Tag: Espionage

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage Social Media

Social Media Erupts In Laughter After Trump Declares ‘I’m As Innocent As A Person Can Be’

Disgraced former president Donald Trump is scared sh*tless, and the proof is in postings he made Thursday on his Truth Social site, asserting that he’s “as innocent as a person can be.”

Four postings in particular show just how rattled Trump is these days, but the first one he fired off has drawn the most attention and online mockery:

Innocent? That’s a laugh!

The next three postings were also laughable:

Those four “truths” as they’re called on Trump’s site were quickly shot to pieces on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/brentforGA/status/1562810586219442178?s=20&t=xaAGPGSpEoQOmm4Ss0xJgQ
https://twitter.com/TheresaKl_/status/1562792609046986752?s=20&t=xaAGPGSpEoQOmm4Ss0xJgQ

It’s starting to sound like Dotard Don knows he’s screwed. His fear is palpable and his protestations are (like him) absurd.

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage

Trump Whines About Classified Documents: ‘I Don’t Understand Why I Can’t Have These Things’

It probably won’t surprise you to know that rather than understanding the very serious nature of the trouble he’s in for taking hundreds of classified documents, he’s whining that he wants them back.

Matter of fact, Donald is now insisting that the FBI return at least two dozen boxes of materials they seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort. Those boxes, according to The Wall Street Journal, contained at least 11 sets of classified information.

“He has said, ‘People put this stuff in their library. How can they put it in their library if it has to go back to the Archives? I don’t understand why I can’t have these things,’ ” the source said.

Of course, what Trump actually fails to understand is that what he’s done was in direct violation of the law, and considering his expressed admiration for some of the most disgusting dictators in the world (Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un) and the fact that his business is in deep financial trouble, it’s only natural that the Justice Department might suspect the ex-president is selling U.S. secrets to the highest bidder, including our adversaries.

Even before he left office, there was a general consensus that Trump should not continued to receive intelligence briefings, which is customary when a president is no longer in office:

When David Priess was a CIA officer, he traveled to Houston, he recalls, to brief former President George H.W. Bush on classified developments in the Middle East.

It was part of a long tradition of former presidents being consulted about, and granted access to, some of the nation’s secrets.

Priess and other former intelligence officials say Joe Biden would be wise not to let that tradition continue in the case of Donald Trump.

They argue soon-to-be-former President Trump already poses a danger because of the secrets he currently possesses, and they say it would be foolish to trust him with more sensitive information. With Trump’s real estate empire under financial pressure and his brand suffering, they worry he will see American secrets as a profit center.

A profit center. Selling out the country for money. Does anyone actually think he isn’t capable of such treachery?

 

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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.”