FBI search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago (Update: Trump Indicted!)

[John Dule]

Scary that the Democrats don't seem cognizant of the precedent this will set. If they can go after Trump, they can go after anyone who steals classified documents about nuclear warheads.

[President Johnson]

I know we read this many times since 2016 and it's gotten tiresome and disappointing, but is it possible "the walls are closing in" this time for real? I don't think he'll ever spend a day in prison, but still.

[LostInOhio]

This is why we need to have qualified and experienced people in charge of our government, not an “outsider” and his gaggle of incompetent nincompoops.

[Torie]

There is a reason the NYT is number one:

"The search warrant for Trump’s residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified."

[GALeftist]

There is a reason the NYT is number one:

"The search warrant for Trump’s residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified."

Twitter user @KDbyProxy (wonderful follow btw, whip smart, especially wrt this sort of thing) caught this yesterday. Here's the relevant tweet:

https://twitter.com/KDbyProxy/status/1557872185959751681

[GeorgiaModerate]

There is a reason the NYT is number one:

"The search warrant for Trump’s residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified."

The section 1519 mention makes me wonder what he was trying to obstruct, unless it just means the investigation of the related counts.

[riceowl]

I see we're going to hear about Hillary for the next few months.

[Oakvale]

We all laughed at her... but she was right. My God, she was right all along...

[It’s so Joever]

What we are probably going to see over the next few weeks is more or less the equivalent of what would happen if the GOP in the 1970s decided to not drop Nixon and instead doubled down behind Watergate.

[ProgressiveModerate]

Fr can I just say screw all the Republicans who prematurely jumped to Trumps side and assume it was just a political witch-hunt

[wbrocks67]

Wait, so is the investigation into the Espionage act thing for real?

The fact that the GOPs latest best argument is that he "classified all these on his way out the door" as if Trump had a magic wand to do that and just so happens that he did it with *all* of these docs is possibly the biggest stretch yet.

[GALeftist]

Underrated villain in this story is McConnell. After January 6th there was genuine political will to impeach and convict Trump, disqualifying him from ever holding office again. Trump would 100% never be in a position to do any of this stuff ever again. There'd be some short term pain with a base revolt, sure, but like all things it would pass. Conviction got 7 votes even without McConnell on board, he was practically its only obstacle. But he didn't convict. He couldn't. Because he was so scared of the judges Biden might appoint if he didn't win the midterms. And now, instead of this whole thing capping off the disgraceful career of a universally recognized failure of a president, we're probably going to have to deal with trying a man ~40% of the country reveres as a God for espionage.

[Crumpets]

https://twitter.com/AlexanderSoros/status/1558146862435155968

[Ferguson97]

Anyone who has ever mockingly said "orange man bad" or accused someone of "Trump derangement syndrome" has to apologize to one liberal in their life.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

https://twitter.com/AlexanderSoros/status/1558146862435155968

Looking forward to going to the party at the space laser tonight.

[Del Tachi]

https://twitter.com/sgurman/status/1558141405004013568

"TS/SCI" means Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information.  SCI is one of the strictest classification levels and is generally used for information that could compromise sensitive intelligence sources or methods.  AFAIK, TS/SCI documents should never be kept *anywhere* except a SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, a secure room protected against electronic surveillance or intrusion).

Not to overstate the case, but this is very very very bad.

Strictly speaking, SCI isn't a classification level but only a protocol for accessing classified information (at any level.)  There was a SCIF set up for Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2017. 

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

Fr can I just say screw all the Republicans who prematurely jumped to Trumps side and assume it was just a political witch-hunt

I would love to understand the mentality of someone who looks at everything that has happened since 2015, but also who isn't a 100% Trump loyalist, and who upon hearing about the FBI raid thought "What the hell, I can stick out my neck for Trump on this, what could possibly go wrong?"

I get that some people are going to defend Trump no matter what. But the defense when all of this initially broke went much broader than just the Roger Stone types, into people who absolutely were in a position to know better, and yet they jumped reflexively to his defense on this anyway. How much are they lying to themselves to think that this wasn't going to end disastrously?

[LBJer]

This piece by Noah Feldman came out three days ago:

https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/08/10/three-major-takeaways-fbi-search-trumps-home/10286817002/

Wow! It aged like Walter Donovan after drinking from a false Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade!

[wbrocks67]

Not surprising that every single "This helps Trump!" take has aged like sour milk from 1979. Not just that, but the media not taking the FBI seriously and giving Trump benefit of the doubt all this week (and chastising the DOJ for not being 'transparent' enough).... again, eggs on all their faces.

I would say the GOP looks like a total joke for sticking their neck out all this week with their ridiculous (and violent) rhetoric, but they have no self awareness and will continue to find some asinine defense for all this.

[TheTide]

Not surprising that every single "This helps Trump!" take has aged like sour milk from 1979. Not just that, but the media not taking the FBI seriously and giving Trump benefit of the doubt all this week (and chastising the DOJ for not being 'transparent' enough).... again, eggs on all their faces.

I would say the GOP looks like a total joke for sticking their neck out all this week with their ridiculous (and violent) rhetoric, but they have no self awareness and will continue to find some asinine defense for all this.

None of the avalanche of scandals and embarrassing headlines were enough to stop him from becoming president, but that might say more about both the GOP and the Democrats than about Trump.

[Del Tachi]

There is a reason the NYT is number one:

"The search warrant for Trump’s residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified."

Twitter user @KDbyProxy (wonderful follow btw, whip smart, especially wrt this sort of thing) caught this yesterday. Here's the relevant tweet:

https://twitter.com/KDbyProxy/status/1557872185959751681

This seems like a stretch.

They're going to put Trump in jail for ten years for possessing unclassified documents?  That doesn't pass the smell test

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

There is a reason the NYT is number one:

"The search warrant for Trump’s residence cited three criminal laws, all from Title 18 of the United States Code. Section 793, better known as the Espionage Act, which covers the unlawful retention of defense-related information that could harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary; Section 1519, which covers destroying or concealing documents to obstruct government investigations or administrative proceedings; and Section 2071, which covers the unlawful removal of government records. Notably, none of those laws turn on whether information was deemed to be unclassified."

Twitter user @KDbyProxy (wonderful follow btw, whip smart, especially wrt this sort of thing) caught this yesterday. Here's the relevant tweet:

https://twitter.com/KDbyProxy/status/1557872185959751681

This seems like a stretch.

They're going to put Trump in jail for ten years for possessing unclassified documents?  That doesn't pass the smell test

I mean, they weren’t unclassified, for one. They were top secret in some cases.

[Alben Barkley]

LOCK HIM UP

LOCK HIM UP

LOCK HIM UP

LOCK HIM UP

[T'Chenka]

I'm a few hours behind on this... so wait, Trump actually called Obama in his statement "Barack Hussein Obama"? I can't believe I'm saying this but I thought Trump was beyond that at this point. I was foolish to have ever projected any sort of decorum onto him in my mind.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1558187290555457538