Tag: Espionage

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage

DOJ Studying Two Federal Cases As They Consider Charging Trump With Espionage: Report

As U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Justice Department prosecutors consider whether or not (and when) to charge disgraced former president Donald Trump for violating several federal laws by illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, two other cases of espionage are being carefully studied.

Ken Dilanian of NBC News reports one of the cases comes from Hawaii and the other from Kansas.

In February, a week before the National Archives warned the Justice Department that former President Donald Trump had kept Top Secret documents at his Florida compound, Asia Janay Lavarello was sentenced to three months in prison. She had pleaded guilty to taking classified records home from her job as an executive assistant at the U.S. military’s command in Hawaii. 

“Government employees authorized to access classified information should face imprisonment if they misuse that authority in violation of criminal law,” said Hawaii U.S. Attorney Claire Connors, who did not accuse Lavarello of showing anyone the documents. “Such breaches of national security are serious violations … and we will pursue them.”

[…]

In another example, a prosecutor advising the Mar-a-Lago team, David Raskin, just last week negotiated a felony guilty plea from an FBI analyst in Kansas City, who admitted talking home 386 classified documents over 12 years. She faces up to 10 years in prison.

The fact that the DOJ is looking at those two cases, according to former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, suggests Trump is in very hot water.

Appearing on MSNBC, McQuade noted:

“There are two questions that prosecutors ask themselves when deciding whether to bring charges. The first is: can we charge? That is, is there sufficient evidence to prove the case? That’s the first question, but then there’s that second question: should we bring a case? That’s when the government looks to whether or not there’s a federal — substantial evidence to bring a case.”

McQuade then explained her reasoning.

“We want to have uniformity in the kind of cases you prosecute. In cases involving the mishandling of classified documents, typically prosecutors look for some aggravating factor beyond just mishandling. If you innocently bring home a document in your briefcase, typically that is not prosecuted. you might be disciplined. you might lose your clearance you might lose your job, but probably not be criminally prosecuted.”

Other factors are also involved, McQuade concluded:

“It’s some of those factors that she mentioned in the Hawaii case and others, whether the person acted willfully, that is they knew they were violating the law. Whether they were disloyal to the United States, sold them to a foreign government for example, or whether they obstructed justice.

“That’s probably the factor that is most salient in the Trump investigation.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMVFu5ey3QE&feature=emb_logo

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage Uncategorized

Trump Ordered Classified Docs Moved From Mar-a-Lago Shortly Before FBI Search Warrant: Report

Shortly before the FBI served a search warrant on failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, a Trump employee says he was ordered to move classified documents to the ex-president’s residence at the Florida property, according to a report from The Washington Post.

A Trump employee has told federal agents about moving boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago at the specific direction of the former president, according to people familiar with the investigation, who say the witness account — combined with security-camera footage — offers key evidence of Donald Trump’s behavior as investigators sought the return of classified material.

The witness description and footage described to The Washington Post offer the most direct account to date of Trump’s actions and instructions leading up to the FBI’s Aug. 8 search of the Florida residence and private club, in which agents were looking for evidence of potential crimes including obstruction, destruction of government records or mishandling classified information.

The Post also notes after Trump received a subpoena in May for any and all classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the ex-president suddenly decided it was time to move the boxes of papers, which certainly indicates an attempt to obstruct justice and hide evidence of his crime.

The first time he was interviewed, the witness said he knew nothing about any documents Trump might have illegally taken when he left office. He also denied having handled him. But when he was interviewed a second time, the witness admitted he had been untruthful.

The witness is now considered a key part of the Mar-a-Lago investigation, these people said, offering details about the former president’s alleged actions and instructions to subordinates that could have been an attempt to thwart federal officials’ demands for the return of classified and government documents.

A filing the Justice Department made Wednesday to the Supreme Court seems to confirm the cooperation of a witness inside the former president’s orbit:

“The FBI uncovered evidence that the response to the grand jury subpoena was incomplete, that additional classified documents likely remained at Mar-a-Lago, and that efforts had likely been taken to obstruct the investigation.”

If convicted under the Espionage Act for taking the classified documents, Trump could receive up to 33 years in prison, Business Insider has reported:

Former President Donald Trump could receive up to 33 years in prison if he is charged and convicted of violating three federal laws following the FBI’s search at his Mar-a-Lago residence, legal experts say.

The search warrant revealed that federal authorities were looking for evidence to see if Trump violated the Espionage Act, which carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. The Justice Department is also investigating whether Trump violated two other criminal statutes by attempting to conceal or remove records, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years, and by attempting to damage, alter, or falsify records, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Rather than admit he made a mistake in taking the documents, Trump has claimed they belonged to him and he had every right to take then when he left the White House.

 

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage

Trump Admits He Stole Classified Documents During Wacko Sunday Rally In Arizona

During a rally in Mesa, Arizona on Sunday that was held in the middle of a dirt field, disgraced, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump admitted that he did indeed steal classified documents before he left office.

Specifically, Trump told his supporters:

“I had a small number of boxes in storage… There is no crime. They should give me immediately back everything they have taken from me because it’s mine.”

In legal terms, what Trump said is considered to be a “summation exhibit,” which means the evidence came directly from the suspect. It’s a bit like being questioned by the police and flat-out telling them you did indeed commit the crime. At that point, all that’s left for prosecutors is the paperwork.

Legal experts were stunned by Trump’s admission of guilt, and they noted the Justice Department now has exactly what they need to indict, put on trial, and convict the disgraced ex-president.

Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann, who served as a prosecutor during the Russiagate investigation, explained:

“This is what we call a summation exhibit. Proof from the defendant’s own mouth. And on video.”

Former special counsel Ryan Goodman echoed Weissmann:

“There is more than ample evidence to indict Trump for crimes listed in the FBI search warrant. The question will come down to aggravating factors for Garland DOJ to consider. Outrageous, open defiance of the law —like this — must surely rank high among those factors.”

Attorney George Conway noted:

“As I’ve long said, his pronouns are I/me/mine.”

The ball is now in Merrick Garland’s court. The time has come to charge Trump and let the country know the law applies to everyone.

 

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage Justice Department

Michael Cohen Has Some Advice For The DOJ As They Look For More Missing Trump Documents

Now that we know disgraced, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump wanted to use stolen classified files he took illegally before he left the White House and trade them for information on his ties to Russia, the ex-president’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, has some advice for the Justice Department.

Appearing on MSNBC with host Ali Velshi on Sunday, Cohen urged the DOJ to indict Trump and stop playing games:

This whole issue is absolutely crazy. The fact that we have to sit there, and play this game with a former president of the United States? ‘I want my documents back?’ He’s not entitled to them.”

Cohen added:

“First and foremost, they are not his. Second of all, we know that he has more documents. We know that because in the file folder, it would specifically state the number of documents in them. Well there are more of them obviously out there.”

And then Cohen made a very important point that can indeed be helpful to Justice Department investigators:

“On top of that, we should find out whether or not he photocopied any of the documents as well. Now he is playing the art of the deal, and he did not write that book anyways. But he’s playing the art of the deal, where he says ‘I will trade you this for that,’ — this is beyond unheard of.”

The time has come to throw the book at Trump, Cohen concluded:

“If it was you, certainly if it was me, we would be in jail in 24 hours. The fact they are placating him only gives him the belief that he has more power than what he originally does. And think about what he is asking: ‘I will trade you this top-secret information, but I want information on the Russian investigation.’ Well here is a little side note for Donald, I hope he’s watching the program today. You are the president of the United States for four years, you had your lapdogs from Jeff Sessions to Attorney General Bill Barr in there. You could’ve gotten them, of course you could have.”

Indict the son of a bitch. Put the bastard on trial. And if he’s found guilty, lock his sorry ass up for what’s left of his life. We’re begging you, Attorney General Garland: Do it for the good of the country.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j260wFX-Lb8&feature=emb_logo

Categories
Crime Donald Trump Espionage

FBI Source In Trump Classified Document Investigation Shot And Left For Dead

It sounds like something from a James Bond film, but it actually took place in Québec.

According to Radio Canada:

Provincial police have arrested a man in connection with the shooting in the parking lot of a hotel complex in Estérel, Que. on Friday, about 100 kilometres north of Montreal in the Laurentians.

The man, 53, is expected to appear by video conference at the St-Jérôme courthouse Sunday or Monday. 

Valeriy Tarasenko was injured during the shooting, according to Estérel Mayor Frank Pappas and Radio-Canada’s police sources. He is being treated in hospital for serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, police say.

Pretty routine so far, until you find out that Valeriy Tarasenko had ties to a woman who pretended to be an heiress to the Rothschild fortune so she could gain access to Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach resort owned by failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump.

Mar-a-Lago, of course, has been the focus of attention from the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice since a search warrant was served there on August 8, unearthing hundreds of classified and top secret documents that the ex-president illegally removed from the White House.

And then there’s the woman who pretended to be someone else. Her name is Inna Yashchyshyn, and she thought it would be cool to take on a new identity so she could mingle with the rich and famous (or in some cases infamous) at Mar-a-Lago.

It was initially reported that Yashchyshyn was Russian, setting off alarm bells and suggestions that she might be working as a spy for the Kremlin. But she denies denies any such motive, telling The New York Post in September:

“What boils my blood most is people even thinking I’m Russian or a Russian agent,” she said in a phone interview, refusing to disclose her current location for fear of reprisals. “Russian people don’t exist to me since they invaded my country and killed my family and took homes.”

Not strange enough? Well, there’s another twist, and it’s a doozy:

In the months before the shooting, Mr. Tarasenko met with the FBI and turned over a host of documents and photos tied to an investigation into Ms. Yashchyshyn, her trips to the former president’s estate, and businesses she formed – two with Mr. Tarasenko – over the past seven years, records and interviews show.

Tarasenko was an FBI source. Was he one of the people who suspected Trump had classified information at Mar-a-Lago and reported it? If so, does that mean that either Trump or those close to him tried to have Tarasenko killed? Or was that done by Russian assassins?

Just when we thought the secret document scandal had reached the apex of bizarre, it takes a new turn that suggests more is yet to come.