Trump attacking our nation’s librarians.

Uncategorized 1 Minute

https://www.axios.com/2022/08/28/national-archives-trump-search-threat

Honestly, is there nothing he won’t threaten?
“…They could have had it anytime they wanted—and that includes LONG ago. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS ASK. The bigger problem is, what are they going to do with the 33 million pages of documents, many of which are classified, that President Obama took to Chicago?”

Truth Social post.

We know he is lying because there are records of letters, emails, phone calls, subpoenas asking, begging, over and over for more than a year. But his MAGA folks got the message and now our nations archivists are under threat. I guess if America plays along he will “turn down the heat”. If we beg hard enough, perhaps.

Extortion by any other name is still extortion.

Published by lenrothman

Published

188 thoughts on “Trump attacking our nation’s librarians.”

  1. Other than Obama’s handwritten letter to Trump, what specific document did NARA ask for and not get?

    I note that the documents Trump held for 19 months at Mar A Lago remained protected and out of sight the entire time, yet the FBI has had those boxes only 2 weeks and is leaking them to the press as fast as they can.

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    1. “I note that the documents Trump held for 19 months at Mar A Lago remained protected and out of sight the entire time”…

      You sure do seem to “know” a lot about this. Did you PERSONALLY inspect MAL’s storage of documents? Or are you just buying into the TFG narrative that he NEVER did anything wrong?

      And WHAT exactly has been leaked? The classifications listed on the documents and what kind of National Security (HUMINT, SIGINT) info on them, but not the documents themselves.

      Why do you keep telling half-truths and lies?

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      1. And you don’t see a problem with those leaks by anonymous sources that could well be total falsehoods being used for political purposes?

        “We have the proof, you just can’t see it. Trust us”

        It’s kind of funny you talking about half truths.

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        1. What exactly has been leaked except for the type of documents found and WHY it was important for them to be retrieved?

          Again, you seem to know way too much for a simple retired dentist from Chesapeake.

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        2. “It’s kind of funny you talking about half truths.”

          Okay, tell us how you know how documents were handled at Mar-a-Lago? You made a very categorical statement – “protected and out of sight the entire time.” I can only think of one place you might have pulled that “fact” from.

          And, since you are making a very serious allegation, which documents has the FBI leaked to the press. Should be easy to name some because of the “fact” they are “leaking them as fast as they can.”

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          1. Did any of them show up in the press?

            Even those Trump would have liked to release, like the unredacted Russia Hoax papers?

            Trump was absolutely consistent in keeping them protected.

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          5. “Trump was absolutely consistent in keeping them protected.”

            That is a “fact” you have pulled out of your ass. You have no idea of whom he has shared ANY of this with.

            But your proof that he has kept them protected is that he has documents that will exonerate him but has not leaked them to the press? I am running out of adjectives for the baloney you spew. Here is a new one – preposterous!

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          7. On my way to DC as we write. 😇

            You are talking in circles just like Trump.

            You know full well all the details we all are privy to. He absconded with documents packed in boxes at the last minute. They are not all his. And in that pile were TS/Special Access documents affecting national security. They were not his either.

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          9. As far as you know, the FBI is the most corrupt institution on the planet.

            Delusional rantings continuing from the Compound in Chesapeake.

            And for YOU to say anything about someone else not having evidence, while you continue on and on with your own version of what happened, because, damn, you know it ALL, is milk out the nose hysterical.

            Liked by 1 person

          11. “You have evidence that current TS/SCI documents were in those boxes? As far as I know such were found in the boxes turned over in January.”

            The inventory of what was seized established the fact that there were TD/SCI materials recovered.

            Liked by 1 person

          13. “You are making the accusation, the burden is on you to prove it.”

            Uh, no. I simply refuse to accept your categorical claim that ““Trump was absolutely consistent in keeping them protected.” You have absolutely no way to know that this claim is true.

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          15. The search turned up secret documents in other rooms. Some consistency.

            No matter how you excuse it vital top secrets mixed in cardboard boxes with news clippings and letters that may or may not be privileged and may or may not have been stored in a closet with a crappy lock is hardly secure.

            Liked by 2 people

          17. “Again, if you have knowledge of what was found in the raid, it came to you unlawfully.”

            Bizarre!

            It has been widely reported that the judge presiding over the search ordered the release of the warrant and the receipt that was left with Trump. That receipt characterized what was found in the boxes by classification markings. So what is this “unlawfully” bullshit?

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          19. Reported by whom?

            My understanding, and what I saw, was that when TS/SCI and SA was explained, that such classifications could include nuclear secrets.

            That just gives us an idea of how restricted such classifications are.

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          20. “Crickets.”

            So far.

            As far as I have seen, there are no reports or leaks characterizing ANYTHING that was seized other than tallies by classification levels. What WAS reported – and I believe it makes sense – is that the government was concerned that nuclear secrets might be part of what Trump had carried away – and entirely reasonable concern given what a jackass he is.

            You claimed the FBI is leaking documents as fast as they can but have failed to cite even one.

            Liked by 1 person

          21. “And you have not a single example to show it is not.”

            Uh, unlike you I do not state as categorical facts things I have no way of knowing. In the investigation of crimes there are the three keys – means, motive and opportunity. Trump had all three but even so I did not pretend to know what he did or did not do with those stolen documents.

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          23. “Uh, those are three keys [means, motive, and opportunity] for solving a crime, but not proof of guilt.”

            I did not say they were proof of guilt. They just make your baseless claims that Trump kept those documents perfectly secure at all times subject to very serious doubt.

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          27. “So, you have no evidence”

            I have just as much as you have.

            More actually. We now know that Trump liked to regale people with stories about the sex life of the President of France. We also know that Trump was reprimanded for having documents all over the club and for not having adequate locks on the closet where he dumped stuff. A security nightmare.

            https://www.reuters.com/legal/trumps-mar-a-lago-security-nightmare-that-housed-classified-documents-2022-08-13/

            Liked by 1 person

  2. Your Axios source doesn’t say Trump is responsible for the “spike in threats and vitriol.” Why do you?

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    1. All of them. Those papers Trump took are not his. They belong to America.

      As far as protected at Mar a Lago, we know that is a lie, too.

      There is no excuse for his childish and dangerous behavior. We, as Americans, were more than patient and cooperative. He said go screw ourselves.

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    2. Are you for real? MAGA threats don’t start until Trump starts whining. And he whined like a 5 year old.

      Trump is responsible. He admitted as much when he offered to turn the “heat down” to Garland.

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        1. Ok. You disagree. Mafia chiefs always distance themselves from the soldiers. And tear up papers. And use other phones. And lie a lot.

          OMG…did the ex-president do any of that?

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        2. RE: “Ok. You disagree.”

          Of course I disagree. I tend to want to see valid logic and verifiable evidence before agreeing with fantastical notions.

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          2. RE: “You have shared more “fantastical notions” than I can count.”

            That probably means you can’t count very high.

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      2. If Trump is responsible for threats from those who think he has been treated unfairly, then Obama and Biden are responsible for every policeman killed or injured as retaliation for George Floyd and other BLM martyrs.

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  3. Don’t worry about librarians. We’ll be just fine. This isn’t our first rodeo. We deal with perverts, mental cases, drug addicts, drunks, and terrorists on a regular basis.

    To paraphrase Stephen Colbert:

    We’re comin’ for you, baby. We’re organized. We know where everything is. And you’ll never know which way we’re comin’ from because we’re so quiet.

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  4. TDS runs deep. Your article says nothing close to Trump attacking librarians but comes closer to Trump planting trees for natural resources. You people need help.

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  5. Funny. Responses were predictable. (Hey, a shout out for immediate reference to Obama and Biden, but I wonder why Hillary was not blamed.)

    Obviously, the Archive became the target of threats because some folks don’t like paper (bamboo slivers contain tracking chips?) Or think parchment is a liberal plot.
    Or are heeding Lois’ warning that librarians “…are comin’ for you, baby”.

    Trump had nothing to do with tourists on 1/6, threats for election officials, Italian satellites, illegally stealing voting machines, attacking FBI, threatening judges…it is all part of a plot to make (fill in favorite conspiracies) and damage the law firm of Powell, Giuliani Associates.

    Heck, “hang Mike Pence”…he deserved it we heard.

    But one has to acknowledge that threatening our nation’s Archive is kinda novel, no?

    And Trump, bless his heart, has offered to reduce the heat. How noble, since it has nothing to do with his absconding with our nation’s top secrets and refusing to return them. 😇

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        1. Trump had lots of documents. Many were his private property, many belong to NARA but Trump was allowed to keep copies. and a very few were sensitive and copies could not be kept outside a secure facility, which Mar-a-Lago may, or may not, be. Which documents belong in which category was what was under negotiation and many of the documents NARA already has copies on file.

          So, what specific documents did NARA request and not get? Broad generalizations over documents under negotiation are meaningless. If you can’t cite anything specific NARA wanted and did not get then you are just inserting yourself into those negotiations with no knowledge of the details.

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          1. What negotiations? Trump hadn’t sorted out anything. The boxes contained news clippings, photos, top secret/special access documents, letters all mixed in together when they got their first return of 15 box in January 2022.

            More of the same in June.

            Was that negotiated or just “here take these”.

            Then the final missing secrets August 8.

            So if there were negotiations ongoing, why hadn’t Trump sorted out what he wanted to keep and give the presidential papers and the nations secrets back.

            There were no negotiations in the sense of a sit down and exchange of papers. The only haggling was NARA saying we want the presidential papers back and Trump saying no by ignoring them.

            Liked by 2 people

          2. It is is safe bet that the documents in question were redacted from the affidavit and are NOW being held, SECURELY, by DOJ. Documents that indicate, HUMINT and SIGINT have been reported to be in the latest trove of boxes recovered by the FBI during the execution of the legal search warrant. HUMINT and SIGINT are are most protected pieces of information. Had even a single page been in that trove is malfeasance of the highest level.

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          3. If the FBI knows what is in the latest trove while they under notice a special master will review those documents before they are inspected, then the FBI is in deep trouble.

            The best case is that they are leaking lies to the press, if they have actually examined the documents, they are in contempt of court and possibly have invalidated the search.

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          4. The FBI has a filter team. Trump didn’t even mention a special master until the other day, two weeks after the search.

            Trump doesn’t care about a master other than a way to delay the process. If he had really incriminating lawyer/client privileged information, he would have yanked it a long time ago.

            Presidential privileges are not sacrosanct unless the man is actually in office. Biden can, and I believe did, waive executive privileges for presidential papers.

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          5. Biden’s denial of Trump’s executive privilege is, in itself, an unprecedented political assault.

            Trump called publicly for a special master the day after the raid. When the court did not do it on his own, Trump later filed suit to compel it.

            The filter team is not allowed to publicly report anything it finds nor it is allowed to pass on to superiors what it found that is not covered by the warrant.

            That would defeat the purpose.

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          6. “Biden’s denial of Trump’s executive privilege is, in itself, an unprecedented political assault.”

            The unprecedented is the necessity to carefully consider any action regarding TFG.

            “Trump called publicly for a special master the day after the raid.”

            If true, the the failure is NOT on the court but on his own legal team. Two weeks is an awfully long time for lawyers to ignore their clients.

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          8. How old is the tradition of sending supporters to attack Congress and threaten the VP by a losing president?

            Your man was proud of breaking norms.

            Karma??

            No, just applying the law. The club was closed for the season, just a few SS details, FBI agents were in plainclothes and unarmed, lawyers notified and Trump notified. Filter teams in place. More info via warrant, list of documents and affidavit released than anyone else would ever have enjoyed. Mainly witnesses names redacted to keep them alive.

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          9. TFG broke more traditions than dinner plates in the WH. You sure do have a silly way of attempting to make a salient point.

            My hatred for TFG is based on what I believe he has done to the nature of this country. Your hatred of Biden (and any thing Democrat) is based on biases’ that can only be found in those who love to hate things.

            Liked by 1 person

          10. Yeah, I’m biased against Presidents who unconstitutionally use half a trillion of my grandchildren’s money to buy the votes of people who don’t want to pay their own college loans.

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          12. “Trump called publicly for a special master the day after the raid. ”

            Did he go to court or just Truth Social?

            Social media is just grandstanding to rile up his gangs. Why wait weeks? M

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          13. He should not have had to sue, His attorney’s statement that certain boxes contained privileged documents should have been enough for the court to order it without a suit.

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          14. Well they went to a Trump judge and she said their request was gobbledegook, but try again. So I guess they didn’t much care. Meanwhile the filter team sorted the papers out. Free of charge, (but not of charges).

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          15. You do understand that half the country has zero trust in the FBI or its filter team.

            When something as controversial as this comes up, that is the time for extreme transparency at every step. So far, the FBI and DOJ have not been transparent at all.

            If they were setting out to tear the country apart, they couldn’t come up with t better plan.

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          16. “You do understand that half the country has zero trust in the FBI or its filter team.”

            Sure, the suckers who cannot believe they have been conned. People like you.

            Here is what we should do. . .

            1. Enforce the law.
            2. If anyone rises up in revolt over that being done
            3. Then suppress the rebellion.

            Simple. Time to quit agonizing over what ignoramuses believe.

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          17. He doesn’t have to sue. He only needed is legal team to IMMEDAITELY request a special master. They waited two weeks to request one.

            Seems to me he needs better lawyers. But none of the good lawyers will touch his cases because they know they will not get paid and when they lose, will get thrown under the bus and possibly sued for legal malpractice.

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          18. …”while they under notice a special master”

            They are not under a special master yet. 1) The legal team waited two weeks before even requesting one. In actuality, that should have been requested IMMEDIATELY by the legal team. 2) The judge has not yet ruled whether one is required and that decision will not be made until Thursday or Friday this week. She is leaning toward yes, but procedure must be followed.

            And I know you don’t trust the FBI, unless they are investigating Hillary or another Democrat, but they have their team in place to protect those documents which are under question of privilege.

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          21. “…many belong to NARA but Trump was allowed to keep copies.”

            Allowed to keep copies? By whom? NARA didn’t even know he absconded with all the boxes until they realized a few obvious things were missing. Then begging, subpoenas and finally the search. And each one accurately picked up highly classified documents from various rooms in Mar a Lago.

            I swear it sounds like you are making up a lot of stuff.

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          22. All Presidents are allowed to keep copies if their Presidential papers. Those which remain classified must be in NARA custody, but they are still available to him, forever.

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          24. So?

            Other than the Obama letter, what originals was there probable cause Trump was holding?

            Remember, the Constitution requires particularity in a search warrant. General warrants are not allowed.

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          25. Come on Don. It was the information that there were highly classified state secrets in the Beach club. And there were. The affidavit spelled that out.

            If it weren’t for our top secrets intermingled with his papers there would not have been an issue.

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          27. Which is why they have a filter team separate from the investigation team.

            If Trump mixed in TopSecrets with news clippings the sorting comes with the filtering procedures.

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          28. “Other than the Obama letter, what originals was there probable cause Trump was holding?”

            I think you must know that the answer to this question lies behind the redactions. That doesn’t stop you from feigning ignorance.

            BTW, in addition to the Obama historical document that he stole, he also stole the “love letters” with the North Korean dictator.

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          31. Uh I doubt that HUMINT info about foreign agents would qualify for a losing president. Particularly one who has already blabbed state secrets for bragging rights.

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          32. Doubt all you want, up until he was no longer President, he had the power to declassify, including HUMINT. Risking such information would not be wise, but he had the authority to do it.

            DO you have any evidence Trump passed on such information to our enemies?

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          33. “Doubt all you want, up until he was no longer President, he had the power to declassify . . .”

            Sure, but he did not exercise it. Duh!

            Imaginary “standing orders” don’t do it. Memos written as he goes out the door don’t do it. Carrying things away does not do it. It has to be documented or it did not happen. Document by document.

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          36. There is a grain of truth in that, the President cannot classify a document that is evidence of a crime.

            In many ways, I hope they do find enough to dissuade Trump from running in 2024, but i don’t see it yet.

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          38. …”a secure facility, which Mar-a-Lago may, or may not, be.”…

            MAL was no longer a secure facility after January 20th 2021, as there was no reason for it to be.

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          40. Doesn’t prevent the maid from copying documents in the bedroom. Or Trump from copying for Putin.

            IMO Trump is better off at Club Fed than Georgia Department of Corrections. A strong case is building in GA. Not that it wasn’t before with an audio recording of extortion and threats to state officials, Raffenberger and his state attorney.

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          41. “And yet it was guarded by the Secret Service.”
            They are their to guard the former President. When he is there. They does not make Mar-a-Lago a secure facility for the most secret of secret documents.

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          46. “If the FBI knows what is in the latest trove while they under notice a special master will review those documents before they are inspected, then the FBI is in deep trouble.”

            Stupider and stupider.

            The FBI filter team has had the documents since August 8th. Trump only started shopping for a friendly judge – a woman he appointed – the other day and she has yet to make ANY ruling on the request for a “Special Master.” And now, the FBI has filed a motion stating accurately that the Trump motion is MOOT. They have already reviewed the documents per the conditions approved by the original search warrant.

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          48. “So, the FBI filter team found NO privileged communications returned to Trump?”

            Where did you get that from? I have no idea what the filter team found and therefore made no claim about it.

            The point of the Special Master was to keep the FBI from seeing privileged papers that may have been thrown in those boxes. That train has left the station. The request to appoint one is MOOT.

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          50. Here is an update that is relevant.

            https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/29/politics/mar-a-lago-document-review/index.html

            I note the following form the story. “Nowhere in the filing did Trump suggest that material dealing with attorney-client privilege was seized in the FBI’s search of his resort.”

            And also this. “The affidavit says that the FBI used a “Privilege Review Team” to search the “45 office,” separate from the investigators who searched other areas of Trump’s residence authorized by the warrant”

            DOJ is following the procedures to protect themselves and TFG in this process.

            Liked by 1 person

          52. Cite or is it another rectally developed “fact”?

            And just how could the attorney’s know what was in what boxes? They didn’t even admit that any of the boxes containing classified info was there.

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          54. “Sources familiar with the investigation . . .”

            You don’t get to hide stolen documents by co-mingling them with privileged documents. Duh! The fact that the lawyers claimed they were co-mingled just shows how chaotic and unsatisfactory the protection of government secrets was. Now we have random lawyers apparently with access to the store room. Good grief.

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          56. Like HAMAS hides rocket launchers among civilians, Trump hid our nation’s highest level secrets among his letters so he could cry foul when we retrieved our documents after a year plus long efforts.

            Far fetched? Probably, but the effects were the same. My feeling is that if Trump really gave a damn about his personal papers, he would have sorted them out long ago. He had to know that the constant imploring, cajoling, begging, asking for our documents back after learning that many were Special Access would not be the end of it.

            Or maybe a lifetime of perceived invincibility was a strong shield. He is left with his extra-legal “secret weapon”, violence in the streets as threatened by his lackey, Graham.

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          57. So, you think that in the chaotic last days in the White House, Trump personally packed the document boxes and hid classified documents among the clippings.

            When he could have simply jotted ‘declassified 1/19/19 DJT’ on them and had nothing to hide?

            It’s kind of sad, The DOJ and press keep dangling “We got him this time!” only to have it turn out to be wishful thinking again.

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          58. I was being a bit facetious as noted in my edit.

            Don, he had the documents for 20 months.

            NARA communicated many, many times about the need to return them and he ignored them. The papers are ours, not his, period. He could have access just like Obama. But he said nothing. What got DOJ involved was when NARA saw the highly classified documents mixed in the boxes with all kind of stuff returned in January 2022. And it wasn’t until 7 months later, that we finally decided it was time to consider our national security instead of a man’s ego.

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          59. Yes, he had them for 20 months, and many of them were his.

            The clippings he kept for his scrapbook were not presidential papers, for example.

            Many of the non-classified papers were copies he is allowed to keep.

            Many more were disputed and the ownership was under negotiation.

            And sure, the reason for acting on that particular day was exasperation with delays. It had nothing to do with it being 91 days before an election, the closest day to the election they could do it without violating their written policy.

            Nothing but partisan corruption of the FBI and DOJ.

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          60. “Yes, he had them for 20 months, and many of them were his.”

            So, give us a reasonable explanation why AFTER TWENTY MONTHS (1) they were not returned per request, per demand, and finally per subpoena and (2) why they had not be sorted so that attorney-client papers (if any) were not co-mingled with NDI.

            This is a rhetorical question. There is no reasonable explanation for any of his behavior.

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          61. Define “they”

            Which documents belonged to the NARA and which to Trump?

            Which were duplicates Trump is allowed to have?

            Which were still classified and which had been declassified?

            Many if not most of the documents are Trump’s to keep. The subset he could neither keep nor copy is quite small.

            So, separating those out was under negotiation, as they were for every previous President. Those negotiations have been more hostile than usual, but whose fault was that?

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          62. Define “they”

            ALL documents created or received in his role as President. He had no right to have physical possession of ANY of them. The pretense that there is something to negotiate is dishonest bullshit. I am not surprised that you will not let it go.

            If it turned hostile that is because NARA got sick of being jerked around by this jackass for more than two years.

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          63. Simply untrue.

            Trump has the right to have copies of all unclassified papers as well as papers he declassified. Had NARA matched papers to see what papers Trump had that were copies of papers they already had?

            You may want to believe that all papers in Trump’s possession belonged to NARA, but it simply isn’t so. That’s why it takes time and negotiation to determine which are which.

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          64. “You may want to believe that all papers in Trump’s possession belonged to NARA, but it simply isn’t so. That’s why it takes time and negotiation to determine which are which.”

            You are completely full of shit. If there is any disagreement about what belongs in the National Archive and what does not, the law gives the Archivist the power to decide. Trump had an obligation to turn over ALL documents produced or received in his role as President. Period. The law gives him access but not possession. He was in the wrong from the moment he carried away any such documents, classified or not. He has been in the wrong ever since.

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          66. “You’re just repeating the same untruths over and over so it’s a waste of time to engage.”

            You’re just repeating the same untruths over and over so it’s a waste of time to engage.

            How could you even administer or prosecute a classification system where undocumented declarations and incorrectly marked documents have the force of law.

            And how do you explain the FOIA case referenced based on Trump’s very specific tweet? You have not engaged AT ALL. You’re just repeating the same untruths, like, I might add, you do on many subjects.

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          68. And the FBI screwed up Hillary with reports about 9 days before the election.

            So forget that. Trump is not even running in this election.

            Forget the “negotiation”. Trump was ignoring the entreaties for a year. Then he unloaded some boxes. Then 5 months later, some more boxes. And finally he unloaded the feast via a search warrant. Still all intermingled papers. Still classified, even after attesting that the June delivery was all he had that were secrets.

            If he had been negotiating, the intermingling would not be an issue.

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          69. If Comey wronged Clinton by reopening the investigation close to an election that does not make it OK in this case. It’s not tit for tat.

            The FBI policy is not limited to current candidates. Politically sensitive actions are barred close to an election in toto.

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          70. “ It’s not tit for tat.”

            Never said it was. You are the one who daily brings up how Hillary skated. Obviously she did not. Gowdy and his minions said out loud that the hearings were to destroy Clinton’s chances in 2016. So I would skip the Hillary stuff if you want to be taken seriously. IMO

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          72. “Nothing but partisan corruption of the FBI and DOJ.”

            Your delusional, orange-tinted opinion is noted.

            And now the pictures of some of what was di discovered have been filed with the DOJ response to TFG’s rants.

            So who is truly corrupt now?

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          73. “ The DOJ and press keep dangling “We got him this time!”

            Really, do you a cite for that?

            The last I read is that intelligence services are now working feverishly to assess the damage done to our security. Now that we apparently know that the papers were not always in the one closet, but all over the place.

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          74. Do you have a cite for still classified papers found outside the storage room or his secure office?

            Because the classification status of those papers is still disputed.

            Haven’t heard anything about those nuclear secrets that he might not have had the authority to declassify on his own lately. Could that just have been a lie for the eager press to spread for them>

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          75. “Because the classification status of those papers is still disputed.”

            Disputed? There is no real dispute. Just fake disputes for the cult.

            Any document that was originally marked classified remains classified until the procedures to document a legitimate declassification are carried out. And that is according to Trump’s Chief-of-staff explaining it for the court where a FOIA suit was being litigated. This simple legal and procedural fact seems way too hard for you to understand. Sad.

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          76. Again, simply untrue.

            If the bureaucrats failed to keep up with producing new copies of what Trump decided to declassify, whose fault is that?

            They were declassified the moment Trump declared them so, not when bureaucrats got around to printing the declassified copy.

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          77. “They were declassified the moment Trump declared them so, not when bureaucrats got around to printing the declassified copy.”

            That is just PLAIN false and was shown to be such in court when journalists demanded FOIA access to the Trump-Russia investigation documents which Trump had “declassified” and were denied. The procedures MUST be followed. And for obvious reasons.

            Besides, the classification status of these stolen documents is not relevant to the laws referenced in the search. With that said, his mishandling of classified materials may give rise to new charges not mentioned in the search warrant.

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          79. There is no proof he declassified anything. They were still stamped and recorded as classified. They were not redacted, as required in a declassification procedure.

            These were still top secret intelligence info and revelation could cause grave damage to our nation. If he obstructed the return, he broke the law.

            Liked by 2 people

          80. Trump doesn’t have to prove he declassified a particular document. If he can show an articulated general policy, that is sufficient.

            Redaction is required for release to the public, it is not required for the classifying authority, which was Trump.

            And the espionage act refers to divulging information and I have seen no evidence Trump divulged anything to anyone.

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          81. “ If he can show an articulated general policy, that is sufficient.”

            He can’t. Staff and aides, including Meadows, say he never did that.

            The Espionage act is not just about divulging. It is about retaining and obstructing sensitive material critical to national defense.

            And if the documents are still critical and top secret in the new administration, he has to return them. He can view them in DC at an approved facility.

            Liked by 2 people

          82. “Redaction is required for release to the public, it is not required for the classifying authority, which was Trump.”

            Trump “declassified” everything related to Russia-gate and the Clinton emails with the explicit direction “No redactions” so your silly argument falls apart. Declassification requires very formal procedures on each and every document. No magic powers allowed.

            Trump tweeted as follows : “I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!”

            This was not honored in our legal system because he did not follow the prescribed procedures. So much for your constant bull about honoring the Rule of Law.

            Liked by 1 person

          83. Again, simply untrue. Repeating lies does not make them true.

            Trump accepted the FBI redactions to the Russia Hoax documents and ordered the release of the redacted version.

            The FBI just never did it and Biden won’t require the release of the declassified and redacted documents.

            Another partisan deception by the corrupt Biden DOJ.

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          84. “The FBI just never did it and Biden won’t require the release of the declassified and redacted documents.”

            Laughable. Trump wrote the only memo that was in the right form as he was going out the door. The new President promptly reclassified the documents as is HIS authority. They are STILL classified which is why Trump does not dare release them – if he actually has them AND wants to which is highly doubtful.

            Liked by 1 person

          86. “And the espionage act refers to divulging information and I have seen no evidence Trump divulged anything to anyone.”

            Uh, there are several sections of the Espionage Act. There does not have to be any divulging for a crime to have been committed.

            For example someone who has NDI in their possession and “willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it” is a criminal. A slam dunk case if there ever was one.

            18 U.S. Code § 793(d)

            Liked by 2 people

          87. “Trump doesn’t have to prove he declassified a particular document. If he can show an articulated general policy, that is sufficient.”

            You may believe that because that is what you have been told. But you have been told incorrectly. See my opinion pies posted today from the Hill.

            Liked by 1 person

          89. “Again, refer to Obama’s executive order, which remains in effect.”

            Contrary to your repeated nonsense, Trump cannot declassify anything by magic. I agree with you that he could legally declassify many documents by noting his action on each page of each document and by signing each note. But, he has not done that and could not do it at all after leaving office.

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          90. He doesn’t need to make a written record, he can declassify by publishing, for example.

            If the whole document, with no redactions is declassified, he need only say so in front of witnesses familiar with the documents.

            Again, refer to Obama’s execiutive order.

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          91. “He doesn’t need to make a written record, he can declassify by publishing, for example.”

            Or by telling the Russian ambassador.

            He published nothing about any of the 700 pages stolen. So your point is moot.

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          92. Don, You need to read VERY carefully the opinion piece I posted from The Hill today. It is pretty explicit in putting to rest what YOU think the Obama EO says.

            And I will trust a Watergate prosecutor over a Chespeake retired dentist in parsing the facts on legal matters.

            Liked by 1 person

          93. What is with you and nuclear. Nobody said he
            had them. Except you.

            As far as where documents were found or expected to be found.

            Page 29, #77, 78 and 79 of the affidavit.

            Also:

            https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-found-white-house-files-in-basement-and-closet-in-trumps-office-2022-8

            Trump never officially declassified anything. Plus, even if it could be established he did so properly, state secrets are still state secrets and the damage that could be done is still very real.

            Liked by 2 people

          96. There’s a lot of garbage in the affidavit.

            Trump’s MAL office was certainly a secure site while he was in office. Were documents brought there after he left office, or were they already there?

            You think you know a lot that you simply don’t.

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          97. There is a lot more garbage in your comments.

            You know he brought those documents. That has been verified. You are just going in circles bring up the same stuff over and over.

            You don’t believe any media, any affidavit, any judge, the FBI, the DOJ, Trump staff, aides…you only believe Trump.

            This discussion is pointless.

            Liked by 2 people

          99. “I know he brought SOME documents. I do not know what was already there, and neither do you.”

            Totally irrelevant. NONE of them belong there and he has had far more than ample opportunity to deliver each and every document “on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it.”

            Liked by 1 person

          102. “Odd, they were happy with it while he was in office.”

            Who is “they?” NARA had no jurisdiction until 12:00pm January 20, 2021. And just because the sitting President got away with extreme carelessness in his handling of sensitive information does not mean anyone was “happy” about it. In fact there are numerous reports that the opposite was true.

            Liked by 1 person

          104. He could do it verbally with no written note at all, if he had witnesses to confirm is.

            Obama’s EO, which remains in effect, exempts the President from the documentation requirements. A marginal note would eliminate the need for witnesses.

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          105. “Sources familiar with the investigation”…

            How many times has that phrase been ridiculed when used by the anti-TFG crowd?

            And it has been reported (my CNN link above) the review by the special team is complete and some of the documents have been id’ed as POSSIBLY protected by attorney client privilege. However, that is NOT what the attorney’s requested as “privilegeed”; they were talking about Executive privilege, which SCOTUS has already ruled on at least once.

            Liked by 1 person

          108. “If the FBI agents knowingly viewed privileged communications, they are guilty of abuse of rights under color of authority, a felony.”

            The search warrant spelled out the procedures that would be followed to protect privileged documents. There is zero reason to believe they were not followed. You are just bloviating without any evidence, substance, or even a lick of common sense.

            Liked by 1 person

          111. “NO ONE other than a special master under court order is supposed to see them.”

            You don’t know what you are talking about. The court approved the procedures for protecting whatever privileged information may have been thrown in with stolen state secrets. Those procedures were followed.

            In you confused head, how long was the FBI supposed to wait around for Trump to get around to demanding a special master before processing the materials seized according to the search warrant procedures.

            Liked by 1 person

          112. There is NOTHING to negotiate. Presidential papers belong to the Archives. If there is a dispute, the law gives the archivist the power to decide. Their request and later their demand that ALL such papers be turned over was entirely lawful. Trump’s non-compliance was unlawful. Period.

            Liked by 1 person

          113. “Biden’s denial of Trump’s executive privilege is, in itself, an unprecedented political assault.”

            Not when that executive privilege is being invoked to hide evidence of crimes. It may be unprecedented but that is ONLY because we have never had a con man and criminal like Trump in the Oval office.

            Liked by 1 person

          114. So, your hatred for Trump is reason to presume a crime with no evidence?

            What probable might Biden have had that Trump was shielding criminal evidence?

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          115. You insist that the Russian investigation papers were there. If Trump refused to give them up if he did have them he is obstructing. Durham is not finished yet you said.

            Like Trump you are contradicting yourself.

            Liked by 2 people

          117. “Any paper he has read is permanently available to him.”

            WTH are you talking about? He cannot keep TS/SCI papers after he leaves office. And they are NOT permanently available to him or ANY former President.

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          118. If he was able to read it while in office, he can reference them.

            For material not declassified, he might have to go to the NARA archives, but he still has access to it.

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          120. “So, your hatred for Trump is reason to presume a crime with no evidence?”

            No evidence? What are you smoking?

            There is no doubt that Trump completely abused both Executive Privilege and the promise of Presidential pardons in his criminal obstruction of the Mueller investigation. He does not deserve any special consideration from anybody not matter what traditions have to be ignored.

            Liked by 1 person

  6. In case anyone is surprised, don’t be.

    “If there is a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents after the Clinton debacle which you presided over, and did a hell of a good job, there will be riots in the streets,” Mr. Graham said on Mr. Gowdy’s “Sunday Night in America” show on Fox News.“

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/29/sen-lindsey-graham-predicts-riots-if-donald-trump-/

    The wording is as much a threat as a prediction coming from a Trump lackey.

    The Kraken will be released should anything happen to The Godfather, “Don” Trump.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. “The Kraken will be released”…

      Unless she is disbarred for her election lies. Oh wait, theories, but no proof. YZes, Rudy’s words, but The Kraken was right there with him most of the time.

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    2. Even a majority of Democrats now believe DOJ is applying the law for political purpose.

      Some Democrats are cheering it, but many others are ashamed.

      It is pretty obvious to everyone that Trump is the target of unjust persecution, so of course if that is continued, there will be mostly peaceful demonstrations.

      What I expect to happen is a slow drip of unsubstantiated leaks to damage Republicans between now and November, and then a Comey style shrug off with no indictments. The FBI doesn’t dare let this come to trial, if that happens, the unredacted affidavit comes out and there is a lot there that would put them in deep trouble, like lying to a judge, again.

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      Reply

    3. RE: “The wording is as much a threat as a prediction coming from a Trump lackey.”

      It doesn’t make sense to blame Trump or Trump supporters for things that haven’t happened. That’s witch huntery.

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      1. “It doesn’t make sense to blame Trump or Trump supporters for things that haven’t happened.”

        Big Rally January 6th. Be there. Will be wild.

        Ring a bell? or are you conveniently forgetting what was said, by whom, and what happened in the aftermath of those words?

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. RE: “Ring a bell? or are you conveniently forgetting what was said, by whom, and what happened in the aftermath of those words?”

          It is impossible to “forget” future events that haven’t happened.

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          1. So you ignore January 6th? OK, good for you. What else do you choose to ignore because the truth is inconvenient?

            So history has ZERO chance of repeating itself.

            How many times did TFG call for some sort of “action” by HIS people and some idiot took it upon himself to jump?

            Yeah, nothing to see here. Move along, move along.

            Liked by 1 person

          2. Nice store front window you have here. If you do call the cops we’ll break it and your legs too.

            Is that witch hunting or extortion and threats?

            Liked by 2 people

          4. “Witch hunters always say that.”

            Grow up. Threats of widespread violence in response to the rule of law is a very serious matter. No place for such childish bullshit as “witch hunt.”

            Liked by 1 person

          5. The only threats of widespread violence in response to the rule of law that exist are the ones created by overactive fantasies.

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          6. So it was overactive fantasies that created January 6th attack on the Capitol? Or some moron to shoot up a DC Piazza shop? Or another one who shot up a baseball practice.

            Downplaying that which has happened in the recent past and saying it can’t or won’t happen again is delusional, idiotic and dangerous.

            Liked by 1 person

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