Tag: Espionage

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage Justice Department

DOJ Subpoenas Security Video From Mar-a-Lago – Suspects Trump May Still Have Classified Material

The Department of Justice has subpoenaed security video from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort because “officials are not certain whether they have recovered all the presidential records,” according to The New York Times.

Sources told the Times that Justice Department officials are trying to get additional footage of the August 8 raid at the ex-president’s Palm Beach golf resort, a clear signal that the investigation is expanding.

The Times also reports that over 300 sensitive documents were taken by Trump when he left the White House.

Documents seized by the FBI were marked “Top Secret,” “Secret” and “Confidential.”

The disgraced former president is suspected of having violated several sections of federal law, including the Espionage Act, which could result in Trump serving decades in prison if he is charged and found guilty.

On Monday, Trump and his attorneys filed a bizarre court document in which they argue that the former president did indeed engage in illegal behavior:

Specifically, the filing states that Trump was subpoenaed on May 11, 2022, and “On June 2, 2022, President Trump, through counsel, invited the FBI to come to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve responsive documents.”

Approximately a month later, Trump extended an invitation for the FBI to return and verify what he had in his possession. That raises the question of why still had documents after June 2. That led to the search warrant being issued because the ex-president was still in violation of the law.

The court filing also has a direct admission from Trump that he did indeed take classified government documents, which is expressly forbidden and illegal under both the Espionage Act and the Presidential Records Act.

Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe had this to say about Trump’s amateurish court filing:

“It doesn’t really give any good reasons for thinking this warrant was illegal. In fact, one of the amazing things that I agree with is a statement on page 13 that President Trump, he still calls himself President Trump, should not be treated differently from any other citizen. Finally, he gets that right. Any other citizen who took top-secret material to not just a private home but a resort, like Mar-a-Lago, which has been penetrated by Chinese spies and perhaps by others, would be prosecuted under the Espionage Act. So, he is sort of asking Merrick Garland to prosecute him. Thank you, Mr. Trump, I won’t call him President Trump.”

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage

Trump’s Attorneys Admit He Violated The Espionage Act In Amateurish Court Filing

A court filing from attorneys representing disgraced, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump includes an admission that he did indeed violate the Espionage Act, which should make prosecuting him that much easier.

Legal analyst Marcy Wheeler, of EmptyWheel, caught the amateurish language used in the filing.

Specifically, the filing states that Trump was subpoenaed on May 11, 2022, and “On June 2, 2022, President Trump, through counsel, invited the FBI to come to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve responsive documents.”

Approximately a month later, Trump extended an invitation for the FBI to return and verify what he had in his possession. That raises the question of why still had documents after June 2. That led to the search warrant being issued because the ex-president was still in violation of the law.

The court filing also has a direct admission from Trump that he did indeed take classified government documents, which is expressly forbidden and illegal under both the Espionage Act and the Presidential Records Act.

Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe also examined the court filing and dubbed it “very strange,” noting:

“It doesn’t really give any good reasons for thinking this warrant was illegal. In fact, one of the amazing things that I agree with is a statement on page 13 that President Trump, he still calls himself President Trump, should not be treated differently from any other citizen. Finally, he gets that right. Any other citizen who took top-secret material to not just a private home but a resort, like Mar-a-Lago, which has been penetrated by Chinese spies and perhaps by others, would be prosecuted under the Espionage Act. So, he is sort of asking Merrick Garland to prosecute him. Thank you, Mr. Trump, I won’t call him President Trump.”

Reportedly, Trump doesn’t like to pay his attorneys for the work they do on his behalf. Based on this latest court filing, it appears he’s getting what he paid for.

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage Justice Department

Trump’s Latest Court Filing ‘Sort Of Asks For Garland To Prosecute Him’: Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe

Earlier today, attorneys for disgraced former president Donald Trump filed a lawsuit asking a judge to appoint a special master who would review the documents seized from the failed ex-president’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort.

CNBC reports on the suit:

Trump’s lawsuit, which suggests the Aug. 8 FBI raid was politically motivated, also asks that the Department of Justice be blocked from “further review of seized materials” from his Mar-a-Lago residence until the so-called special master is appointed to review the documents.

Special masters are appointed in criminal cases when there is a concern that some material seized by authorities should not be viewed by investigators because it is protected by attorney-client privilege or other factors that weigh against it being used in a prosecution.

But according to Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe, the lawsuit is “very strange” and likely to make it more certain that Attorney General Merrick Garland prosecutes Trump, telling MSNBC host Joy Reid:

“It’s very strange. For one thing, it’s filed not on behalf of private citizen Trump but filed on behalf of President Donald J. Trump. You know, it’s never been clear that he distinguishes between himself as a private citizen and himself as president. That may help explain just psychologically why he feels he’s entitled to all these papers. He says they’re his. That’s one thing that’s really strange. Another thing that’s quite strange, you mentioned yourself just a minute ago: he waited a couple of weeks. So, it’s sort of too late to ask for some new special master.”

Tribe also noted that Trump attacks the Justice Department for taking three days to obtain and execute the search warrant:

“Then, finally, it’s strange, not so much what it says but what it doesn’t say,” he continued. “It doesn’t really give any good reasons for thinking this warrant was illegal. In fact, one of the amazing things that I agree with is a statement on page 13 that President Trump, he still calls himself President Trump, should not be treated differently from any other citizen. Finally, he gets that right. Any other citizen who took top-secret material to not just a private home but a resort, like Mar-a-Lago, which has been penetrated by Chinese spies and perhaps by others, would be prosecuted under the Espionage Act. So, he is sort of asking Merrick Garland to prosecute him. Thank you, Mr. Trump, I won’t call him President Trump.

“If he’s being treated not as president but as a citizen, he’s got to be indicted. Otherwise, the rule of law just doesn’t mean anything.”

 

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage Justice Department

Michael Cohen Warns: Trump Will Blackmail DOJ By Threatening To Give Top-Secret Information To Foreign Countries

Michael Cohen, who served as Donald Trump’s personal attorney for over a decade, says he believes his former client may attempt to share top-secret information with foreign countries if the Justice Department indicts him for violations of the Espionage Act.

Appearing on MSNBC Sunday, Cohen was asked by host Michael Steele:

“Based on everything you know about him, why do you think he wanted to keep those top secret documents at Mar-a-Lago.”

Cohen responded:

“He’s gonna use it as a get out of jail free card. It’s a way to extort America turn around to say if you put me in jail, if you go after me — he’ll even say his children — I will have my loyal supporters who you do not know who has copies of information that may have been, and again this is my conjecture, that I would take those documents, I will release them to Iran, to China, to North Korea, to Russia.

“You want to take me down, I’ll take the whole country down.”

Cohen added:

“Remember, and I’ve said this with you 1000 times, Mike, Donald Trump doesn’t care about this country,” he continued. “He doesn’t care about anyone or anything other than himself.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mGz5ZoKjQ0&feature=emb_logo

Based on Trump’s past actions and behavior, Cohen is probably correct. But if the failed, one-term president does indeed give away classified information to our adversaries, he needs to keep in mind that he could wind up like Ethel and Julius Rosenberg: On federal death row, waiting to be executed, and so can anyone who assists him.

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage Justice Department

DOJ Now Believes Trump Was Up To ‘Something Nefarious’ With Top-Secret Documents: Report

The Justice Department now believes that failed, one-term former president Donald Trump was up to “something nefarious” by keeping classified and top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Washington Post reporter Amber Phillips noted on MSNBC Friday that new court filings prove the DOJ has a very important motive for getting the documents back into federal custody:

“Step back and try to think about this because there is a lot going on, and it’s all heating up right now. I think we’re right to be talking about this Mar-A-Lago raid a lot, and that’s because the FBI agents had to go out there and spell out examples of crimes they think Trump or his allies committed in Trump’s residence, and a judge agreed that there is possible cause. I mean, it’s right there. This is pretty serious.”

But it was what Phillips said next that’s most terrifying and worth keeping an eye on in the weeks ahead:

“Now the question that I have and legal experts have that I talk to have said is, did the FBI just want the documents badly enough to go in there and get them and then they’re done, or do they think there was some kind of misuse, and yesterday’s hearing, I thought, in court, reading a little bit of the tea leaves underscored that the FBI and the Justice Department are concerned that something nefarious was going on. There is still an ongoing case, we’ll mess up our prosecution if we keep this going. That is the No. 1 case to follow, and after that there is another Justice Department investigation into Jan. 6 that has hundreds of defendants, and they’re looking into President Trump’s words and actions regarding the Electoral College votes, and we could talk more about that in a minute. But it is a big one.”