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

[GeorgiaModerate]

If Trump was mishandling classified information, then yes, the FBI should go retrieve that information.

If Trump was in possession of classified information, there's no reason that couldn't have been resolved cooperatively (or at most with a subpoena.)  Trump voluntarily surrended 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives back in January. 

Sure. No one knows yet what the warrant was for, but I highly doubt the FBI raids a former president's house if there was not something serious to it. I do not believe the conspiracies that somehow Biden is pushing the FBI to take out Trump before the next election. Biden probably wants to run against Trump again.

This is why we need immediate oversight and answers from the Justice Department on why the raid was conducted.  The DOJ seems to be downplaying the raid, which is not a very smart political calculation.   

Why can't Trump just tell us?

Tell us what?  That the FBI is on a fishing expedition and showed up to Mar-a-Lago to collect every piece of paper they could get their hands on?  He's already said that

He has a copy of the warrant and can release it.

As multiple posters have already said, it's unlikely the warrant contains any information as to why the search was conducted.

This is possible; however, if so then Trump should release the warrant and demonstrate that it's the case.  Just saying that it doesn't contain anything useful is meaningless.

After all, if it doesn't have anything meaningful, why would he want to keep it hidden?

[Torie]

If Trump was mishandling classified information, then yes, the FBI should go retrieve that information.

If Trump was in possession of classified information, there's no reason that couldn't have been resolved cooperatively (or at most with a subpoena.)  Trump voluntarily surrended 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives back in January.  

Sure. No one knows yet what the warrant was for, but I highly doubt the FBI raids a former president's house if there was not something serious to it. I do not believe the conspiracies that somehow Biden is pushing the FBI to take out Trump before the next election. Biden probably wants to run against Trump again.

This is why we need immediate oversight and answers from the Justice Department on why the raid was conducted.  The DOJ seems to be downplaying the raid, which is not a very smart political calculation.    

Why can't Trump just tell us?

Tell us what?  That the FBI is on a fishing expedition and showed up to Mar-a-Lago to collect every piece of paper they could get their hands on?  He's already said that

He has a copy of the warrant and can release it.

As multiple posters have already said, it's unlikely the warrant contains any information as to why the search was conducted.

Georgia "the nice mod" Moderate, provided a link to an article that tells you all you need to know and more. I copied and pasted it below for your convenience. If true, it was the antithesis of a fishing expedition. That of course brings up the question of just why Trump was so intent on keeping records that it was a felony for him to keep. Feel free to speculate away on that one.

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-informer-told-fbi-what-docs-trump-was-hiding-where-1732283

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

https://twitter.com/Evan_Rosenfeld/status/1557415421816422400
If Trump kept classified documents, he's in for a bad time. Probably best to reserve judgment until all the facts come to light, which will not be immediate and never is for an FBI investigation of these magnitudes.

[Tartarus Sauce]

I'm not going to go to bat for the FBI as some kind of saintly organization that has never abused it's powers, it has done so all too frequently in the past. But the hysteria coming out of conservative circles over this demonstrates how they've been itching to find any reason they can to validate their self-righteous outrage and paranoia so as to justify the destruction of their perceived enemies. Apparently they have decided that holding up a depraved fiend of an individual as a martyr to be shielded from the consequences of his own actions like some kind of naïve innocent child is the vehicle for achieving this narrative of group solidarity and purpose.

Trump has hoisted himself on his own petard. He's the one that signed the law making mishandling of classified documents into a more serious crime. And he's the one that appointed Christopher Wray to the post of FBI Director. He can release a copy of the warrant to give some of the answers that every conservative commentator is screaming their head off for. This is is only controversial because Trump thinks literally anything other than slavishly loyal favoritism and being elevated to a different standard of privilege than everybody else is an injustice, and this is the only kind of treatment he will find personally acceptable. It has become the modus operandi among the Republican party's voters to use Trump's unbridled narcissistic ego as a mirror for their own grievances and a conduit for their will, so they have since long ago agreed that this ridiculously selfish demand from Trump is morally correct as the leader of their identity in-group and will also get outraged if its not respected.

I implore Republicans to find a better reason than protecting this man to justify unleashing political chaos through the republic. It's as pathetic to watch as it is frightening.

[wbrocks67]

I mean, this is all moot point anyway.

It could come out that Trump did indeed break the law by keeping and concealing classified documents that he was not supposed to have and I'm sure Republicans will continue to have some type of excuse for how it's not a big deal.

[Tartarus Sauce]

I mean, this is all moot point anyway.

It could come out that Trump did indeed break the law by keeping and concealing classified documents that he was not supposed to have and I'm sure Republicans will continue to have some type of excuse for how it's not a big deal.

That is precisely the problem, the Republican fury over this is a distraction. It is blatantly apparent that they will not allow Trump to be held to any standard of accountability under any circumstances, even if he was legitimately guilty of crimes. Their partisan identity won't allow for it, and it provides an opening for the codification of blatantly lawless behavior to become protected by whichever individual takes on the mantle of their partisan figurehead.

This is the real problem we are dealing with here. Law enforcement agencies have long abused their powers in this country, I'm not going to shed extra special tears even if they were guilty of doing so in this instance just because they're investigating a politically powerful person. And I also couldn't care less if the FBI got its teeth kicked in for misconduct if it could be proven that they did so in this instance. What I do care about is that the Republican Party will respond the same way to any organization or individual that attempts to hold whoever their cult figurehead happens to be within the bounds of the law.

Elevating a malignant narcissist to the leadership of your party in a system as polarized and partisan as ours has terribly corrosive effects to the psychology and behavior of the collective.

[Sestak]

This is why we need immediate oversight and answers from the Justice Department on why the raid was conducted.  The DOJ seems to be downplaying the raid, which is not a very smart political calculation.   

Well they're not supposed to be political.

Merrick Garland is a political appointee.  Any raid/investigation into a former president is going to attract major political attention, so he should have been out in front of this with a major press conference the day after the raid was conducted.  Staying silent makes it seem like they're hiding something. 

Sen. Cornyn literally made both Garland and Wray promise to stay silent in these types of situations during their confirmation hearings.

[wbrocks67]

I mean, this is all moot point anyway.

It could come out that Trump did indeed break the law by keeping and concealing classified documents that he was not supposed to have and I'm sure Republicans will continue to have some type of excuse for how it's not a big deal.

That is precisely the problem, the Republican fury over this is a distraction. It is blatantly apparent that they will not allow Trump to be held to any standard of accountability under any circumstances, even if he was legitimately guilty of crimes. Their partisan identity won't allow for it, and it provides an opening for the codification of blatantly lawless behavior to become protected by whichever individual takes on the mantle of their partisan figurehead.

This is the real problem we are dealing with here. Law enforcement agencies have long abused their powers in this country, I'm not going to shed extra special tears even if they were guilty of doing so in this instance just because they're investigating a politically powerful person. And I also couldn't care less if the FBI got its teeth kicked in for misconduct if it could be proven that they did so in this instance. What I do care about is that the Republican Party will respond the same way to any organization or individual that attempts to hold whoever their cult figurehead happens to be within the bounds of the law.

Elevating a malignant narcissist to the leadership of your party in a system as polarized and partisan as ours has terribly corrosive effects to the psychology and behavior of the collective.

Yep, this 100% exactly. The most egregious part about this whole thing is that the GOP response is that there's simply no way that Trump could've done something wrong - and then even if he did, then it's still not a big deal! There will never be any type of accountability and they'll bend themselves into a pretzel somehow defending or reasoning whatever the outcome is.

[Torie]

I mean, this is all moot point anyway.

It could come out that Trump did indeed break the law by keeping and concealing classified documents that he was not supposed to have and I'm sure Republicans will continue to have some type of excuse for how it's not a big deal.

That is precisely the problem, the Republican fury over this is a distraction. It is blatantly apparent that they will not allow Trump to be held to any standard of accountability under any circumstances, even if he was legitimately guilty of crimes. Their partisan identity won't allow for it, and it provides an opening for the codification of blatantly lawless behavior to become protected by whichever individual takes on the mantle of their partisan figurehead.

This is the real problem we are dealing with here. Law enforcement agencies have long abused their powers in this country, I'm not going to shed extra special tears even if they were guilty of doing so in this instance just because they're investigating a politically powerful person. And I also couldn't care less if the FBI got its teeth kicked in for misconduct if it could be proven that they did so in this instance. What I do care about is that the Republican Party will respond the same way to any organization or individual that attempts to hold whoever their cult figurehead happens to be within the bounds of the law.

Elevating a malignant narcissist to the leadership of your party in a system as polarized and partisan as ours has terribly corrosive effects to the psychology and behavior of the collective.

Yep, this 100% exactly. The most egregious part about this whole thing is that the GOP response is that there's simply no way that Trump could've done something wrong - and then even if he did, then it's still not a big deal! There will never be any type of accountability and they'll bend themselves into a pretzel somehow defending or reasoning whatever the outcome is.

You do know that even if convicted, Trump can not only run for POTUS, he can serve as POTUS, and do it all from a jail cell, right? And after he pardons himself, is SCOTUS on an issue as to which there is some ambiguity, really going to rule Trump lacks such power, and preclude him from moving back into his old digs?

[Ferguson97]

I really love how the current "defense" being offered by Republicans isn't even that Trump is innocent. They're just straight up admitting that they think the President should be above the law.

[Del Tachi]

If Trump was mishandling classified information, then yes, the FBI should go retrieve that information.

If Trump was in possession of classified information, there's no reason that couldn't have been resolved cooperatively (or at most with a subpoena.)  Trump voluntarily surrended 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives back in January. 

Sure. No one knows yet what the warrant was for, but I highly doubt the FBI raids a former president's house if there was not something serious to it. I do not believe the conspiracies that somehow Biden is pushing the FBI to take out Trump before the next election. Biden probably wants to run against Trump again.

This is why we need immediate oversight and answers from the Justice Department on why the raid was conducted.  The DOJ seems to be downplaying the raid, which is not a very smart political calculation.   

Why can't Trump just tell us?

Tell us what?  That the FBI is on a fishing expedition and showed up to Mar-a-Lago to collect every piece of paper they could get their hands on?  He's already said that

He has a copy of the warrant and can release it.

As multiple posters have already said, it's unlikely the warrant contains any information as to why the search was conducted.

This is possible; however, if so then Trump should release the warrant and demonstrate that it's the case.  Just saying that it doesn't contain anything useful is meaningless.

After all, if it doesn't have anything meaningful, why would he want to keep it hidden?

Maybe Trump will release the warrant at some point, but Trump's attorneys are on record stating the warrant refers to a possible violation of the Presidential Records Act.  It's not like Trump's team is trying to quash it.   

[Del Tachi]

If Trump was mishandling classified information, then yes, the FBI should go retrieve that information.

If Trump was in possession of classified information, there's no reason that couldn't have been resolved cooperatively (or at most with a subpoena.)  Trump voluntarily surrended 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives back in January. 

Sure. No one knows yet what the warrant was for, but I highly doubt the FBI raids a former president's house if there was not something serious to it. I do not believe the conspiracies that somehow Biden is pushing the FBI to take out Trump before the next election. Biden probably wants to run against Trump again.

This is why we need immediate oversight and answers from the Justice Department on why the raid was conducted.  The DOJ seems to be downplaying the raid, which is not a very smart political calculation.   

Why can't Trump just tell us?

Tell us what?  That the FBI is on a fishing expedition and showed up to Mar-a-Lago to collect every piece of paper they could get their hands on?  He's already said that

He has a copy of the warrant and can release it.

As multiple posters have already said, it's unlikely the warrant contains any information as to why the search was conducted.

Georgia "the nice mod" Moderate, provided a link to an article that tells you all you need to know and more. I copied and pasted it below for your convenience. If true, it was the antithesis of a fishing expedition. That of course brings up the question of just why Trump was so intent on keeping records that it was a felony for him to keep. Feel free to speculate away on that one.

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-informer-told-fbi-what-docs-trump-was-hiding-where-1732283

This reporting does not indicate that Trump was, as you say, "intent" on keeping classified information at Mar-A-Lago.  Quite the opposite, actually!  He had already voluntarily returned 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives in January.  If the FBI had reason to suspect that there were additional documents at Mar-a-Lago that still needed to be surrendered, it is not apparent why they needed to be seized in a raid instead of collected cooperatively (as before) or through the use of a subpoena. 

[Del Tachi]

I really love how the current "defense" being offered by Republicans isn't even that Trump is innocent. They're just straight up admitting that they think the President should be above the law.

Innocent of what?  He hasn't been charged with anything LOL

[LBJer]

I'm not going to go to bat for the FBI as some kind of saintly organization that has never abused it's powers, it has done so all too frequently in the past. But the hysteria coming out of conservative circles over this demonstrates how they've been itching to find any reason they can to validate their self-righteous outrage and paranoia so as to justify the destruction of their perceived enemies. Apparently they have decided that holding up a depraved fiend of an individual as a martyr to be shielded from the consequences of his own actions like some kind of naïve innocent child is the vehicle for achieving this narrative of group solidarity and purpose.

Trump has hoisted himself on his own petard. He's the one that signed the law making mishandling of classified documents into a more serious crime. And he's the one that appointed Christopher Wray to the post of FBI Director. He can release a copy of the warrant to give some of the answers that every conservative commentator is screaming their head off for. This is is only controversial because Trump thinks literally anything other than slavishly loyal favoritism and being elevated to a different standard of privilege than everybody else is the only kind of treatment he will find personally acceptable. It has become the modus operandi among the Republican party's voters to use Trump's unbridled narcissistic ego as a mirror for their own grievances and a conduit for their will, so they have since long ago agreed that this ridiculously selfish demand from Trump is morally correct as the leader of their identity in-group and will also get outraged if its not respected.

I implore Republicans to find a better reason than protecting this man to justify unleashing political chaos through the republic. It's as pathetic to watch as it is frightening.

One of the best posts I've ever seen on Atlas.  Well done. 

[OSR stands with Israel]

I really love how the current "defense" being offered by Republicans isn't even that Trump is innocent. They're just straight up admitting that they think the President should be above the law.

If you had your way , many members of the Bush admin would have been arrested and even many members of other admin and our foreign policy would be crippled .

Should John Bolton be arrested for admitting he was part of plans of regime change operations in other nations

[It’s so Joever]

I really love how the current "defense" being offered by Republicans isn't even that Trump is innocent. They're just straight up admitting that they think the President should be above the law.

If you had your way , many members of the Bush admin would have been arrested and even many members of other admin and our foreign policy would be crippled .

Should John Bolton be arrested for admitting he was part of plans of regime change operations in other nations

What if there was serious foreign policy stuff in the documents?

[Torie]

If Trump was mishandling classified information, then yes, the FBI should go retrieve that information.

If Trump was in possession of classified information, there's no reason that couldn't have been resolved cooperatively (or at most with a subpoena.)  Trump voluntarily surrended 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives back in January. 

Sure. No one knows yet what the warrant was for, but I highly doubt the FBI raids a former president's house if there was not something serious to it. I do not believe the conspiracies that somehow Biden is pushing the FBI to take out Trump before the next election. Biden probably wants to run against Trump again.

This is why we need immediate oversight and answers from the Justice Department on why the raid was conducted.  The DOJ seems to be downplaying the raid, which is not a very smart political calculation.   

Why can't Trump just tell us?

Tell us what?  That the FBI is on a fishing expedition and showed up to Mar-a-Lago to collect every piece of paper they could get their hands on?  He's already said that

He has a copy of the warrant and can release it.

As multiple posters have already said, it's unlikely the warrant contains any information as to why the search was conducted.

Georgia "the nice mod" Moderate, provided a link to an article that tells you all you need to know and more. I copied and pasted it below for your convenience. If true, it was the antithesis of a fishing expedition. That of course brings up the question of just why Trump was so intent on keeping records that it was a felony for him to keep. Feel free to speculate away on that one.

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-informer-told-fbi-what-docs-trump-was-hiding-where-1732283

This reporting does not indicate that Trump was, as you say, "intent" on keeping classified information at Mar-A-Lago.  Quite the opposite, actually!  He had already voluntarily returned 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives in January.  If the FBI had reason to suspect that there were additional documents at Mar-a-Lago that still needed to be surrendered, it is not apparent why they needed to be seized in a raid instead of collected cooperatively (as before) or through the use of a subpoena. 

He returned some stuff while withholding other stuff, stuff that was keep it in a safe worthy. That suggests intent. While you might trust Trump not to deep six records subject to a subpoena, I am not, and I guess neither Garland nor the judge were either.

I do wonder how the FBI opened the safe.

[S019]

I really love how the current "defense" being offered by Republicans isn't even that Trump is innocent. They're just straight up admitting that they think the President should be above the law.

If you had your way , many members of the Bush admin would have been arrested and even many members of other admin and our foreign policy would be crippled .

Should John Bolton be arrested for admitting he was part of plans of regime change operations in other nations

No, he shouldn't but that's different from having possession of plans about a future planned regime change in Iran or something. Also very few Democrats actually supporting sending the Bush family to jail outside of a few clueless terminally online leftists.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I really love how the current "defense" being offered by Republicans isn't even that Trump is innocent. They're just straight up admitting that they think the President should be above the law.

If you had your way , many members of the Bush admin would have been arrested and even many members of other admin and our foreign policy would be crippled .

Should John Bolton be arrested for admitting he was part of plans of regime change operations in other nations

What if there was serious foreign policy stuff in the documents?

Well I said if this is to the level of espionage I would take back what I said cause yes I think presidents should be charged with that.

[Del Tachi]

This is why we need immediate oversight and answers from the Justice Department on why the raid was conducted.  The DOJ seems to be downplaying the raid, which is not a very smart political calculation.   

Well they're not supposed to be political.

Merrick Garland is a political appointee.  Any raid/investigation into a former president is going to attract major political attention, so he should have been out in front of this with a major press conference the day after the raid was conducted.  Staying silent makes it seem like they're hiding something. 

He's a political appointee who is supposed to act apolitically the moment he is confirmed. Whether it makes seem to you they are hiding something is irrelevant. That's standard DOJ procedure. Say nothing, confirm nothing, until you're indicting.

The media and political pressure on Merrick Garland to indict Trump is intense.  Are we to uncritically believe that this raid isn't cloyingly timed to coincide with the escalation of the DOJ's Jan. 6th investigation into Trump, the Jan. 6th committee's continuing work, and an impending national election where Democrats have campaigned to keep Trump front-and-center? 

[It’s so Joever]

I really love how the current "defense" being offered by Republicans isn't even that Trump is innocent. They're just straight up admitting that they think the President should be above the law.

If you had your way , many members of the Bush admin would have been arrested and even many members of other admin and our foreign policy would be crippled .

Should John Bolton be arrested for admitting he was part of plans of regime change operations in other nations

What if there was serious foreign policy stuff in the documents?

Well I said if this is to the level of espionage I would take back what I said cause yes I think presidents should be charged with that.

So if they said sensitive national documents that could jeopardize national security you would count that? Because they aren’t going to just disclose what was in those documents for….obvious reasons.

[emailking]

The media and political pressure on Merrick Garland to indict Trump is intense.  Are we to uncritically believe that this raid isn't cloyingly timed to coincide with the escalation of the DOJ's Jan. 6th investigation into Trump, the Jan. 6th committee's continuing work, and an impending national election where Democrats have campaigned to keep Trump front-and-center? 

You can believe that if you want I guess. I don't. No evidence to support such a claim.

[It’s so Joever]

This is why we need immediate oversight and answers from the Justice Department on why the raid was conducted.  The DOJ seems to be downplaying the raid, which is not a very smart political calculation.   

Well they're not supposed to be political.

Merrick Garland is a political appointee.  Any raid/investigation into a former president is going to attract major political attention, so he should have been out in front of this with a major press conference the day after the raid was conducted.  Staying silent makes it seem like they're hiding something. 

He's a political appointee who is supposed to act apolitically the moment he is confirmed. Whether it makes seem to you they are hiding something is irrelevant. That's standard DOJ procedure. Say nothing, confirm nothing, until you're indicting.

The media and political pressure on Merrick Garland to indict Trump is intense.  Are we to uncritically believe that this raid isn't cloyingly timed to coincide with the escalation of the DOJ's Jan. 6th investigation into Trump, the Jan. 6th committee's continuing work, and an impending national election where Democrats have campaigned to keep Trump front-and-center? 

Yes?
Unless you believe all of the federal government is a deep state conspiring against Republicans that needs to be eliminated…which you do ig tbf.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

https://twitter.com/repswalwell/status/1557428889902895104?s=21&t=iSL9xGWiro...

Holy crap, put these people in jail.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I really love how the current "defense" being offered by Republicans isn't even that Trump is innocent. They're just straight up admitting that they think the President should be above the law.

If you had your way , many members of the Bush admin would have been arrested and even many members of other admin and our foreign policy would be crippled .

Should John Bolton be arrested for admitting he was part of plans of regime change operations in other nations

No, he shouldn't but that's different from having possession of plans about a future planned regime change in Iran or something. Also very few Democrats actually supporting sending the Bush family to jail outside of a few clueless terminally online leftists.

That is cause they knew though that if you did try to prosecute Bush on some technicalities it would open the door for every president to be prosecuted . BTW this does not mean Trump can’t be prosecuted under what I believe cause :

1. If this rises to the level of espionage than yes he should be prosecuted

2. He is also under investigation for trying to illegally overturn the election both Federally and in Georgia and I think this is something presidents obviously should be prosecuted for as well