Tag: Mar-a-Lago

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage

$3 Million Attorney Trump Brought In For Mar-a-Lago Case Has Already Been ‘Sidelined’: Report

Less than a month after he was hired and given a $3 million retainer to lead the defense for failed, one-term former president Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago stolen classified documents case, attorney Christopher Kise has been “sidelined” according to CNN.

Kise is expected to remain on Trump’s legal team but is not leading the work related to the federal government’s investigation into how the former President handled 11,000 documents seized from his Florida home in August following a lengthy effort by the government to retrieve them. The reason for the shift in Kise’s role remains unclear and he may instead focus his efforts on the other investigations Trump is facing, which range from his business practices to the January 6 insurrection.

Unlike many of Trump’s other so-called lawyers, Kise is actually a respect trial attorney who once served as solicitor general for the state of Florida and is considered to be an excellent white-collar attorney.

Before he came aboard, other lawyers on Trump’s team were perceived in legal circles to have made serious missteps in the investigation, such as not fully recognizing the legal risk of the documents investigation before the search of Mar-a-Lago, telling investigators all classified records had been turned over, missing opportunities to argue for executive privilege and having an appeals court deliver a drubbing against Trump’s bid to block classified documents in the investigation.

What exactly happened? That’s hard to say since neither Trump or Kise would agree to speak on the record regarding Kise’s sudden demotion from lead counsel to bystander, but knowing the ex-president, it probably involves Kise suggesting a legal strategy and being rebuffed by the Donald, who doesn’t know the first thing about the law other than he doesn’t think it applies to him or his family.

Among the other attorneys Trump has employed for the Mar-a-Lago case are former One America New Network host Christina Bobb, Florida insurance lawyer Lindsey Halligan, and Alina Habba, who’s main qualification seems to be that she was attorney for a parking garage company.

But hey, by all means, put the real lawyer on the bench, Donnie.

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Crime Donald Trump Justice Department

Allies Warn Trump Releasing Surveillance Footage Of FBI Mar-a-Lago Search Could Doom Him

Disgraced former president Donald Trump says he may release surveillance footage of the FBI carrying out a search of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, but some of his closest allies are warning him that doing so could backfire badly on him and all but guarantee he spends decades in prison.

CNN reports that the failed, one-term ex-president thinks he can use the footage as “leverage” against the Justice Department:

Some of Trump’s aides and allies have encouraged the former President to make some of the footage available to the public, believing it could send a jolt of energy through the Republican Party’s base. One person familiar with the conversations said there have been discussions about featuring the August footage in campaign-style ads, believing the footage could bolster Trump’s claims of political persecution.

Another person close to Trump said it’s not a matter of if the former President and his team release any of the footage, but when, noting it could be released before he makes a campaign announcement.

Such a move, however, might swing public opinion against Trump, with one adviser to the former president noting it could “backfire by providing people with a visual understanding of the sheer volume of materials that federal agents seized from his oceanfront residence, including classified materials.

“It’s one thing to read a bunch of numbers on an inventory list, it’s another to see law enforcement agents actually carrying a dozen-plus boxes out of President Trump’s home knowing they probably contain sensitive documents. I don’t see how that helps him,” said this person, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity in order the speak candidly.

It’s unclear exactly what such a video would show, but the possibility that FBI agents who carried out the search would be identified is especially troubling for the agency, which has seen a significant uptick in threats against its staff since the Aug. 8 event at Trump’s golf club.

Another negative possibility for Trump: Surveillance video might negate his claims that the FBI set him up by fabricating evidence, CNN notes:

But releasing the tapes could neuter some of the most conspiratorial excuses for the search that MAGA personalities have been circulating in recent days, including the baseless notion that the FBI planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago — a claim the former President himself has repeated and which there is no evidence to support, especially after Trump’s own lawyer signed off on the FBI’s seizure receipts at the end of the search.

Considering the many legal and financial failures Trump has had over the decades, the only safe bet is that whatever decision he makes regarding the footage will come back to bite him squarely on the ass.

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Crime Donald Trump Justice Department WTF?!

Trump Tried To Get A Threatening Message To AG Garland After Mar-a-Lago Search: Report

Before Attorney General Merrick Garland revealed the contents of the search warrant that was executed at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf club on August 8, the disgraced former president attempted to pass a threatening message along to the top law enforcement officer in the country.

Citing The New York Times, Business Insider reports:

Trump wanted Garland to know that he had been speaking with people around the country and that they were enraged by the FBI search.

“The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?” was the message Trump wanted to be conveyed to Garland, a person familiar with the exchange told the paper.

A person close to the former president reached out to a Justice Department official to give Garland the message, the paper reported. It is not clear if the message reached him.

Many who were asked about the message said it was a clear threat, intended to convey a warning to Garland that if he pressed further, the ex-president and his supporters might just stir up violence around the country in response.

Robert Maguire, a research director at the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, noted:

“Just a normal former president hinting to the current attorney general of the United States—who was about to make an announcement about the investigation into the former president—that he can fan the flames of violence, before asking ‘What can I do to reduce the heat?'”

On Thursday, Garland announced that he had personally approved the search warrant that resulted in over a dozen boxes of allegedly classified and top secret documents being taken into federal custody.

If it can be proven that Trump knew he wasn’t supposed to keep the materials in an unsecured location, he could be charged under the Espionage Act and sentenced to 10 years for every document he had in his possession.

Categories
Crime Donald Trump

Trump’s Attorney Just Accidentally Destroyed His Claim That The FBI ‘Planted’ Evidence

Ever since the FBI served a search warrant Monday at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property, the disgraced, one-term former president (and his surrogates) have been suggesting that FBI agents “planted” incriminating evidence, with Trump posting on Truth Social:

“The FBI and others from the Federal Government would not let anyone, including my lawyers, be anywhere near the areas that were rummaged and otherwise looked at during the raid on Mar-a-Lago. Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be left alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, ‘planting.’ Why did they STRONGLY insist on having nobody watching them, everybody out?”

 

But remarks made by Trump’s attorney, Christina Bobb, yesterday completely destroy such claims, according to Igor Derysh of Salon:

Bobb acknowledged on Thursday that while surveillance cameras at Mar-a-Lago were shut off for a “very short period of time” while FBI agents spoke to Trump’s legal team, the former president and his family were able to view the entire raid through surveillance video.

“I think the folks in New York — President Trump and his family — they probably had a better view than I did. Because they had the CCTV, they were able to watch,” Bobb told the right-wing outlet Real America’s Voice.

Bobb said that she was busy speaking with investigators during the search but the Trump family saw “the whole thing.”

“So they actually have a better idea of what took place inside,” Bobb said.

The Trump family saw the whole thing. Kind of hard to “plant” something when you’re being watched on closed-circuit TV.

Eric Trump also confirmed that the family was able to watch as the FBI went about their duties. So that talking point has now been run over with a bulldozer by not one but TWO people who are in a position to know.

Once again, we see that everything Trump and his minions say is a lie. They lie when they’d be better served by the truth. That alone is proof that Donald J. Trump can never again be trusted with America’s secrets.

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Donald Trump Fox News WTF?!

Judge Jeanine Has On-Air Meltdown While Discussing Mar-a-Lago Warrant: ‘IT’S NOT TRUMP’S FAULT!’

Even though she was once a judge, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro is totally ignorant about the law, especially as it applies to her political hero, disgraced former president Donald Trump.

Pirro and her co-hosts on “The Five” were discussing the warrant served by FBI agents Monday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf club, with former Tennessee Democratic Congressman Harold Ford urging everyone to wait for all the facts before convicting Trump in the court of public opinion or attacking the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland:

“We should wait for the facts to come out here. The president is presumed innocent.”

But Pirro was having none of it, insisting this was just the latest attempt to destroy Trump:

“I don’t think it speculation at all! You do not break into a house of a guy that you’ve been working with for nine months, that you have to admit has been cooperating with you for presidential records?! No!”

Ford:

“Can I ask you a question?”

Pirro:

“No! I’m going to answer your question.”

And that’s when Pirro went on an unhinged rant, her voice rising and at times quivering as she spoke:

“And you do not do that and have guys with AR-15 – and women I might add – at the front of Mar-a-Lago. In a situation like this were the man is about to announce for president, if he’s going to run for president. But if I were the lawyer, the first thing I would say is as a citizen of the United States, I want to know from the Department of Justice why you are doing this.

“I want to know from the FBI whether or not this is legitimate because everything you’ve done regarding Donald Trump has been illegal, illegitimate, and immoral up at the and the country knows it. And you have destroyed our faith in the justice system.”

Once again, Ford attempted to ask Pirro a question, to which she replied:

“It’s not Donald Trump’s fault!”

Reportedly, Donald Trump considered nominating Pirro to be his attorney general. That’s a terrifying thought, and her comments are proof that she’s unqualified for any position that requires even-handedness and rational thought. She’s a kook and allegedly has a drinking problem.

If Pirro is so confident Trump did nothing wrong, why doesn’t she urge him to release his copy of the search warrant and inventory of items the FBI seized? Probably because she can’t handle the truth.