DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Trump indicted in Florida on documents case, 7 counts

Ditto, and Amen. He speaks of classifying and declassifying, shares IMPORTANT national secrets- he's toast.

Interesting how Republicans demean the former VP- Trump selected. JMHO, he's national hero, he stopped a coup.

Anyone stating it wasn't a coup attempt is deranged- why have alternate state electors, why storm the Capital, why assert the election was stolen EVEN YEARS later. Trump and supporters had their day in court- LOST.

Anyone supporting a criminal is UnAmerican at the core- the political party of law and order has become the opposite.

Trump loyalists circle the wagons

Former President Trump's allies in Congress have begun furiously pulling on every lever available to ensure his enemies — from federal prosecutors to President Biden himself — pay a price for his historic indictment.

Why it matters: Republicans have little recourse for saving Trump from the federal justice system to which he's now beholden. Instead, they're embarking on a political revenge campaign in a bid to prove their loyalty to Trump and muddy the waters in the court of public opinion.

Driving the news: House GOP leadership backed a resolution — which ultimately failed on the floor — that would have censured Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and fined him $16 million for his investigations into Trump's ties to Russia as former chair of the Intelligence Committee.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is demanding information from the Justice Department about the scope of special counsel Jack Smith's classified documents probe and the FBI's execution of a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has backed the push for "accountability," claiming — misleadingly — that DOJ has held Trump to a different standard than Biden when it comes to classified documents.

Zoom in: The power of the purse is the most meaningful tool House Republicans have to exact revenge on the Justice Department and FBI.

Jordan is urging his staff to work with the Appropriations Committee to include policy riders in any budget bill that could slash DOJ or FBI funding.
McCarthy has signaled support for using the appropriations process to eliminate funding for the FBI's new headquarters, which Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Axios is a "fairly obvious" step.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has proposed defunding the special counsel's office, while other Republicans have called for using the "Holman Rule" to cut the salary of top FBI officials.

In the Senate, where Republicans have otherwise been more hesitant to defend Trump than their House counterparts, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) has vowed to hold up all of Biden's DOJ nominees in response to the indictment.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) took to the Senate floor Monday and alleged an FBI informant was told there are audio recordings supporting the unproven bribery allegations involving the Bidens and Ukraine.

Grassley and House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) have acknowledged they don't know if the alleged tapes are legitimate, but that hasn't stopped Republicans from ramping up their Biden corruption allegations as a direct response to Trump's indictment.

The other side: House Oversight ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said the GOP's multi-pronged assault was "basically authoritarian strategy."

"Authoritarians don't accept the rule of law as it applies to them. And so, if their cult leader is being investigated, then they have to attack the government, prosecutors, and investigators. And that's their entire strategy," he told Axios.

What's next: The fight is only just getting started, as new signs emerge that both DOJ and Georgia prosecutors could bring more charges related to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) baselessly called Smith "a known Trump hater," telling Axios "this is just the beginning" of Republicans' investigations and "defund" efforts.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned the GOP will view it as a "major outrage" if Smith indicts Trump over Jan. 6, claiming "you could convict any Republican of anything in Washington, D.C."

https://www.axios.com/2023/06/14/tr...o42_M_t_IrQNBD9-Xb7SRjarmQVzyZ_mZx2ra0Q4

"I am your justice...I am your retribution." - Donald Trump

He doesn't need to be. He already has people doing that for him. It's rather odd that this is what certain people actually want in their president. But the fact that they do is so obvious.

And for 5 years previous to that day, he was Trumps hand puppet. Had he stood up to trump during the adminstrations time and also on J6, I might have to consider voting for him... He did not do that.. He's a Milquetoast

Trump Ignored Lawyers Trying To Get Him Out Of Classified Documents Mess: Report

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly rejected his attorneys’ attempts to see him return classified documents and minimize the legal fallout after he absconded to his private club in Florida with the sensitive material when he left the White House in 2021, according to a report by The Washington Post.

The Post, citing seven advisers to the former president, said Trump was extraordinarily stubborn when it came to negotiating with government officials. When one of his attorneys, Christopher Kise, suggested meeting with the Justice Department to negotiate a settlement that could avoid charges, Trump reportedly rejected that plan. Instead, he listened to the advice of Tom Fitton, the president of the conservative group Judicial Watch, who told him he could keep the documents and that he should fight Justice Department efforts to see them returned.

The effort was one of many by Trump’s lawyers and advisers to see him cooperate with investigators, entreaties that ultimately failed. Trump was arraigned Tuesday on 37 charges linked to the classified files and allegations by federal prosecutors that he obstructed the government’s efforts to collect them.

He surrendered himself to Miami authorities and entered a plea of not guilty to all charges. Media outlets have reported on Fitton’s closeness to Trump, but the latest report sheds new light on his legal team’s attempts to see him avoid an indictment.

The Post reported that Trump would regularly cite Fitton to his advisers as the fight with investigators continued, and the man often asserted to the former president’s attorneys that Trump could keep the documents. Several of those advisers told the Post that they blame Fitton for convincing Trump he had the right to keep the classified files.

Some advisers added that the FBI and National Archives’ insistence that Trump return the government documents only made him want to keep them more.

Fitton told the Post he didn’t understand “any” of the indictment, saying he believed the charges leveled against the former president were a “trap.” He added that Trump’s lawyers should have been more aggressive in fighting the subpoenas issued by the government.

“They had no business asking for the records … and they’ve manufactured an obstruction charge out of that,” Fitton told the newspaper. “There are core constitutional issues that the indictment avoids, and the obstruction charge seems weak to me.”

Trump and his allies have continued to cite the 1978 Presidential Records Act as justification for his keeping of the classified material, with the former president saying repeatedly he had the absolute right to take anything he wanted from the White House. But the law specifically states that any materials created or received by the president or his staff while carrying out official duties belong to the government.

“The PRA changed the legal ownership of the official records of the President from private to public, and established a new statutory structure under which Presidents, and subsequently NARA, must manage the records of their Administrations,” the National Archives and Records Administration says on its website.

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-ignored-lawyers-trying-him-044221334.html

Bottomline- Trump's statement- they are mine.....another lie. The American people own all of it AND our secrets at every level should be available to those who need to know.

I agree.

Let me guess. Eventually trump will blame Fitton for everything.

In the latest trump disinformation and and false claims now comes "The Clinton sock drawer" defense.

FACT FOCUS: Trump twists Presidential Records Act, Clinton ‘sock drawer’ case to mount defense

To hear former President Donald Trump tell it, taking and withholding classified documents was perfectly consistent with federal law and a decade-old legal case involving former President Bill Clinton.

“Under the Presidential Records Act — which is civil, not criminal — I had every right to have these documents,” Trump claimed in a speech Tuesday night, hours after he pleaded not guilty to dozens of felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and refusing government demands to give them back. “The crucial legal precedent is laid out in the most important case ever on this subject, known as the Clinton socks case.”

But legal experts say Trump’s description of the law — which isn’t mentioned in the charges against him — is wrong and contrary to its very purpose, while the 2012 legal case involving Clinton isn’t a sound comparison to Trump’s current legal predicament.

Here are the facts.

CLAIM: The Presidential Records Act gives a president the right to take any record when leaving office and declare them personal.

THE FACTS: That’s a flagrant misreading of the law, legal experts say.

The law, which took effect in 1981, requires the preservation of White House documents as property of the U.S. government.

Jason R. Baron, a former director of litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration, said that the notion that a president could declare any record as personal goes against the “very reason” the law was created. NARA is the federal record-keeper and the agency that repeatedly sought the documents kept by Trump.

Congress passed the act in 1978 in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, when a collection of secret tapes that President Richard Nixon had considered destroying played a defining role.

The law, he and other experts note, clearly distinguishes between “presidential records” and “personal records.”

“The definition of ‘personal records’ is narrow, clear, and functional: it includes only records of a ‘purely private or nonpublic character’,” Peter Margulies, a professor at Roger Williams University’s School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island, wrote in an email. “Any record that touches on information relevant to presidential decisions on foreign policy or national security is a presidential record. Period, end of story.”

Josh Chafetz, a professor at Georgetown Law, agreed, saying there’s “simply no way” the records described in the indictment against Trump could be considered “personal” under the act’s definitions.

Among the documents found at Mar-a-Lago were ones marked “SECRET” or “TOP SECRET.” The documents included details about the country’s nuclear weapons and the nuclear capabilities and military activities of other countries. Prosecutors allege, for example, that Trump showed off a classified map of a foreign country while discussing a military operation.

“There is no way to read that statutory language as giving the president ‘discretion’ to categorize military plans, to take just one example, as ‘personal’,” Chafetz wrote in an email.

CLAIM: A case involving Bill Clinton keeping audio tapes in a sock drawer proves that Trump’s actions were legally sound.

THE FACTS: The case in question involved very different documents and experts say it isn’t the parallel Trump makes it out to be.

In Judicial Watch vs. NARA, a conservative activist group sued for access to audio recordings of wide ranging interviews Clinton did with historian Taylor Branch during his time in the White House. Clinton was reported to have stashed the cassettes in his sock drawer.

The Washington, D.C. based organization had argued the audiotapes were “presidential records” that the agency should provide under the federal public records law, but U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ultimately dismissed the case, ruling NARA didn’t have the authority to seize the records from Clinton and hand them over.

David Super, another professor at Georgetown Law, argues the 2012 Clinton case has “absolutely nothing to do with” the charges Trump currently faces.

For one thing, the court didn’t dismiss the case because it found that Clinton was entitled to keep the tapes, Super said. Jackson simply ruled that NARA could not turn over the tapes as public records because they were owned by the historian and not government property.

Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign didn’t respond to an email seeking comment, but the Republican and his allies have argued that the judge’s ruling in the case showed that the Presidential Records Act affords presidents complete discretion to delineate between personal and presidential records.

Legal experts this week also dismissed those arguments. Margulies, of Roger Williams University, said the claim “mixes apples and oranges.”

“The Clinton materials were audiotapes of conversations with an historian that incidentally recorded some calls on official business,” he wrote. “In contrast, the documents that Trump kept were all presidential records from the moment they arrived at the Oval Office from other parts of the government.”

Eric Freedman, a professor at Hofstra University’s School of Law in Hempstead, New York, also noted that a federal appeals court has already rejected similar arguments raised by Trump’s legal team as it sought to block the criminal investigation into the records found at Mar-a-Lago.

In either case, Super said, any discussion about the Presidential Records Act is “largely a red herring” because Trump doesn’t face charges of violating that law.

The indictment instead charges Trump with Espionage Act violations, as prosecutors argue the documents he kept could harm the country if obtained by adversaries.

This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-in...rds-act-1df64502d1640076690fac52638daebf

This is how you know desperation is setting in.

Trump still thinks he's getting all of those documents back or he's lying. I'd say the odds are about 50/50 on that........

Trump Still Thinks He’s Getting Those Boxes Back

Former President Donald Trump descended upon Truth Social on Thursday evening to largely reiterate his talking points from his Tuesday night speech in New Jersey—but did note that he still expects, at some point, to be given back everything federal authorities seized in their raid on Mar-a-Lago. In a typical all-caps screed, Trump reasoned that it should be clear to all how he had been “totally exonerated” of the 37 federal charges related to his mishandling of classified materials at the Florida estate. Rattling off his laundry list of enemies—“corrupt Joe Biden, the DOJ, deranged Jack Smith, and their radical left, Marxist thugs”—he asked when they planned “to drop all charges against me, apologize, and return everything that was illegally taken (Fourth Amendment) from my home? This was nothing other than election interference!!!”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donal...1OZ2rF0zg6ZPygH2gQ4xZm3WoIRSg6ZuhsXWzN0g

No were in the indictment is Trump being charged with a violation of the Presidential Records Act.

The indictment is totally focused on the willful retention of classified documents, and the acts of obstruction associated with the return of classified documents.

Actually it was a very smart decision by Jack Smith. Limit the indictment to the core issue.

While it certainly wasn't contained in the indictments, I certainly feel the trump team may try to use it in their defense. As I think we can see it's a rather weak and feeble defense but one that I'm pretty sure they'll attempt to use since they have little else to try to stand on. Well, I mean other than Bill Clinton's sock drawer.

The first time Trump would raise it... "Objection your honor, the defendant is not on trial for any violation of the Presidential Records Act."

Rinse and repeat.

It's a political talking point, Trump says he did not violate the Presidential Records Act. True, but not relevant.

JMHO, I'm upset because Smith DIDN'T charge Trump with a charge he DEFINITELY could have and should have been charged with...check this quote for New York Times- I know, fake news. "As the Times is reporting, there was no mention of Section 2071 of the federal criminal code, "which prohibits the concealment and mishandling of sensitive government documents" which, upon conviction, would have meant Trump "shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.” Easily he could have been charged....guess Smith thought possibility of civil unrest due to number of idiots supporting the "completely innocent EX-President, who still hasn't admitted he LOST to Biden", he/Smith didn't want possible chaos. Double standard- normal person would have been charged.

Hitt,
I don't think the DOJ is done with their homework and there is probably more indictments to come.

https://dnyuz.com/2023/06/16/eviden...s-at-ongoing-investigations-filing-says/

The federal prosecutors overseeing the classified documents case against former President Donald J. Trump said in court papers on Friday that the evidence they are poised to give the defense as part of the normal process of discovery contained information about “ongoing investigations” that could “identify uncharged individuals.”



The court papers — a standard request to place a protective order on the discovery material — contained no explanation about what those other inquiries might be or whether were they related to the indictment detailing charges against Mr. Trump of illegally retaining dozens of national defense documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to get them back. The papers also did not identify who the uncharged people were.
till, the reference to continuing investigations was the first overt suggestion — however vague — that other criminal cases could emerge from the work that the special counsel Jack Smith has done in bringing the Espionage Act and obstruction indictment against Mr. Trump in Miami last week.

Mr. Smith is also overseeing the parallel investigation into Mr. Trump’s efforts to reverse his election loss in 2020 and the ensuing assault on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.

Some witnesses close to Mr. Trump have been questioned by Mr. Smith’s team in connection with the both the documents and election interference inquiries.

The government’s motion for a protective order, which Mr. Trump’s lawyers did not oppose, said that prosecutors were ready to start turning over a trove of nonclassified evidence that they had collected during the documents investigation. That included information about investigative techniques, material related to potential witnesses and things like grand jury transcripts, exhibits and recordings of witness interviews, the motion said.

It also sought to restrict disclosure of the evidence to Mr. Trump’s legal team; to people who might be interviewed as witnesses and their lawyers; and to any others who were specifically authorized by the court.

At some point, Mr. Smith’s team will have work out a process for sharing with Mr. Trump’s lawyers the 31 highly sensitive documents at the center of the prosecution, some of which concern nuclear and military capabilities. On Thursday, Judge Aileen M. Cannon, a Trump appointee who is presiding over the case, told the lawyers that they needed to begin the process of obtaining security clearances to review the classified documents.

On Friday, two of Mr. Trump’s lawyers — Todd Blanche and Christopher M. Kise — notified Judge Cannon that they had reached out to the Justice Department to expedite the process of getting a clearance, which could take about a month.

Shortly after the government requested the protective order, Judge Cannon asked the federal magistrate judge assigned to help her with the case, Bruce E. Reinhart, to handle the question of whether to impose it. It is common in the Southern District of Florida for magistrate judges, not district judges like Judge Cannon, to handle pretrial motions.

Judge Reinhart is no stranger to the case. Last summer, he issued a warrant used by the F.B.I. to search Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club and residence in Florida, suggesting that he believed there was probable cause that investigators would find evidence of a crime at the compound.

It could be a significant development moving forward if Judge Reinhart handles the more substantial legal motions that will be filed by Mr. Trump’s lawyers in the months to come, given that Judge Cannon was widely criticized for make rulings favorable to Mr. Trump in an early stage of the investigation.

The odds of him getting classified docs back is ZERO bro. ZERO.

Anything you give Trump will be weaponized. Anything.

I don't think there is any question..

Be patient with Smith., He appears to be stacking things up piece by piece.

trump is quite sick.

He lives in his private world where he owns everything.

He is a dark stain on this country.

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-lacked-power-declassify-secret-100929256.html


Trump lacked power to declassify secret nuclear arms document, experts say
Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks following his arraignment on classified document charges, in Bedminster
The charging document against former President Donald Trump is seen in Washington
1 / 2
Trump lacked power to declassify secret nuclear arms document, experts say
Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks following his arraignment on classified document charges, in Bedminster
375
Jonathan Landay
Sun, June 18, 2023 at 6:09 AM EDT·4 min read
In this article:


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even when he was president, Donald Trump lacked the legal authority to declassify a U.S. nuclear weapons-related document that he is charged with illegally possessing, security experts said, contrary to the former U.S. president’s claim.



The secret document, listed as No. 19 in the indictment charging Trump with endangering national security, can under the Atomic Energy Act only be declassified through a process that by the statute involves the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

For that reason, the experts said, the nuclear document is unique among the 31 in the indictment because the declassification of the others is governed by executive order.

“The claim that he (Trump) could have declassified it is not relevant in the case of the nuclear weapons information because it was not classified by executive order but by law,” said Steven Aftergood, a government secrecy expert with the Federation of Atomic Scientists.

The special status of nuclear-related information further erodes what many legal experts say is a weak defense centered around declassification. Without providing evidence, Trump has claimed he declassified the documents before removing them from the White House.

Prosecutors likely will argue that declassification is irrelevant because Trump was charged under the Espionage Act, which predates classification and criminalizes the unauthorized retention of "national defense information," a broad term covering any secrets that could be helpful to the nation's enemies.

Document No. 19 is marked "FRD," or Formerly Restricted Data, a classification given to secret information involving the military use of nuclear weapons. The indictment described it as undated and “concerning nuclear weaponry of the United States.”



Trump, who pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, has said he declassified while still in office the more than 100 secret documents he took to his Florida resort home, Mar-a-Lago, a contention echoed by Republican lawmakers and other supporters.

But Aftergood and other experts said that the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954 - under which the Department of Energy oversees the U.S. nuclear arsenal - defines a process for declassifying nuclear weapons data, some of the U.S. government’s most closely guarded secrets.

“The statute is very clear. There’s nothing that says the president can make that decision,” said a former U.S. national security official familiar with the classification system, who asked to remain anonymous.

The most sensitive nuclear weapons information is classified as "RD," for Restricted Data, and covers warhead designs and uranium and plutonium production, according to a DOE guide entitled “Understanding Classification.”

The Department of Energy downgrades from RD to FRD nuclear weapons data it needs to share with the Pentagon, but the materials remain classified, experts said.



Materials classified as FRD include data on the U.S. arsenal size, the storage and safety of warheads, their locations and their yields or power, according to the guide.

FRD information only can be declassified through a process governed by the AEA in which the secretaries of energy and defense determine that the designation “may be removed,” according to a Justice Department FAQ sheet.

Not everyone agrees that the president lacks the power to declassify nuclear data.

David Jonas, who served for 10 years as general counsel for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Energy division that oversees the nuclear arsenal,

said Trump had the constitutional authority to declassify all classified documents under the "unitary executive theory," which holds that Congress cannot limit the president’s control over the executive branch.

“The president is the executive branch and so he can declassify anything that is nuclear information,” he said.

Other experts dispute this view.

Elizabeth Goitein, a national security law expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, said the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the authority to limit presidential power related to most national security issues and “there is no question it can legislate in this area.”

While the president can request declassification of FRD materials, “it’s got to go through both DOE (Department of Energy) and DOD (Department of Defense). And it takes forever,” said Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive.

FRD materials must be stored in a properly secured space, said Aftergood. "“Sticking it in your bathroom would not qualify,” he said, referring to the indictment’s allegation that Trump stored classified documents in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom.

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Don Durfee, Amy Stevens and Cynthia Osterman)

I actually wish the DOJ or surrogate would clarify the misinformation (aka lies) that Trump keeps floating.

Fourth amendment.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Keeping classified documents in your bathroom would probably be probable cause. There is a timeline of events.

It's another bogus talking point that would never be mentioned in an official proceeding.

GOP House Intel chair says Trump classified documents case ‘of grave concern’

Julia Mueller
Sun, June 18, 2023 at 10:34 AM EDT·2 min read

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chair of the House Intelligence committee, said on Sunday that the storage of the classified documents at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property is “of grave concern,” and also raised concerns about President Biden’s handling of such materials.

“It’s certainly of grave concern,” Turner said on CNN’s “State of the Union” of the Trump documents storage, but he added that he also has “grave concerns” about classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president that are now being looked into by special counsel Robert Hur.

“I can tell you from having looked at both of those documents, I have grave concerns about both of those type of documents being out in an unsecured place. Both of them included details of national security issues that should not have been outside of a controlled environment,” Turner said.

Anchor Jake Tapper pushed back on the comparison, highlighting that Biden’s team turned over the documents quickly upon discovery and cooperated with authorities, while Trump is accused of obstruction of justice in keeping the documents from being turned over to the federal government. There is also the matter of Trump’s documents including some of the nation’s most sensitive materials.

Trump has been charged on 37 counts in connection with the mishandling of classified records at his Mar-a-Lago home. He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in Miami last week.

Turner, who as Intelligence Committee chairman has received briefings on both the Trump and Biden classified documents investigations, said he anticipates the legal process playing out but wouldn’t defend the accusations of Trump’s mishandling of sensitive documents.

“With respect to this litigation, it’s going to go forward, and I’m certainly not going to defend the behavior that is listed in that complaint, but they’re going to have to prove it and it’s a legal process that’s going to have to go forward,” Turner said on Sunday.



https://news.yahoo.com/gop-house-intel-chair-says-143445006.html

Former Attorney General William Barr said Sunday he believes Donald Trump deserves to be prosecuted.

Barr told CBS that his former boss's handling of classified documents was "indefensible."

Trump is a "consummate narcissist" who puts his own interests before the country's, Barr said.

Up until the 2020 election, former Attorney General William Barr was seen as the epitome of a Republican loyalist, one who "distorted" the findings of Robert Mueller's Russia probe, in the words of one federal judge, and who spent the lead-up to the presidential vote casting doubt on the integrity of mail-in ballots.

But in an appearance Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," Barr — who rejected former President Donald Trump's false claims of voter fraud before resigning from office in December 2020 — accused his former boss and the Republican frontrunner of being a "consummate narcissist" and a "troubled man" who deserves to be prosecuted for allegedly mishandling classified information.

"This is not a circumstance where he's the victim or that this is government overreach," Barr said of this month's 37-count federal indictment accusing Trump of taking classified national defense information from the White House and lying to federal officials who tried to get it back.

"He provoked this whole problem himself," Barr said, adding that while he believed Trump had been subject to "witch hunts" before, that "doesn't obviate the fact that he's also a fundamentally flawed person who engages in reckless conduct, and that leads to situations — calamitous situations like this — which are very destructive and hurt any political cause he's associated with."

Barr said he believes that Trump lied to the Department of Justice when he had his lawyers claim that he had returned all classified documents. He called it "indefensible" behavior, which he argued has resulted in a deserved prosecution.

Barr rejected the argument from some Republicans that Trump is being unfairly subjected to a double standard because Hillary Clinton was herself not prosecuted for using a private email server while Secretary of State. A 2018 review by the Department of Justice's inspector general determined that the prosecutors rightly decided not to charge Clinton with a crime based on available evidence, not undue political influence.

"That's not unfair to Trump," Barr said, "because this is not a case where Trump is innocent and being unfairly hounded. He committed the crime, or if he did commit the crime, it's not unfair to hold them to that standard."

Aside from the question of whether Trump should be prosecuted, Barr said Republicans should be asking themselves whether they should nominate a man who is accused of sharing national defense secrets with unauthorized individuals.

"Should we be putting someone like this forward as the leader of the country, leader of the free world, who is engaged in this kind of conduct?" Barr asked, arguing that the classified documents case is "not just an isolated example."

"He will always put his own interests, and gratifying his own ego, ahead of everything else, including the country's interest, there's no question about it," Barr said. "This is a perfect example of that."

Barr was not the only former Trump official to blast their former employer on Sunday.

Mark Esper, who served as Secretary of Defense from 2019 to 2020, told CNN's "State of the Union" that the allegations concerning Trump's handling of classified information are "very troubling," noting that some of the documents outline US defense plans and a proposed military attack on Iran.

If what is laid out in the federal indictment proves true, Esper said, then Trump should never be trusted with classified information again.

"It's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation's security at risk," Esper said.



https://news.yahoo.com/barr-says-trump-troubled-man-183540684.html

Hutchinson warns Republicans to ‘back off’ allegations DOJ has been ‘weaponized’

1.2k
Julia Mueller
Sun, June 18, 2023 at 11:02 AM EDT·1 min read

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, one of several GOP presidential candidates, on Sunday warned his fellow Republicans to “back off” allegations that the Justice Department has been “weaponized.”

“In terms of the overall charge of weaponization of the Justice Department, look at [former president] Donald Trump. He’s already declared that he- if he’s elected president, he’s gonna appoint a special prosecutor to go after the Biden family. That’s called a weaponization of the Justice Department,” Hutchinson said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“And so let’s back off of these accusations, and let’s get back to being the party of the rule of law, of the justice system supporting law enforcement and the equal application of law. Let’s don’t undermine the greatest justice system and criminal justice system and rule of law in the world today, this side of heaven,” Hutchinson said.

Trump, who is leading in national polls as the GOP frontrunner in 2024, has been charged with 37 counts in connection to his alleged mishandling of classified records. He’s pleaded not guilty and decried the case against him as politically motivated.

The indictment and charges have fueled claims from many on the right that the DOJ and federal government have been weaponized and Trump has accused Biden himself of having a hand in the investigation. The White House has steadfastly avoided commenting on the indictment and asserted the DOJ operates independent of the president.

Hutchinson acknowledged he thinks the DOJ has “made some bad decisions,” but took issue with “the whole concept … that so many Republican leaders are adopting that this is the weaponization of the Justice Department.”


https://news.yahoo.com/hutchinson-warns-republicans-back-off-150206030.html

Thanks----only one word to describe what you shared---PERFECT--- if that video doesn't show the TRUE TRUMP nothing does. Just WOW!!!

Well, one thing for sure, if he repeats those lies under oath (which I'm sure his lawyers would not advise), he'll get penalized for that as well.

That would be the same reasons that Rudy and the other so called lawyers won't spout the lies under oath.

In fact, if they can help it, I doubt that trumps lawyers want him to open his mouth in court except to plea.

I'm not surprised by the number of former supporters that are turning on him.,

“Whatever you say or do can and will be held against you.” Pffft not trump. Dude got the law by the balls.

This wins the biggest understatement award in DT history. Lol

In actuality it wasn't even trump who made the not guilty plea in court. It was his attorney Todd Blanche. He told the court, “Your honor, we most certainly enter a plea of not guilty."

Maybe that's true.. Hope not. You gotta remember Trump was the one that made some of the penalties for mishandling classified documents stiffer. So if all things are truly equal, he should be allowed to attempt to defend himself. If he can't convince a jury that he's innocent, then he should be required to face the music. Just like you and I would have to do!

We shall see. It's clear that the law is different for the dirty rich.

If Hillary, Bill, or Barrack had done anything remotely irresponsible and dangerous, they’d be in jail. trump pffft …he’ll get a sweet deal. Just watch.

If you get a chance watch trumps interview with Bret Baier on fox. The moron pretty much just confessed to the whole thing. Amazing even for this clown. After this, wonder if this batch of lawyers will resign also.

Geez, what a mess he is. Dancing from one excuse to another with no chance of making sense. It's actually hard to watch.

If I'm on his team of lawyers for the documents case in Florida, (or any other case) I resign today. Just like he always does, he'll take them down with him. Cohen, Powell, Guilani and others are on the spot because of his attitude.

He just can't seem to help sticking his foot in his mouth and then insisting he didn't.

It baffles me how any respectable republican can stand up and support him ever again. He has made laughing stocks of the entire party.

This is the truth about trump.

Often trump has said he is a genius. On a regular basis he has attacked people on called them "a low IQ person."

trump paid someone to take his ACT/SAT tests. He has lied about his academic record.
https://doctorzebra.com/prez/z_x45_trump_academic_record_g.htm

His family protected him. He is in fact unlearned.

"William T. Kelley, professor for 47 years at Penn, "must have told me that 100 times over the course of 30 years. ... I remember the inflection of his voice when he said it: `Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!' He would say that [Trump] came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything, that he was arrogant and he wasn't there to learn."

trump is a career fraud. He is not bright. His accomplishments have come from lying and family wealth.

His arrogance is appalling. The document case proves that. All he had to do was turn the documents over.

He was indicted from stupidity.

He was busy leave the guy alone !

wait, i thought these were fake documents planted by the FBI?

now Trump admits those are real?

come on Trump supporters, which lie y'all rolling with?

Judge issues order that Trump keep quiet about disclosure of discovery material issued in classified documents case

A magistrate judge has signed off on special counsel Jack Smith’s request that former President Donald Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta be prohibited from disclosing information the discovery handed over to the defense in the criminal case Trump and Nauta now face from the special counsel.

Among the restrictions approved by US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who previously approved the search warrant the FBI executed at Mar-a-Lago last year, is that “The Discovery Materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court.”

The order sought by prosecutors and approved by Reinhart was expected and used standard language. However, it comes in a first-of-its-kind federal criminal case against an ex-president who has a proclivity to express opinions on social media and who is being prosecuted, in part, because of his alleged mishandling of sensitive government information.

The order follows the language that Smith proposed and it governs the unclassified discovery the defense will receive. The defendants did not oppose Smith’s request.

The classified materials federal investigators have collected, which are at the heart of Smith’s case, will be subjected to their own procedures for the case. The two Trump attorneys who have made appearances in the case confirmed Friday to US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who will preside over the case, that they have been in contact with the Justice Department about expediting their security clearances.

Trump faces 37 counts in the indictment brought by Smith earlier this month, which alleges that he illegally retained national defense information and that he concealed documents and obstructed the Justice Department investigation into the handling of those materials. He pleaded not guilty last week.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/19/politics/trump-disclosure-information/index.html

I saw the clips. He’s an idiot. He’’s going to jail/house arrest.