Archives Found Possible Classified Material in Boxes Returned by Trump

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

Michael S. Schmidt
@nytmike
NEW: The National Archives and Records Administration discovered what it believed was classified information in documents Donald J. Trump had taken with him from the White House as he left office. w/@reidepstein
National Archives and Records Administration workers loading boxes outside the White House five days before President Donald J. Trump left office last year.
nytimes.com

Archives Found Possible Classified Material in Boxes Returned by Trump
The National Archives consulted with the Justice Department about the discovery after the former president sent back documents that he had improperly taken from the White House when he left office.
6:02 PM · Feb 9, 2022

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/politics/national-archives-trump-classified-material.html

No paywall
https://archive.fo/8R3SH

The National Archives and Records Administration discovered what it believed was classified information in documents Donald J. Trump had taken with him from the White House as he left office, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The discovery, which occurred after Mr. Trump returned 15 boxes of documents to the government last month, prompted the National Archives to reach out to the Justice Department for guidance, the person said. The department told the National Archives to have its inspector general examine the matter, the person said.

It is unclear what the inspector general has done since then, in particular, whether the inspector general has referred the matter to the Justice Department.

An inspector general is required to alert the Justice Department to the discovery of any classified materials that were found outside authorized government channels.


*snip*

[yardwork]

1. Gosh, Andrea Mitchell, what do you say now?

Chuck Todd? But her emails??

[uponit7771]

3. +1

[TomSlick]

5. Yep. What about her e-mails? Andrea, Todd, anything?

[Solly Mack]

2. Shocker.

Snort

[Raven123]

4. The best part of this is that Trump cannot claim ignorance of the law.

He will claim he knew nothing about the documents being taken, but I’m suspect no one will accept blame on his behalf. Wonder who knew where they were, or if someone testified before the Jan 6 Committee told them.

[Kingofalldems]

6. But......

Link to tweet

[70sEraVet]

7. I wish it was clearer how the discovery and returns of these Presidential documents came about.

In this post, the language is "...after Mr. Trump returned 15 boxes of documents to the government last month".
I've seen other reports, that word it more like "National Archives had to retrieve Trump White House records from Mar-a-Lago". (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/07/trump-records-mar-a-lago/)
How, exactly, was it discovered that Trump had taken these documents to Maralago as momentos?.
And what exactly transpired to get him to release them from his p-ssy gr-bbing clutches?

[canetoad]

8. Exactly

It is said that he returned them. Why?

Did he return everything he took?

[70sEraVet]

9. Exactly! I'm sure he didn't wake up one morning, and go, "OH CRAP! You know what I forgot?"

[msfiddlestix]

11. It's exactly the question I've been dealing with. go to the archive link in OP

it has the article in full, and it pretty much clears up that question. Lawyers handed them over.

[canetoad]

12. I'm not sure the article answers the question

In January, after a lengthy back and forth between Mr. Trump’s lawyers and the National Archives, Mr. Trump handed over more than a dozen boxes of materials, including documents, mementos, gifts and letters. Among the documents were the original versions of a letter that former President Barack Obama had left for Mr. Trump when he was first sworn in, and letters written to Mr. Trump by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

Also included in the boxes was a map Mr. Trump famously drew on with a black Sharpie to demonstrate the track of Hurricane Dorian heading toward Alabama in 2019 to back up a declaration he had made on Twitter that contradicted weather forecasts.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/politics/national-archives-trump-classified-material.html

The other link to archive.fo won't open for me - blank page.

But I love the fact that he kept the hurricane map.

[msfiddlestix]

13. I wonder if he kept the photo of him coloring the flag with brown stripes too

he may be a criminally cunning psychopath but he's also really, really stupid too.

This is a case where both things can be true at the same time. I mean, did he miss the part where the whole nation laughed and poked fun AT him? Did he really think it special? what an effin freak.

Puzzling why the link didn't work, but I agree it didn't really spell out how this played out in terms of procedure.

Could they have actually appeared in person at his gauche digs with warrant in hand? Or even meeting with his lawyers at the door?

Would it have taken place without the media being tipped off in real time? More likely (I think) lawyers delivered to them at local fbi office or some such. Also that might explain why they're sounding off the alarm that stuff is still missing.

this is all pure speculation on my part, i want so much for a full out, no knock raid, but of course that's only in the movies.

Michael Schmidts reporting suggests that Garland isn't inclined to charge that freak is because he trying to "depoliticize" the Department. I think it's way past time for folks to figure, that is an impossible goal.

Politics is in the air we breath, the water we drink and the food we eat. Justice Matters. And Justice is baked in our politics as much as anything else. That's how I see it.

[msfiddlestix]

10. Thank you for providing the Archive link to the article

Now I better understand how this played out in terms of "recovery".

I had entertained the fantasy for a second that the Archive Investigators actually traveled down to TFG's residence with some sort of search warrant to seize the boxes. Now I understand the reality that the lawyers were directly involved in handing them over.

I also took note of Schmidt's reference to Garland's effort to "depoliticize" the Justice Department, so pursing criminal charges on this matter is not on the table. (all my words)

[70sEraVet]

14. Yes. Additionally, embedded in the Archive link is a link to an earlier Archive article

Dated Feb 7, 2022.
These two paragraphs seem to explain a little further how the return of the records came about, and also how there may be more records forthcoming.

"Mr. Trump handed over the materials after several months of back and forth between his lawyers and the National Archives, which houses presidential records and eventually makes many of them public.
The National Archives said in a statement that it obtained the boxes in mid-January and that Mr. Trump’s lawyers told the agency that “they are continuing to search for additional presidential records that belong to the National Archives.” "

I also enjoyed the explanation given in the article, for how these documents might have wound up being packed up with TFG's personal belongings.

"The boxes contained items taken from the White House’s residence during a hasty exit after Mr. Trump had spent the bulk of the presidential transition trying to find ways to stay in power, according to two people familiar with the process of how the boxes were returned. At the time, Mr. Trump’s aides were either preoccupied with helping him overturn the election, trying to stop him or avoiding him."

[msfiddlestix]

15. hasty exit failing to stay in power, boxes ended up containing articles of clothing too

for a nano second, I tried to imagine which article of clothing got packed in documents boxes. Dirty underwear maybe?

eeewww

but the scene as described in general terms is enough for the ages.

[lagomorph777]

16. +1 more felony.