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

[Progressive Pessimist]

I wouldn't mind if one of them defecated on the walls like Trump's supporters did to the Capitol.

[Progressive Pessimist]

He can't be inept enough to keep anything incriminating there can he?

Definitely not.

I disagree. I think he would be. BUT he would have happened to have brought that evidence somewhere else prior and forgot it thereby lucking out of a circumstance where he could be held accountable or incriminate himself, as always. His incompetence somehow always ends up looping back around to benefiting him and helping him dodge bullets.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Soon...

I wish...

I've always fantasized about him seeing something similar to the scene in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' when the office gets raided in slow motion by FBI agents, but until I see it happen in real-time it's only going to be part of my (pathetic) dreams.

[Progressive Pessimist]

This will not be a good thing for a midterm with Biden's approval so low. Could wind up motivating Republicans.

Yes, everything is always good for Trump. Surely the politician that other Republican candidates lick the ass of being searched by the FBI will be what it takes for them to win!

In alternate universe 2018, President Hillary Clinton leads the Democrats to surprisingly hold both the Senate and House after her Chappaqua home is raided by the FBI!

Richard Nixon went on to continue his second term in peace after he was investigated!

It's the ultimate sign of victory in American politics!

[Progressive Pessimist]

This probably helps Trump politically in the short-term. Literally the majority of the GOP is coming to his aid as a result of this.

Obviously the cult is going to circle the wagons on this, no matter how inconsistent it's making them look, but can they really expect everyone else outside of their hive-mind to feel the same? I personally doubt it for a litany of reasons. And that's not even considering the threats of violence we'll probably see against FBI field offices all across the country. That'll certainly reflect well on Trump and the GOP.

https://twitter.com/daithaigilbert/status/1557442940384985090

*Slams head on desk*

Exactly like this!

It's only been two days since the FBI raid and I've already run out of GOP Hypocrisy BINGO cards to fill out.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I was very busy yesterday and ended up not being privy to this information until I got home late yesterday and didn't have an opportunity to post (see? I do have a life beyond this forum...at times). And all I can say is: holy flying s***s of death! This escalated so quickly! But even saying that I cannot fathom being surprised at Trump mishandling information about our damn nukes. It was just about the only thing many of us expecting the worst from the Trump administration were wrong about predicting...until now. I am more so flabbergasted above anything else. Anyway, irony as a concept has been deader than the Pennyfarthing bicycle for the past seven years when trump and his cult in the GOP were the ones to kill it and probably bury it on one of his golf courses.

It's my 30th birthday this Sunday, and I have been dreading it, but if this story keeps unfolding in ways that get increasingly worse for Ill Douche and his ilk then I will accept that as a very well-timed gift during the week of my birthday from a universe that had prior been kind of brutal to me all this year.

I do want to address the alleged Saudi quid pro quo speculation here. It's an interesting theory, and I wouldn't put it past Trump, especially given the timing with them being present at his Bedminster golf course, but I until we have clearer, more direct links I still think Trump was just purely incompetent and negligent above all. For all we know he kept the information because he delusionally thought he would be reinstated as President, or some s*** like that-so why bother handing them back when it's information he needs to know as the eternal, legitimate President? He is that deranged and detached from reality that I am willing to put stock into that prediction.

I am still too jaded to predict him actually going to prison and seeing at least some kind of recompense for this though. I have no idea how he'll worm his way out of this, he seems more boxed-in by this any of his near innumerable worst scandals in American history, but I just feel like we might be pushing out luck with how bad this has already been for him and how good everything else has been. I hope more than anything to be wrong and that we can throw this amoral charlatan in the trash-bin of history and never look back.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1558227491537436672

LOL

That's a win-win right here.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I think this is the ultimate “but her emails” moment.

That's what makes this scandal somehow one of the most infuriating though. Trump literally did what Clinton was accused of, and in a much more literal, much more brazen, much more obvious way. Hell, this whole scandal is GOP hypocrisy distilled. It's maddening!

*Inhales and exhales* I am, however, pleased to see that my Trump hubris theory continues to be backed up. Every time he is overconfident about something it comes back around and bites him in the ass. And nobody is more overconfident than Trump, so this single scandal, even discounting the innumerable other ones, was a long time coming.

[Progressive Pessimist]

It would certainly help if the cult leader himself would issue a single statement to the effect of "Hey you lovely beautiful MAGA folks out there... please stop threatening to kill federal agents and judges, or actually trying to like that one guy in Ohio.  Don't be like that guy.  Love ya!"

His silence on that front - while simultaneously churning out the expected "I HAVE BEEN VIOLATED" garbage every few minutes - is deafening.

It's the insurrection all over again. If anything proves his mental state and motivations during that time, it's history repeating itself again presently right here.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The affidavit being unsealed isn't even going to satisfy the rabid Trump base. They'll just move the goalposts to something else afterwards. They don't actually care about the evidence that formed the basis of the raid, they're just looking for people to deflect blame to. They want another situation like with the two FBI agents in Mueller's team who were having the affair and shared the anti-Trump text messages. They need something more to muddy the waters with even if it comes at the cost of that transparency possibly giving the investigation even more credibility to those who aren't brainwashed in the country. Just like when the warrant itself was revealed.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Don't forget the possibility that large swathes of Trump fans have given up voting altogether, disheartened by the false belief that every election is rigged anyway.

This.  It already cost them two Senate seats in Georgia.

I still don't know if I buy into that. I certainly hope it's true though. And it's not because I am against certain people voting, but because it could teach the GOP a harsh, well-deserved lesson if they were at all capable of learning lessons.

[Progressive Pessimist]

DoJ has submitted a redacted affidavit to Judge Reinhardt, who will now decide whether or not to release it.

Hopefully people mentioned within the affidavit will be shielded like his Overwatch counterpart does for his allies.

Yes, that was nothing more than a forced Overwatch joke. I have no shame in that.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Frank Figliuzzi (former CI director at FBI) thinks the most highly classified documents are so sensitive that it will be difficult to prosecute Trump for having them. This has apparently been an issue in the past for mishandling such documents.

So he's going to worm himself out of a bad legal situation once again? This is why I never get my hopes up for this cretin to ever to see the consequences he deserves.

[Progressive Pessimist]

*Yawn* I wish I could be more disappointed or surprised at this hack ruling, but I can't be after four years of Trump stacking the courts. Though really McConnell might be to blame, and yet in spite of that-something he has now, and usually has, personally benefited from-he wants to pick a fight with him? Talk about ungrateful and not worth kissing ass for!

But yes, in reality, all this does is delay the process, there is no real substantive attribute of this in Trump's favor beyond that and a moral victory. His delaying of justice always happens though, and it's just sickening to see him get rewarded with that on such flimsy arguments once again.

Again though, perhaps it's my low expectations but as long as a judgment on the case can happen by the Justice Department before the 2024 primaries begin, I'll be content. I never expected a swift closure of this most recent legal quagmire of his. And let's not forget about the many other investigations into his corrupt ass.

This country desperately needs democrats to pack/expand the Courts. We are in for rulings like this for decades if we don't. If we care about democracy, it is simply something that HAS to be done.

That's why Democrats need to keep the Senate at the barest minimum. And at the barest minimum of what they can do with it, at least allow Biden to appoint more judges and bring some semblance of balance and objectivity to the institution.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I'm surprised that the spin hasn't turned to "well, it was about some other country, so it doesn't matter".

Well, that's at least how they'll rationalize why they don't care: "America first!"

[Progressive Pessimist]

Texas woman arrested for death threats against Judge Cannon.

It sounds like the accused is way off the deep end:

Gish also made a number of outlandish comments in the Sept. 1 calls, saying she's "in charge of nuclear" for the country and has a "license to kill," the court filings said. At one point in the voicemails she said she's working for Trump as his "hitman," while at another point she accused Trump of having orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks and claimed he is marked for assassination as well, they said.
...
U.S. marshals were able to identify Gish as the caller by tracing her cell phone number, the criminal complaint says. Prosecutors said she has a history of "delusional conduct" and has "claimed to be a CIA agent, a Navy SEAL, an Army Ranger, and someone familiar with nuclear weapons or war, all while intermixing threats to public officials such as former President Donald Trump or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

She might be the most literal definition of the term "radical centrist"ever.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Wow! The Justice Department really called his bluff with the selection of Dearie then. What did they say to get the Trump team to agree to him? "Oh no! Please! Not Judge Dearie! Anyone but him!?"

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1592248515543326720https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1592248520668753921

It's a pretty safe bet that Trump's ego is the motivator for everything he does. Not much of a revelation here. I predicted awhile back that his motive would be dumbest, most simplistic thing possible instead of some sort of intricate game of espionage or subversion.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Trump is gonna get blanched

It's official, folks!

[Progressive Pessimist]

I haven't commented here since this second indictment happened, and don't really have much to add outside of noting that, once again, Trump's hubris has bit him in his grossly tan-lined ass once again. That always seems to be the case, and it's good to see that what goes around does come around sometimes.

I have little faith in the trial happening successfully in Florida, but if it does convict Trump without anything go wrong...it still won't make up for everything else that Florida ruined for the country this century, but it would be appreciated.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I guess Trump doesn't have much confidence in getting acquitted if he doesn't want to chance that happening before the election and likely being a boon to his campaign.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/hugolowell/status/1689358705240776704

This will certainly be denied (if not by Cannon, on appeal).  But isn't it a tactical error by the Trump team?  It seems to concede that Trump retained documents that should only be handled inside a SCIF.

Much like Trump, his lawyers don't seem to think things through very well.

[Progressive Pessimist]

https://twitter.com/KFaulders/status/1699498491062480931

Narrator: No, he's not.

Hugh Hewitt is a fun name

He has one of the most smug punchable faces ever though.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Let me start with;

THIS IS JUST A THEORY WITH NOT HARD EVIDENCE

With that said I’ve seen a very tentative connection being drawn from the Hamas invasion to the Mar-a-Lago.

It has been established that Hamas gained their Intel from Iran, who in turned seemed to have gained it from Russia.

It has also been established that there were various military documents at Mar-a-Lago, including “foreign nations nuclear capabilities”.

The leap is that a spy or something similar obtained military intel about Israel’s from the documents at Mar-a-lago, which if true is pretty damning.

I am personally unconvinced. It feasibly could have happened, but just as easily could not have happened. Either way I expect this conspiracy to start making the rounds online. There is no solid evidence, but it’s easy to see how people are connecting the dots.

I would wait for more concrete connections before entertaining this.

Should this somehow end up true though, it ought to be the ultimate example of why Trump is such a volatile and dangerous person to be in a position of political power.

[Progressive Pessimist]

A broken clock is right twice a day.

I think it's in bad faith though, just to make her seem more impartial.