping but apparently they waited until Reinhart was up to request the warrant.
Reinhart worked for the justice department on their prosecution of Epstein. Then quit Justice and went to work for Epstein the next day. There was concern that he carried a lot of info with him to Epstein. DOJ Strategy, evidence, witnesses, informants etc. Not physically but in his his head since it is what he he had been working at at DOJ.
Maybe because they have Epstein's videos of him and some underage children having sex?
Certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Reinhart shows up at the mansion to meet with his client.
"I'm sorry, Mr Reinhart. Mr Epstein is on the phone and it looks like he will be a while. Jenny, could you take Mr Reinhart to the TV room and help him chill for an hour or so."
And we know there were cameras all over the house.
Not alleging that this happened. Just throwing it out as a possibility.
If the FBI had video of him and Jenny, even if they were just sitting on a sofa watching Judge Judy, that could be a powerful tool.
One other comment from Barnes & Frei was some discussion on magistrates. Federal judges need to go through a nomination, vetting and confirmation process. Magistrates don't. They are hired as employees by judges who have gone through the process.
John LGBTQ+ Henry
The author speculating the video might show Trump was hoarding classified documents shows his assumptions, but also suggests he watches too much TV and Movies. It is as if he expects an over the shoulder shot focusing in on "CLASSIFIED" at the top of a very serious looking document with very dramatic music playing in the background. The author seems to think this footage would harm Trump. If Trump is talking about this it is because he thinks keeping this story in the media helps him. Of the two I think Trump's judgment is probably more reliable in this matter. Some of the equivocations regarding the raid from left wing sources in the media, as well as the shifting narrative of leaked stories about the raid from, presumably, the FBI/DOJ suggest others agree with Trump's judgment regarding this story.
"... we should take seriously the need for congressional oversight" - presumably like the serious Congressional oversight conducted at the Jan 6 hearings. That is, a Hollywood production number made-for-TV with any and all conflicting facts and opinions suppressed. Or the serious Congressional oversight of either Clinton, Obama, and Hunter Biden - which is to say, none at all. Seriously.
Drago...
The Tater is free!
Ten years ago it would have been unthinkable to propose disbanding the FBI.
Ten years ago everyone thought the FBI was basically an upright organization. A few bad apples of course. There will always be in any large organization. But not the organization.
This was more due to a century of relentless PR efforts than any actual basis in fact.
In the past 5-10 years, this facade has been crumbling to the point where congresspeople (Green and someone else) have submitted legislation to disband it. Rand Paul is not quite there yet but moving in that direction.
FBI Director Wray was appointed by President Trump. To what extent is he Trump's man? He obviously can't appear to be or he would be fired.
But what if he keeps permitting overreaches like this raid that make people realize that the FBI is not the Persil White organization of legend. Get people to start questioning whether it should exist.
Could Wray and our President Emeritus have set up this raid on MAL for this purpose? PEDJT has someone act like a mole and call the FBI to "inform" that there are all these documents. The mole not acting like a turncoat but as a PEDJT accomplice.
Or I may just be overthinking the whole thing.
John LGBTQ+ Henry
The FBI probably wanted the security cameras turned off so they could plant listening devices and who knows what else.
Greg Sargent may be right -- perhaps the footage to be released is a big nothingburger. But think of how many other supposed nothingburgers -- such as Clinton's emails, Hunter's laptop, bad behavior by D politicians, peaceful but fiery protests -- have turned out to be, actually, something.
And ignore, for the moment, current Trump supporters. Think of how many new sympathizers might be gained among those who have been on the unpleasant end of invasive home searches, traffic stops, and so on. Greg Sargent probably has never had his home invaded in such a manner, or even personally know anyone who have. There are many, many others who do. It is an violating, humiliating, deeply emotional, and hurtful experience.
Trump understands this. Trump knows how infuriating such an experience may be -- so much so that even a rich, privileged man might gain sympathy for being the target of such an invasion.
Heywood Rice quoted...
"Mr. Trump embodied Louis XIV’s phrase “L’état, c’est moi,” or “I am the state,” his own advisers and several outside observers said.
“From my own experiences with him, which is bolstered by those around him who are speaking in his defense, his actions seem to fit the pattern that as ‘king,’ he and the state are one and the same,” said Mark S. Zaid, a lawyer who frequently handles cases related to national security and security clearances, including during the Trump presidency. “He seems to honestly believe that everything he touches belongs to him, and that includes government documents that might be classified.”
Confession by projection. Which party asserts that it is the party of science, indeed of reality? Ask Dr. Fauci.
Howard said...
Gusty Winds:. Nobody cares what you people think. We know you are a lifer forever loyal. We just need to peel away 10% of the 2020 Trump voters.
*************
How many Trump voters you think came out to show their solidarity with anti-Trump Lizard Cheney?
gadfly:
Besides, Crossfire Hurricane documents are government documents that do not belong to Donald Trump. If he has them, he stole them!
*********************
A razor-sharp legal mind once again offers unassailable facts backed by keen reasoning.
Gadfly, will you answer this question: does the POTUS have ANY power to de-classify government documents.
If "no", please offer statutory/constitutional evidence and case law supporting that position.
If you concede "yes", point to the government officials who have to power to limit that power, and the statutes that (1)name them and (2) define their authority.
Explain further where the government documents housed in presidential libraries came from.
Give it a shot.
From Rasmussen Reports:
Roger Stone, an adviser to former President Donald Trump, has said there is “a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI who are using the FBI … as Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo.” A majority (53%) of voters now agree with Stone’s statement – up from 46% in December...
Looks like peeling off 10% isn't going to be enough...
Just a word of thanks to Mike Sylwester for many interesting and informative observations.....The past record of the FBI and Congress in investigating Trump has raised many red flags. Sargent's bland assertion that this time their investigation is really, truly warranted is all of a piece with previous assertions. I didn't read the piece. Does he acknowledge that some past investigations pf Trump were exaggerated or just plain false? Isn't that part of why Trump voters are so skeptical to outright outraged about this current star chamber proceeding.....I subscribe to the Times. It costs only a dollar a week. If they try to charge more, cancel your subscription and they will go back to the $4 a month fee. Not all the news in the Times is political. Just today they featured an article about a first rate toenail clipper that I intend to try.... I don't regard Maureen Dowd as my existential enemy whose views have to be suppressed at all costs.
gadfly said...
Besides, Crossfire Hurricane documents are government documents that do not belong to Donald Trump. If he has them, he stole them!
So I guess that Obama stole all those government documents in his warehouse, and needs to be thrown in jail?
"....the entrapment of Michael Flynn"
And the entrapment of Weisselberg, Manafort, Bannon, Stone, Gates, Flynn, Cohen, Papadopoulos, Barrack and DJT himself from porn star payments to tens of millions for Trump U fraud. All innocent folks entrapped!
HRC managed to take FBI questions (don't forget that DJT had to fire Comey because his investigation of HRC was too aggressive, so HRC was in for tough questioning) for several hours but she got away w/o being caught lying. Why is it so hard for so many DJT people to answer questions w/o telling lies?
"hide the evidence of the FBI's war on Trump"
Doc Mike, your knowledge level could use a boost beyond Strzok and such.
Have you heard of "Trumpland?"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/03/fbi-leaks-hillary-clinton-james-comey-donald-trump
And you brag about your love of reading, have you considered looking for honest assessments?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-deep-state-book-disputes-accusations-of-trump-bias-at-fbi-doj
They insist it has already been established
Indeed it has. We know the FBI lied about Gen. Flynn. We know the FBI lied of FISA warrants on Carter Page. We know the FBI lied about the Whitmer kidnapping plot. We know the FBI lied about Virginia parents being domestic terrorists. These things are well established.
Besides, Crossfire Hurricane documents are government documents that do not belong to Donald Trump. If he has them, he stole them!
Hahahaha! Serious? Hahahaha!
And you brag about your love of reading, have you considered looking for honest assessments?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-deep-state-book-disputes-accusations-of-trump-bias-at-fbi-doj
Another lefty loser. PBS is not a reliable site.
Blogger gadfly said...
Besides, Crossfire Hurricane documents are government documents that do not belong to Donald Trump. If he has them, he stole them!
If this turns out to be the case and these facts are born out in public, I could see that being a successful legal argument. But I suspect it would turn out to be a pyrrhic victory. I suspect far more people and voters would instead be focused on what was in those documents, and what was the actual motivation for the FBI/DOJ in conducting an unprecedented raid to get them back.
Mike Sylwester said...
Donald Trump is pursuing a RICO lawsuit against several parties who allegedly engaged in malicious persecution against him in the RussiaGate affair. Those parties include five Justice Department employees James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Kevin Clinesmith.
...
On August 4, Trump submitted to the judge his legal argument against the dismissal.
On the very next day, August 5, the FBI warrant to raid Trump's home was requested and approved.
The FBI's raid on Trump's home was motivated by the FBI's urgent fear that the judge might, within the next few days, allow Trump's RICO lawsuit to proceed.
Impeachment 3.0, featuring FBI/DNC/DOJ/NYeT/WaPoo as the birthing entity: this baby is viable.
So I guess that Obama stole all those government documents in his warehouse, and needs to be thrown in jail? - Greg the class traitor
Actually:
Seeking to deflect attention from reports that the classified documents he had kept in his Florida home might have contained materials related to nuclear weapons, former President Donald J. Trump claimed on Friday that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had done the same thing.
“President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!”
But the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, which preserves and maintains records after a president leaves office, confirmed on Friday afternoon that Mr. Obama had turned over his documents — classified and unclassified — as required under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
It all sounds very implausible to me. Security cameras will not show much about the actual documents. They may well show FBI agents behaving in inappropriate ways, ways that will move opinions toward Trump's narrative that the search was part of a witch hunt.
When the tapes are made public, Trump supporters will see them as proving persecution. Anti-Trumpers will see them as cementing his guilt. Such is human nature and the state of our politics.
Doc Mike,
BTW, I'm sure that you appreciate that I print web addresses instead of using href code. I wouldn't want to upset the sensitive folks here that need to be sheltered from PBS and such. Imagine if I hid that PBS link by using a hyperlink such that you clicked on "Libs Are Evil" and then you ended up at PBS! Scary!!
Yur welcome.
But the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, which preserves and maintains records after a president leaves office, confirmed on Friday afternoon that Mr. Obama had turned over his documents — classified and unclassified — as required under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
Actually, the National Archives and Obama agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding and only digitized copies were handed over. Was this offer provided to Trump?
Blogger Sprezzatura said...
Doc Mike,
BTW, I'm sure that you appreciate that I print web addresses instead of using href code.
I have no idea what you are posting about and don't care. Like most lefties here you make little or no sense except for your TDS,
Why hasn’t he already released the video?
Inga: "Why hasn’t he already released the video?"
President Trump has a tendency to try to be too clever with the cards he is holding. He doesn't understand the level of Machiavellian skill of his Democrat opponents, honed by years of sparring among other power hungry Washington leeches. He should release things much sooner than he thinks will give him advantage, or they will figure him out and counter his play before he can make it.
"Howard is revealing that he agrees Trump won in 2020"
Howard is also attacking people online in an attempt to bully and intimidate them into being silent.
Remember that when he is on his knees begging to explain.
"Howard is revealing that he agrees Trump won in 2020"
Howard is also attacking people online in an attempt to bully and intimidate them into being silent.
Remember that when he is on his knees begging to explain.
Now sargent is perhaps the dumbest member of the journolist well if we leave our chris cilizza.
He needs to take a page from the democrat media playbook. Only selectively release specific video.
Seeking to deflect attention from reports that the classified documents he had kept in his Florida home might have contained materials related to nuclear weapons,
That's some mighty fine mind-reading right there!
Presented, I must add, as fact-based journalism, not opinion.
Leland said...
But the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, which preserves and maintains records after a president leaves office, confirmed on Friday afternoon that Mr. Obama had turned over his documents — classified and unclassified — as required under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
Actually, the National Archives and Obama agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding and only digitized copies were handed over. Was this offer provided to Trump?
*************
On top of that, Obama got all those doc sent where HE wanted them to go, declared that they would be inaccessible to the public for 12 years, and...
to this day has not released a single doc to the public.
My comment to AA's overnight post lays it all out.
Many public libraries subscribe to a service called ProQuest that offers full-text search of major newspapers (and many not so major). Definitely the NYT and the WaPo. It's kinda clunky to use, but it works. There may be other such services as well, that's just the one my (small city) happens to have.
Trump is bad. Biden is worse.
That explains my 2020 vote.
@Dr K - Spazzomatic earlier posted a string of bare URLs. Spazzy was then apologizing/not apologizing, for not turning the URLs into HTML Anchor (A) links out of, apparently, pure laziness. She apparently was essentially saying: “What ya going to do about it?” The answer to that is that very few here are going to bother to read her linked articles, due to her rudeness.
"If the FBI can selectively leak portions of the affidavit agents used to justify the search of Mar-a-Lago, then why should it be allowed to conceal the rest of the affidavit?" https://amgreatness.com/2022/08/18/shame-the-fbi-or-abuses-will-escalate/
The FBIden's PANTY RAID.
All censored out of view covered by "harm to ongoing matter", just like Eric Ciaramella.
@Dan: “ Are most Althouse readers signing up (and paying for) for the Washington Post and NY Times in order to read what Althouse is reading? Or does everyone except me know how to sneak around the paywall?”
Try this one neat trick!
The NYT and WaPo both load the paywall code last. If you stop the page load within a second or so of it starting, you will get the prompt to subscribe, not the paywall. If at first you don’t succeed, just redo reload/stop load.
Heywood Rice said...
But the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, which preserves and maintains records after a president leaves office, confirmed on Friday afternoon that Mr. Obama had turned over his documents — classified and unclassified — as required under the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
Hey look, Heywood Jablome is back!
1: Provides a "quote" without giving us a link to the source
2: AS Leland pointed out:
Actually, the National Archives and Obama agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding and only digitized copies were handed over. Was this offer provided to Trump?
https://www.archives.gov/files/foia/obama-digitization-mou-executed-2-15-19.pdf
So, as I stated, Obama still has the physical copies of everything he took with him
Once again, is it that you're an ignorant buffoon, or just a lying sack of shit?
The fact that you didn't provide the link agrees that even you knew you were lying
Bruce,
You really think Doc Mike understands what you typed any better than he understands what I typed?
Anywho, I do avoid hyperlinks because I don’t like hiding where the link goes to (yes, I know that some browsers will show the web link if you hover over the hyperlink). When I do this it’s like Althouse when she has sometimes given disclosures when linking to lame stream media sources because she knows that some of her readers hate lame stream media information.
I don’t want to trick you folks into reading lame stream media information. Many folks come to this blog looking for a safe place from all that evil librul media information. I think it’s interesting to see folks fussing about in this safe space where incoming info is culled such that folks here can experience satisfaction re their isolation chamber ignorance.
This blog is the best!
If you wanted to effectively communicate w/ Doc Mike you should have typed:
“Spaz Shitter Peanut Butter etc is a TDS loser.”
Yur welcome Bruce.
The fact that the FBI could and did seize any piece of paper makes the warrant a general warrant, which is unconstitutional. The video would also show if the agents were armed, which would be really insane--were they expecting a shootout with Trump?
CMON MAN EVERYONE KNOWS IF THE VID benefitted the crew it would have been released immediately.
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