;)
August 9, 2022
Afternoon Update:
And a Trumpy afternoon to you.
Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the months before the FBIs dramatic move to execute a search warrant at ... Donald Trump's Florida home -- and open his safe to look for items -- federal authorities grew increasingly concerned that Trump or his lawyers and aides had not, in fact, returned all the documents and other material that were government property, according to people familiar with the discussions.... Over months of discussions on the subject, some officials also came to suspect Trump's representatives were not truthful at times.... On Tuesday, a lawyer for Trump said the agents who brought the court-approved warrant to Mar-a-Lago a day earlier took about 12 more boxes after conducting their search.... By [this past spring], officials at the National Archives had been aggressively contacting to people in Trump's orbit to demand the return of documents they believed were covered by the Presidential Records Act.... [A Trump lawyer] said the Justice Department officials commented [in June 2022] that they did not believe the storage unit was properly secured, so Trump officials added a lock to the facility." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I heard on TV Tuesday that among the items Trump stole from the White House were a model of Air Force 1 as Trump had redesigned it -- and some paper cocktail napkins. If true, here's this supposed billionaire who could easily afford to have another model made & could buy his own damned napkins down at the Palm Beach Publix (although I don't suppose any Publix napkins sport the presidential seal, as the ones Trump lifted may have). But no. So besides just a few other shortcomings you might have noticed, Trump is also a petty thief. Pathetic! I hope the plane model & napkins are returned to the White House. Joe & Jill's grandchildren can play with the model, and Joe himself, after enjoying some savory canapés, can delicately wipe his mouth with the napkins.
Tierney Sneed & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "A federal appeals court on Tuesday signed off on a House Ways and Means Committee request to obtain ... Donald Trump's tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service. The 3-0 ruling from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is a blow to Trump, who has argued for years in court against releasing his tax returns to any investigators. A trial-level judge he appointed while president previously rejected his arguments in the case. But Trump still could appeal, making the litigation unlikely to end at this time. The court said the judgment would not issued for seven days, giving Trump time to appeal."
Amber Phillips of the Washington Post looks at some of the implications of the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago: "Prosecutors could be probing whether the former president or his aides violated the Presidential Records Act, mishandled classified material or lied to investigators about whether they returned all the material to the archives when they were asked to do so.... For the FBI to search someone's home -- let alone a former president -- requires the government to show an extraordinary amount of evidence that they have reason to believe a crime has potentially been committed. That evidence was presented to a federal judge, who signed off on a court order okaying the search.... The relevant law regarding public documents says that a violator 'shall forfeit his office and and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.' [But there would certainly be a challenge if the government attempted to apply that law] because the Constitution sets the qualifications for president -- and nowhere does it say that being convicted of a crime -- including one involving public documents -- would bar someone from holding office."
Matt Gertz of Media Matters: "The FBI and Justice Department have declined comment [on the search of Mar-a-Lago], following their typical procedure for press requests confirming active federal investigations. Trump is using that information vacuum to put his own spin on the events, describing himself in his release as the victim of 'prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don't want me to run for President.' And his loyal henchmen at Fox News quickly adopted his talking points, denouncing the judge-approved search in the most demagogic terms imaginable on their Monday night programs as they sought to poison the well against any potential consequences for their beloved president."
David Gilbert of Vice: "After news broke that the FBI searched ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Monday, his supporters openly called for an armed violent response, and ultimately, civil war. 'Civil War 2.0 just kicked off,' one user wrote on Twitter, with another adding, 'One step closer to a kinetic civil war.' Others said they were ready to take part: 'I already bought my ammo.' MAGA, QAnon, and far-right message boards and Telegram channels lit up Monday night with calls for a violent response to what some extremists see as a political attack directed by the Biden administration.... Within hours of the FBI search..., the term 'civil war' was already trending on Twitter, and hundreds of Trump supporters had already gathered outside Mar-a-Lago. Some claimed on Telegram channels that they were there to protect the former president.
~~~~~~~~~~
Oh, It's a Very Trumpy Day!
** Raid on Mar-a-Lardo. Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump said Monday that the FBI had raided his Mar-a-Lago Club and searched his safe -- activity related to an investigation into the potential mishandling of classified documents, according to a person familiar with the probe. The person ... said agents were conducting a court-authorized search as part of a long-running investigation of whether documents -- some of them top secret -- were taken to the former president's private golf club and residence instead of sent to the National Archives when Trump left office.... 'My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,' Trump said in a statement released through his political action committee, Save America. Trump said the raid was 'unannounced' and claimed it was not 'necessary or appropriate.' The former president, without evidence, accused Democrats of weaponizing the 'justice system' against him.... Trump's team was given no heads-up about the search, several advisers said." An AP story is here.
~~~ New York Times liveblog: "The search, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation, appeared to be focused on material that Mr. Trump had brought with him to Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence, when he left the White House.... The news that the F.B.I. executed a search on Trump's home was a remarkable escalation and a truly stunning turn of events, even by the standard of the Trump years, during which norms were repeatedly shattered.... Those boxes contained many pages of classified documents, according to a person familiar with their contents.... Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago when the search took place. Instead, he was up north, where he's been spending much of his time at his club in Bedminster, N.J., preparing for a deposition with the New York attorney general in a civil matter related to his finances.... President Biden's top aides found out about the F.B.I.'s search of Mar-a-Lago from reports on Twitter and had no advance notice, according to a Democratic source familiar with the matter.... News that the F.B.I. had searched Mar-a-Lago appeared to have been first reported Monday by Peter Schorsch, the publisher of FloridaPolitics.com." ~~~
~~~ Update: Here's more from the updated summary report at the top of the Times liveblog: "Eric Trump ... told Fox News that he was the one who informed his father that the search was taking place, and he said the search warrant was related to presidential documents. Mr. Trump, who campaigned for president in 2016 criticizing Hillary Clinton's practice of maintaining a private email server for government-related messages..., was known throughout his term to rip up official material that was intended to be held for presidential archives. One person familiar with his habits said that included classified material that was shredded in his bedroom and elsewhere.... Mr. Trump ... [maintained the search] was an effort to stop him from running for president in 2024. 'Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries.... They even broke into my safe!' he wrote.... Local television crews showed supporters of Mr. Trump gathering near Mar-a-Lago, some of them being aggressive toward reporters.... [Mr. Trump's]political team began sending fund-raising solicitations about the search late on Monday evening." ~~~
~~~ Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "The search began early Monday morning and law enforcement personnel appeared to be focused on the area of the club where Trump's offices and personal quarters are, according to a person familiar with the matter. The FBI's search included examining where documents were kept, according to another person familiar with the investigation, and boxes of items were taken."
Marie: Andrew Weissmann pointed out in an MSNBC segment that a search warrant is sought "when you do not trust that the person will turn the documents over pursuant to a subpoena." He also noted that the FBI did not conduct a "raid," as Trump claimed; a court approved the warrant. So neither Merrick Garland nor the judge who signed off on the warrant believed Trump could be trusted to lawfully respond to a subpoena. ~~~
~~~ According to a post by Glenn Thrush in the NYT liveblog linked above, "... the use of such a warrant does indicate a sense of prosecutorial urgency -- and is used only when 'it appears that the use of a subpoena, summons, request, or other less intrusive alternative means of obtaining the materials would substantially jeopardize the availability or usefulness of the materials sought,' according to the Justice Manual, the department's official guidebook on criminal procedure."
Colby Itkowitz, et al., of the Washington Post: "Top Republicans on Monday rallied quickly behind Donald Trump's efforts to discredit the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago Club, embracing his claims, presented without evidence, that it was a political attack intended to impede Trump's chances if he runs for president again. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), a top Trump ally, responded with a threat to the Justice Department, vowing to investigate the agency if the Republicans win back the House in the midterm elections. Claiming without evidence that the department has 'reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,' McCarthy warned, 'Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar.'" MB: Yet these same "top Republicans" thought it was necessary to carry out seven Congressional investigations/outrage sessions about "the emails!" And they were very, very disappointed that the FBI didn't arrest Clinton but instead put Trump in the White House when then-FBI Director Jim Comey went out and implicated her twice, once during the week before the 2016 election. ~~~
~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post looks with dismay upon the Republicans' knee-jerk reaction to the FBI's search of Trump's modest residence. "Many blamed [President] Biden -- Fox News's Brian Kilmeade went so far as to say that the order for the raid 'has to have come from @POTUS and/or someone in White House' -- despite there being zero evidence the president had any role." House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, led by Gym Jordan, perfectly invoking the drivers' you-should-be-out-finding-the-real-criminals defense, tweeted in part, "Doesn't the FBI have better things to do than harass the former PRESIDENT?" The tweet also reproduces Trump's full statement/complaint, so it's not entirely useless. ~~~
~~~ The linked stories contain some of the over-the-top plaints of Trumpists reacting to the search. But the prize has to go to Bernie Kerik: ~~~
~~~ Kipp Jones of Mediaite: "Former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik said Monday he is worried Democrats might try to assassinate ... Donald Trump.... '... This is the first time in my lifetime that I would say I am deathly afraid for Donald Trump. I would not put assassination behind these people.'"
This Day in History, 1974: ~~~
~~~ Nixon announced his resignation in a speech delivered on the evening of August 8,1974. (Link is to a video of Nixon's resignation speech.)
Crappergate. MEANWHILE, the Docu-Dumps (yeah, pun intended). Mike Allen of Axios: "Maggie Haberman's forthcoming book about former President Trump will report that White House residence staff periodically found wads of paper clogging a toilet -- and believed the former president, a notorious destroyer of Oval Office documents, was the flusher.... Trump denied it and called Haberman, whose New York Times coverage he follows compulsively, a 'maggot.' Well, it turns out there are photos. And here they are, published for the first time." Includes photos that show Trump did a half-assed (ha ha) job of everything: the photos show notes in Trump's handwriting still sitting at the bottom of Trump's commodes. Emphasis added.
Kyle Cheney & Nicholas Wu of Politico: "The Justice Department on Monday rejected an effort by attorney John Eastman -- a key ally in Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election -- to reclaim his cellphone, which was seized by FBI agents in June.... 'The movant's rights and privileges do not eliminate the Government's ability to seize and search his phone in furtherance of a criminal investigation,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Dohrmann wrote in the 24-page Justice Department filing. The filing is the latest salvo in the department's increasingly public effort to criminally investigate efforts by Trump and his allies to disrupt the transfer of power and overturn the 2020 election. It's also the latest indication that the Justice Department considers the Eastman matter a high priority...."
Eric Tucker & Kate Brumback of the AP: "Rudy Giuliani will not appear as scheduled Tuesday before a special grand jury in Atlanta that's investigating whether ... Donald Trump and others illegally tried to interfere in the 2020 general election in Georgia, his lawyer said.... Giuliani's attorney, Robert Costello, told The Associated Press on Monday that Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who's overseeing the special grand jury, had excused Giuliani for the day. Nothing in publicly available court documents indicates that Giuliani is excused from appearing....
Trump Aimed to Be More Like Hitler. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Donald J. Trump told his top White House aide that he wished he had generals like the ones who had reported to Adolf Hitler, saying they were 'totally loyal' to the leader of the Nazi regime, according to a forthcoming book about the 45th president. 'Why can't you be like the German generals?' Mr. Trump told John Kelly, his chief of staff, preceding the question with an obscenity, according to an excerpt from 'The Divider: Trump in the White House,' by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, published online by The New Yorker on Monday morning.... The excerpt depicts Mr. Trump as deeply frustrated by his top military officials, whom he saw as insufficiently loyal or obedient to him.... [Mr. Kelly] told Mr. Trump that Germany's generals had 'tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off.' Mr. Trump was dismissive, according to the excerpt, apparently unaware of ... World War II history.... '"No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him," the president replied, according to the book's authors. 'In his version of history, the generals of the Third Reich had been completely subservient to Hitler; this was the model he wanted for his military. Kelly told Trump that there were no such American generals, but the president was determined to test the proposition.'" ~~~
~~~ Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "The stunning back-and-forth came during a dispute touched off by Trump's admiration for military parades, gleaned in part by personally observing Bastille Day celebrations thrown in France by that country's president, Emmanuel Macron. Trump stubbornly wanted a similar military parade to mark the Fourth of July independence day holiday.... Trump, on his return to Washington, hatched a plan for the 'biggest, grandest military parade ever for the Fourth of July'. But the plans went down badly with Trump's cabinet staff. 'I'd rather swallow acid,' the defense secretary and former Marine Corps general, James Mattis, is reported to have said.... But Trump was already formulating his vision, telling Kelly: 'Look, I don't want any wounded guys in the parade. This doesn't look good for me.' According to the publication, the subject came up repeatedly. With each pushback, Trump's admiration for the military advisers which he used to fawningly refer to as 'my generals' cooled.... In one exchange involving Kelly and Paul Selva, then vice-chairman of the joint chiefs of staff..., Selva said[,] 'It's what dictators do.'"
~~~ Shania Shelton of CNN: "In the wake of ... Donald Trump's infamous photo-op at the height of the George Floyd protests, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley penned a lengthy and vociferous critique of Trump in a resignation letter he ultimately never sent, The New Yorker reported on Monday.... Milley's letter was dated June 8, a week after the incident.... 'The events of the last couple weeks have caused me to do deep soul-searching, and I can no longer faithfully support and execute your orders as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,' Milley wrote, according to The New Yorker. 'It is my belief that you were doing great and irreparable harm to my country. I believe that you have made a concerted effort over time to politicize the United States military.'... Milley ultimately decided not to quit. 'F*** that s***,' Milley told his staff, according to The New Yorker. 'I'll just fight him.'... Milley would later publicly apologize for his involvement in the [Bible photo-op] incident in a pre-recorded speech at the National Defense University."
Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Approximately two years' worth of text messages sent and received by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones have been turned over to the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Monday. The messages were handed over to the committee by Mark Bankston, the attorney who represented two Sandy Hook parents who successfully sued Jones in Texas and won nearly $50 million in a civil trial that concluded last week." ~~~
~~~ Luke Broadwater & Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: "But the files do not appear to include text messages from the time most of interest to the committee: the day of Jan. 6, 2021, and the weeks building up to the attack, according to people familiar with the document production. Though the phone data was retrieved in mid-2021, the most recent message is from mid-2020, according to Mark Bankston...."
Kara Scannell of CNN: "Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting on Tuesday with the January 6 committee, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The deposition will be conducted virtually, the source added."
Zachary Cohen & Sara Murray of CNN: "Doug Mastriano, the Trump-endorsed GOP nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, is expected to appear virtually on Tuesday before the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection but might not end up answering any questions due to a dispute over his testimony, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. The committee has been negotiating the terms of Mastriano's deposition for weeks but the two sides still have not reached an agreement over whether his attorney would be allowed to videotape the deposition or be given access to the committee's own full recording after the fact, the source said. As a result, Mastriano's appearance Tuesday is expected to be brief and may end when the panel attempts to swear him in, the source added. Mastriano was a key figure in Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election."
Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The Department of Homeland Security said late Monday it is preparing to quickly end the Trump-era 'Remain in Mexico' program and will no longer send asylum seekers back across the border to await a decision on their applications for U.S. protection. The announcement came after U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk lifted his injunction blocking Biden officials from ending the program, formally known as the 'Migrant Protection Protocols' or MPP. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that the Biden administration had the authority to terminate the program, opening a path for DHS to finally bring a close to one of the Trump administration's most contentious border measures. DHS officials said asylum seekers waiting in Mexico for their appointments in the U.S. immigration court would be allowed to cross the border on the day of their hearings and stay in the United States while awaiting an outcome."
Marie: Jayne Mayer has a story in this week's New Yorker on Republicans' gerrymandering that defies court orders. Yesterday I linked a NYT story on the same topic, but Mayer's article, which apparently concentrates on Ohio, sounds interesting. Mayer pointed out in an MSNBC interview that when the courts tell Democrats to un-gerrymander their maps, they do it; Republicans revel in their defiance and think it's funny. Thanks very much to Ken W. for the link to Mayer's report.
Can Somebody Please Tell Republicans How Babies Are Made? Amanda Terkel of the Huffington Post:"In his latest fundraising email, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) [wrote]..., 'If we don't take back the Senate, Dems will pack the courts, give DC statehood, grant abortions up to 52 weeks, and Republicans will never win again[.]'" MB: Maybe what confused Senator Tim is that donkeys -- the Democratic symbol -- have a gestation period of about a year.
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A federal judge meted out a second layer of life sentences on Monday to Travis and Gregory McMichael, two of the three white Georgia men convicted of committing federal hate crimes for the pursuit and slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man, in February 2020. And in an equally dramatic move, U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood rejected requests by the McMichaels -- who were previously sentenced to life for their murder convictions in state court -- that they be allowed to serve some part of their the concurrent life sentences in federal prison." ~~~
~~~ The story has been updated: "[The McMichael's] neighbor William Bryan, 52 -- who joined the McMichaels in chasing Mr. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, through their neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon in February 2020 -- received a sentence of 35 years."
Michigan. Nick Corasaniti>, et al., of the New York Times: "The revelations of possible meddling with voting machines have set off a political tsunami in Michigan, one of the most critical battleground states in the country.... Documents detail deception of election officials and a breach of voting equipment that stand out as extraordinary even among the volumes of public reporting on brazen attempts by ... Donald J. Trump's supporters to scrutinize and undermine the 2020 results. But one of the most politically striking elements of the case is the identity of one of the people implicated in the scheme by the office of the attorney general: Matthew DePerno, who is now the presumptive Republican nominee for that very post.... Evidence provided by [the] office [of current state AG Dana Nessel, who is seeking re-election,] places Mr. DePerno at one of the 'tests' of voting equipment and suggests that he was a key orchestrator of 'a conspiracy' to gain improper access to machines in three counties...."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' liveblog of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Tuesday are here: "Ukrainian troops are 'moving very successfully' toward Izyum in the northeast, putting further pressure on Russian troops, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a YouTube video. The city of 50,000 is seen as the gateway to the eastern Donbas region, most of which is held by pro-Russian forces. Between 70,000 and 80,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded during the conflict, Colin Kahl, the U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, said at a Monday briefing.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is accusing Russia of 'nuclear blackmail' following recent attacks on Europe's largest nuclear power plant that the United Nations has warned could lead to catastrophic consequences. Two more grain ships sailed Tuesday under a deal brokered by the United Nations and facilitated by Turkey." ~~~
~~~ Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The Pentagon on Monday said it is sending Ukraine an additional $1 billion in military assistance, including tens of thousands more munitions and explosives -- the largest such package since Russia launched its invasion in February. The announcement comes as Ukrainian forces undertake a counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming the southern city of Kherson. The operation is seen in Kyiv and in Washington as a vital bid to prevent the Kremlin from making good on its vow to absorb occupied territories via planned referendums."
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Reader Comments (20)
"Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance posed a question [Why Republicans will screw over Americans just to own the libs] on Sunday afternoon... author Teri Kanefield issued a tweet thread last night addressing Vance’s question (below) in some detail.
I think I do. Can I give it a shot? It has to do with the purpose of government. For some people (like us) purpose of government is to help people. We think fairness is possible, and that the government’s job is to try to create fairness. Others have a different worldview. 1/
Hierarchy people, in contrast, think there’s a natural order: Some people belong on top. Others are at the bottom.
They think that people with money and power have that money and power because they deserve it. 2/
An example: The white supremacy theories that informed the Confederacy.
Hierarchy people don’t believe equality is possible because they don’t think people are equal.
They think the purpose of government is to allocate power and maintain the hierarchy. 3/ "
Fatty shouldn’t be so critical of the FBI. He wouldn’t have been president* without former bureau asshat Jim Comey’s “October Surprise”.
And about that FBI “raid” on Marred a Lardo… they looked in the safe? That’s the last place Trump would stash documents. He’d leave that stuff lying around on coffee tables and pinned up on the walls so guests could marvel at the wonderfulness of the Dear Leader who had all those papers stamped “top secret” and “eyes only” in his possession. “Look honey, he must STILL be president cuz he has all this secret stuff. Hey, here’s a letter from the Joint Chiefs saying sorry, we can’t allow you to parade your Democratic enemies in chains during your planned July 4-Emperor Trump parade.
About those murdering Georgia bigots…rather than tack on another (well deserved) hundred years or so, wouldn’t it be better to make them wear prison togs with “I chased down an innocent man and killed his black ass” on the back whenever they’re circulating in gen pop?
And the trumpers are already using the raid on Mard-a-Lardo as
an excuse for a fundraiser?
I thought having a fundraiser for a memorial to wife #1 was about
as low as they could go. Guess I was wrong.
@RAS
And. the irony, most often unnoticed, lies in the coincidence.
It's most often those on top of the hierarchical arrangement (in our case, the privileged, the monied, and yes, still mostly white) who don't believe an arrangement more nearly approaching equality is possible or even desirable..
It's kinda like a church. If you were born into a religion, you are most likely to remain in it. There are conversions from on religion to another or to no religion at all, but very few.
As I used to ask. Ever wonder where all those Moslems came from? Moslem parents.
Social systems have their inertia, too.
I got a kick out of this sentence: "Trump's team was given no heads-up about the search, several advisers said." (from the Wash-Po).
"Hello Trump's team–-just want to give you heads up that the feds are going to search the home of your boss man–-give you plenty of time to get rid of incriminating evidence whatever that may be–-just thought you'd like to know."
Best news ever–––are we making progress? Looks like it.
A local fruit farmer with a few hundred acres of various fruit trees is
fighting inflation a little at a time. They have reduced the cost of
u-pick fruit by 25 cents a pound so customers will have a little extra
money for gas to get there.
It's a start. I'll be there this afternoon.
@Akhilleus: Your joking surmise that Trump leaves top-secret docs lying around is more than likely true. From the NYT liveblog summary report (linked above): "In the spring [of 2022?], a small coterie of federal agents visited Mar-a-Lago in search of some documents, according to a person familiar with the meeting. At least one of the agents was involved in counterintelligence, according to the person."
CNN discussed this FBI "visit" this morning, and said the Trump's reps showed the feds boxes of documents that were "stored in a room." In the CNN discussion -- which included former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara -- there was general agreement that the agents must not have liked what they saw and/or did not think the Trumpies' level of cooperation was adequate.
I wonder if joining the Mar-a-Lardo club includes the perk of viewing top-secret documents. Maybe dinner-and-a-movie has been replaced with dinner-and-a-peek-at-U.S.-secrets.
@P.D. Pepe: I'm sure some good things have happened to me since early November 2020. But I think my happiest day since Saturday, November 7, 2020, when the AP called the presidential race for Joe Biden, was last night when I heard the FBI had searched Mar-a-Lardo.
What’s coming…
The mindless explosion of outrage over the FBI investigation of the former Crook in Chief for breaking federal laws demonstrates how close we are as a nation to complete meltdown.
Mark Levin: “WORST ATTACK ON THE REPUBLIC IN HISTORY!!!” (So I guess the assault on the Capitol by Trump’s thugs where people were KILLED is no biggie).
MTG: “Defund the FBI! Aieeee!”
Some Fox knucklehead: “Break up the FBI!”
Steve Bannon: “Choke down the FBI!”
Lara Trump: “Our poor Dear Leader was SHOCKED!!” (In fact, I’m thinking he’s overjoyed. This plays perfectly into his “I’m such a victim” con job. He should make millions off this.)
Marco Rubio: “Third world dictatorship!!! Aieeee!”
Dinesh D’Souza: “The Biden junta is behind this!!”
Everyone: “Why aren’t they raiding Hillary’s house?!? The EEE-Mails!!! Benghazi!”
Jee-zuz …
Just imagine the hair-on-fire caterwauling when and if the Fat Fascist is indicted and convicted.
As funny as the knee jerk insanity is, what’s not funny is the way Fox and the usual suspects are prepping the millions of whackos still out there to clean the guns and start shooting people they hate. You can’t even call this twaddle irresponsible. It’s a siren call for Insurrection 2.0. This is full blown fascism in the works. “See? Our enemies are powerful and ruthless! You’re all in danger! The time to strike is NOOOWW!!! Man the barricades. Ready, aim, FIRE!!”
(I especially love the idiots screaming about how Biden—who knew nothing of this investigation—is weaponizing the DoJ to go after real ‘mericans. Projection much? That was Trump’s Big Idea. Use the power of federal agencies to attack his enemies.)
So much for the Law and Order Party.
Oh yeah, I forgot. It’s the Treason Party now. Never mind.
PD,
I was thinking the same thing. “They didn’t warn Trump they were coming! Waaahhh.”
No, morons. You don’t call ahead to the person being investigated to give them time to hide the evidence. “Gee…if we knew you were coming, we’d have baked a cake. And fired up the paper shredder.”
There’s a fairly common trope in movies that shows drug dealers dumping coke, heroin, and pills down the toilet while the cops are breaking down the door. Trump is no different. He tears up top secret papers and flushes them down the crapper. Or tries to. He even sucks at being a gangster.
Florida Sen Rick Scott (R) on the "raid".
"The @FBIs raid of Mar-a-Lago is incredibly concerning, especially given the Biden admins history of going after parents and other political opponents. This is third world country stuff.
We need answers NOW. The FBI must explain what they were doing today and why."
Damn if I can figure out that first sentence. Going after parents and political opponents?
The descent into madness, treason, and murderous hatred of the now completely morally corrupt Republican Party couldn’t be more starkly demonstrated than by recalling the reaction of that party’s leaders when their president was forced from office 48 years ago. When Nixon resigned in disgrace and flew off off into his largely quiet and somber last years, it was with the help of many in his party. There was no shouting and yelling. Today, another Republican president* is being investigated for far graver crimes. They ring his doorbell and party leaders are calling for anarchy and screaming about juntas and dismantling the federal government.
Okay, so I said the incredibly moronic overreaction to some guys ringing Fatty’s doorbell wasn’t funny, but it did put me in mind of this, which IS funny:
https://youtu.be/oCLtaK7KLEM
Trump's team is used to getting heads up about FBI activities from people like Rudy. Maybe he was on the midnight train to Georgia (I read he can't fly and that's why he couldn't talk to the Grand jury, but they offered to get him a train/bus ticket to help him out) and that's why they didn't know they were having guests at Mar-a-lago.
Maybe all the people who think stealing classified documents is fine should have their own security clearances reevaluated.
RAS, I susect you are right about FBI heads-ups provided to Tr*mpworld through Rudy's mob. It seemed pretty obvious back in 2015/16 that retired FBI NY, and NYPD Intelligence (which is bigger than the IC's of many countries) were passing info about FBI investigations to Tr*mpworld. Bernie Kerik probably was and still is part of that leak system. Very very corrupt.
In other news -- the potty fotos were fun, but unless Maggie has some corroboration (like metadata, or a wider field in those potty pics) she may have been the victim of a spoof. I am not saying those pics are fake, but that they would be very easy to fake. I hope there's some back-up, and she's holding it back to extend the play.
One more thing…not sure how to characterize this one though.
At the recent CPAC (Crooks, Pricks, and Con Artists) colloquy tbingy in Dallas, Fatty, during one of his interminable harangues about how he’s a victim despite being the best, blah, blah, so send him money, took a moment to introduce former White House MD and resident angry drunk, Ronny Jackson. But in Trump’s mind it can’t ever be about someone else. It’s always all about Trump, along the lines of “I’ve been taking about me for two hours. Now let’s talk about you. What do you think about me?”
So the presidential* dough boy introduces Jackson with the following bit of information. “Ronny used to LOVE looking at my body. It was soooo STRONG! He said I am the healthiest president ever.” (We’ll leave aside the unlikelihood of Jackson examining Lincoln, who split logs by hand with an axe, and Washington, who commanded troops from the back of a horse in a wilderness war that lasted seven years, and deciding that neither were in better shape than a rotund tub of lard who couldn’t walk 100 yds without plopping his fat ass down in a golf cart.)
Yeah, okay. I’m sure ol’ Ronny was thrilled to be introduced to a mob of homophobic CPACers as someone who loved to ogle Fatty’s naked flab.
Eeeew.
No wonder the guy drinks.
Appropriateness has never been a thing with Trump. Just recall the time he told a bunch of Boy Scouts about debauched sex parties on a donor’s yacht. Whadaguy.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-white-house-doctor-ronny-jackson-loved-looking-my-body-1731562?amp=1
@Patrick: Now that you mention it, those crapper photos do look fake. If I were dumb enough to toss a piece of writing paper down the toilet, I think I would be inclined to ball it up before I did so.
I also wondered if the handwriting would be so clear once it hit the water. But Sharpie advertises that its pens are indelible, so maybe the water would not dissolve the ink and one really could make out the letters.
However, if there were strong evidence that Trump was sending "presidential records" down the toilet, that's pretty strong proof of intent.