FBI searched Trump's home to look for nuclear documents and other items, sources say

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of former president Donald Trump's Florida residence on Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation. Experts in classified information said the unusual search underscores deep concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and potentially in danger of falling into to the wrong hands.

The people who described some of the material that agents were seeking spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. They did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search. A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said he could not discuss the investigation on Thursday. But in an unusual public statement at the Justice Department, he announced he had personally authorized the decision to seek court permission for a search warrant. Garland spoke moments after Justice Department lawyers filed a motion seeking to unseal the search warrant in the case, noting that Trump had publicly revealed the search shortly after it happened.

"The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing," the motion says. "That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any 'legitimate privacy interests' or the potential for other 'injury' if these materials are made public."

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/11/garland-trump-mar-a-lago/

---

No paywall link

[First Speaker]

1. Jesus H Christ...

...OK, OK--let's not jump to any conclusions. We have a long way to go. But still...Jesus H Christ.

[Irish_Dem]

4. This is Trump. Imagine the worst, then multiple it by 100.

We would be naive not to start thinking about what he is capable of.

[stopdiggin]

13. yes, but ... also worth noting that this reporting didn't offer a solitary

speck of new information. Just a breathless bunch of 'coulda' been this, or coulda' been that'

From the very first, reporting on this included straight up statement (from almost every source) that this could have only arisen from a place of "very serious concern." And - that's where we still are today.

[Irish_Dem]

17. The point is that we all know Trump is certainly capable of selling nuclear secrets.

No one is even trying to deny Trump would never do this.

And we are reeling in shock and fear.
Imaginations are running wild.
Rightly so.

The FBI and the American people have been naive and foolish not to understand what Trump is capable of doing in terms of national security.

This is a discussion board and we are discussing.

[stopdiggin]

25. Ummm. Trump was in 'possession' of nuclear secrets

(scary thought that, but in our infinite wisdom ... ) As well as all sorts of other very damaging crap, since approximately 2017 and the first transition. 'Imaginations could have rightly been running wild' since that time forward. Right? Trump was 'capable' of almost anything imaginable during all that time! Trump's character certainly hasn't changed. The absolute perfidy has always been apparent since day one. The 'material' certainly has not changed while sitting in that basement ... So - what changed? Trump as a security threat is - certainly not big news in this quarter.

something lit a fire under the boys in blue - and it wasn't that the leopard had suddenly changed his spots.

------ ------

[Irish_Dem]

32. Trump is the same ruthless sociopath he has always been, you are right.

But some are speculating that perhaps the FBI learned something had changed.

After a year and a half he was getting ready to sell some of the information.

That is why it became urgent.

But of course most likely he has been passing info to Putin who installed him in the WH.
So why now is it an issue?

Another thing that changed is that the GOP is done with Trump.
He is a major liability and they want him gone.

So they have unleashed the hounds of hell on him.

Not really too hard when Trump is part of the GOP crime syndicate and they have plenty of crap on him.

[certainot]

64. "ruthless sociopath" giving him too much credit. for him life is just a game of golf - one hole

after another.

he sees the flag and for it and doesn't give a shit how much cheating it takes to get there. and he has no imagination to think he could be stopped or how many people die.

he's go a very bad case of sex on the wrong brain and unfortunately that form of insanity has been normalized and people who get it that bad are either beaten up in bars or elevated to royal or corporate or military or fascist or religious kingship

[BigmanPigman]

37. Good point!

Another shoe or shoes will drop...."Something lit a fire under the boys in blue".

[LudwigPastorius]

67. "So - what changed?"

Someone was willing to come forward with testimony that could result in a search warrant.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

74. Why impeachment was introduced by us on November 15 2017

.

[paleotn]

51. My thought exactly when I first heard that...

Holy shita!! Treason anyone? I know. Don't jump to conclusions, but why on earth would he even have something like that? As someone typed yesterday...highest bidder? A Putin payoff? Who knows?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

75. My guess is just sock it away in case. Seems rather

Dumb to me to keep docs on site tho. And they said there was a padlock on the room where the docs were kept ( that wasn't there in June when they first searched)

Hard to get your head in the mind of a deviant, but if I was storing documents with hopes of selling or blackmailing or whatever, I sure as hell wouldn't keep them in a room where I live with a padlock on it.

[PatSeg]

89. Well, we all know Trump is not very bright

We've already seen how careless he has been with classified information and security in the past. He certainly wouldn't do much of anything the way you or I would. Unfortunately, this doesn't surprise me at all and that is scary.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

90. I think he is an extremely smart deviant/criminal!

Just think of all the things he's gotten away with. He is a master at self promotion and a master at skirting every law in the book. Why he's so dangerous.

But that you keep MORE of what the Feds were already looking for on site... Makes him even worst. Deranged AND reckless.

[BlueWavePsych]

96. Selling nuclear secrets? Enemy combatant? Gitmo!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. Is that what bought his and MBS' little golf tournament?

[ancianita]

27. Could have been. Could have been Hungary's Orban showing up at CPAC.

Messages and info can be sent to trump's fellow autocrats through autocratic leaders. Through Tucker Carlson, even, while he was over in Budapest doing his show for a week. Budapest is Putin's FSB's European headquarters.

For the last 18 months trump's had 27 boxes of documents, there have been all kinds of people he's used to transfer docs to interested buyers, or to enable quid pro quo deals he's made.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Maybe the location of secret US nuke sites in Europe and Asia.

Location of USAF nuke silos here in the US

Or routes of US nuclear subs.

As I recall Trump revealed US navy sub location near North Korea.

Or blueprints of US navy nukes subs, the highly classified engineering plans.

Nuke sub key codes for launch.

The list goes on and on.

[kwijybo]

50. What I came to say

The stuff Trump had easy access to was tactical: locations and inventories of nukes, locations of sub pens, yield potentials, and various crypto keys and frequencies. In short, all the things to locate and disable our (and out allies') nuclear missiles and launchers.

Now, what in the world would he need this kind of information for? Only one reason I know: espionage. Selling it to the highest bidder or using it to blackmail a country.

(He'd have to request things like Engineering plans, and that would look odd.)

[Irish_Dem]

53. Exactly, yes.

Locations, inventories, weapon specifications including capability in the field.
All the things you mention.

One of the talking heads on TV said that Trump would brag that all he had to do is make a phone call and request information on any topic, and people brought him boxes and boxes of material.

I don't think he cared if it looked odd or people noticed.

He is a true toxic narcissist and he does what he wants, he doesn't care what others think.

[kwijybo]

79. Then it goes from scary to absolutely terrifying.

If he didn't care if it looked odd, plans for subs, missiles, anti-missile systems, IFF codes and frequencies...

[chowder66]

5. Oh.My.God.

[mcar]

6. He really was going to sell it, wasn't he?

[SheltieLover]

33. Probably qlready did.

[Yavin4]

57. What else was he going to do with them?

Bed time reading?

[mcar]

68. Right?

[AngryOldDem]

84. Sure.

Everything — EVERYTHING — is transactional with this motherfucker. Even our security.

Hope you all like your standard-bearer, GOP.

[ancianita]

7. Nuclear weapons. Weapons. Uh-huh.

Opportunity for tfg. Nope. Not feelin' it, though I know it's the filthy criminal's due process right.

[niyad]

8. he probably gave those to daddy vlad already.

[SheltieLover]

36. Of course!

[sarcasmo]

54. This is the reason the Saudi's gave Jared 2 billion dollars.

[Rebl2]

58. Yep

[ShazzieB]

80. That's exactly what I'm most afraid of! 😱

[Grins]

9. But Lara said they were...

“…things like newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, photographs,” not nuclear weapons stuff!!

So now you have to ask - Why would he take that? For what purpose?

[catbyte]

19. OMG, she is either really really stupid or thinks the cult is. I'm sure it's both.

The National Archives and NSA Counterintelligence don't give a shit about "newspaper and magazine clippings." And those morons will fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

[iluvtennis]

29. Agree. I read or heard news report that the FBI was at Mar-a-Lago for 10 hours. They were going

through those to recover the documents needed by the National Archives. If they ran across family newspaper clippings, photos, etc - they separated them out.

[iluvtennis]

30. And not just Lara, Eric Trump was on Faux News the other day saying the same sh*t that his dad

did family scrap booking.

No way in hell does the narcissist Don the Con do scrap booking - you have to care about others to make the time to collect items and put them in scrap books. tfg cares about no one but himself.

[Evolve Dammit]

10. History will show that oversight was lacking and intentionally asleep by appointment by DJT.

[louis-t]

11. It will be very hard for deplorables to deny he's a scumbag

if it turns out he has nuclear secrets. He will lose a lot more of his worshipers. There will still be a few million, though....

[Justice matters.]

38. Not his core christian nazi's christaliban cult for sure.

Remember they claim orange con-man gawd-sent for what?

Their Armageddon RAPTURE right?? RRRRRight?

Just like that suicidal nut who thought it was time to attack a FBI HQ...

[AngryOldDem]

87. This will be just another big lie to them.

Some are just too far gone at this point.

I don’t know what would make them wake up to this man, honestly.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. Who was TFG planning to sell these documents to?

[SheltieLover]

39. Pootin, China, NK...

Hopefully, he didn't sell copies already!

[Captain Zero]

94. the Saudis, through Flynn and Barrack, Nuclear Energy Tech supposedly...

early on in his admin there was a plan that involved a third party that Flynn and Barrack were part of to transfer Nuclear Energy Tech to Saudi Arabia. It never went through due to national security concerns. I think.

Any chance the shelved documents and plans made it to Mara Lago??

Jared made $2 billion from the Saudis during the transition from the election to inauguration day

There are links on DU in other threads about the Technology transfer proposal to Saudi Arabia.
Any chance the $2 billion to Jared from the Saudis really came from Russia?

[greatauntoftriplets]

14. I'd say this is incomprehensible, except it was Drumpf.

What else was he up to that we don't know about?

[mackdaddy]

15. Trump had revealed that we had some new Nuclear Warhead program.

I could not find the details but I remember there being some concern because he had revealed some new wonder nuclear missile program that was supposedly top secret until he blabbed about it. He was enamored about the program so I would not doubt he would keep the files he was given at the time. He apparently kept a model of the new AF1 design too.

Here is a one liner from his blathering about Space Force.

https://www.21stcentech.com/wrong-message-clouds-spacex-nasas-latest-achievement/

Trump went on, not just extolling the success of the SpaceX-NASA partnership but talking about the militarization of the U.S. space program through the creation of the Space Force. He stated: “We’ll soon have the greatest weapons ever imagined in history. I’ve already seen designs and even I can’t believe it.”

He went on further to talk about the prestige of the nation stating “You can’t be number one on Earth if you are number two in space. And we are not going to be number two anywhere. Nowhere is this more true than with our military, which we have completely rebuilt. Under my administration, we have invested two and a half-trillion dollars in new planes, ships, submarines, tanks, missiles, rockets, anything you can think of. And last year I signed the law, creating the sixth branch of that already very famous United States Armed Forces, the Space Force.”

Was this the time to talk about the militarization of space?

The Russian reaction was described as worrisome particularly because of the implications for the militarization of space including weapons deployment. It wasn’t surprising, therefore, that the Roscosmos spokesperson stated, “We are not going to rest on our laurels either. We will test two new rockets this year, and next year we will resume our lunar program. It will be interesting.”

[dalton99a]

26. +1

[kwijybo]

56. Things he's leaked

He let the world know about keyhole satellites, and by posting a picture let them know what it's capabilities were (or pretty close).

Sorry, too tired of the Mango Codswallop to continue.

[Liberty Belle]

16. Would Garland have taken credit for ordering the raid if they didn't find anything?

I doubt it. My bet is they found some substantial evidence.

Maybe Trump even sold nuclear secrets already, or gave them to Putin free or in exchange for favors.

I predict an indictment will be coming very soon.

[C_U_L8R]

18. His kids probably all have copies

As well as his henchmen. Jared's big windfall from the Saudis suddenly looks very curious.

[Initech]

20. He kept the nuclear launch codes? Holy shit!

[ancianita]

21. NObody has said that. Chill.

[joshcryer]

46. It probably is something stupid like that.

He kept the codes and protocol and they asked for them back repeatedly and he said no he was going to keep them and that they changed the codes anyway. Still super classified stuff. He wanted to show off to his people that he had the codes to destroy the world, pulled out the code book, etc, etc.

[iemanja]

23. The codes surely change frequently.

But this really is a shocker.

[drray23]

63. that would be the least problematic.

they change regularly and definitely when a new president comes in.

[jmowreader]

99. Not a big problem

NSA generates a completely new set of launch codes on the morning of the inauguration. This happens regardless of who’s getting sworn in; a re-elected president gets a new set for his second term. Since no one gets to see them - they’re in an envelope - and they’re never used, one set is enough for a full term.

“Why NSA?” One of NSA’s biggest jobs is creating codes for the government. They have a very large team that does nothing else.

[Joinfortmill]

22. For sale to the highest bidder?

[SouthernCal_Dem]

24. Holy Shit!

Damn.

[Rhiannon12866]

31. MSNBC just reported on this WaPo article:

WaPo: Nuclear Documents Among Items FBI Sought In Mar-a-Lago Search - All In - MSNBC

The Washington Post reports that classified documents concerning nuclear weapons were among those sought by FBI agents during the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. - Aired on 08/11/2022.

[SheltieLover]

40. Thx, Rhi

Omg!

[tavernier]

35. MSNBC just said they haven't revealed if the FBI found them.

If they didn’t, I wonder if they are in an otherwise empty casket buried on a golf course?

[Meadowoak]

44. +1

[yaesu]

47. Probably in a safe in Moscow & putin is using the info to know how far he can push the West. nt

[Bread and Circuses]

52. I've been thinking about that too

Ivana falls down a staircase. (Allegedly) Is thrown in a plot on golf course in New Jersey (double vomit).....Two weeks later FBI executes search warrant...

Revenge from the Grave!

[yaesu]

41. And who was supplying tRump with those classified records at his beck and call? I know presidents

can request documents but there must be some sort of system in place to make sure this doesn't happen.

[Bev54]

43. There is and the system is what discovered they are missing and what was missing.

[gab13by13]

66. Another way to ask your question,

would there be 27 boxes of classified documents stored at the White House? Where would they be kept?

[Bev54]

42. I turned to Hannity for 10 seconds to see what they are talking about

Hillary and Fusion GPS

[yaesu]

45. So tRump gave putin enough info on our nukes, probably studies on when we would use them, how we

would use them & so on. Probably giving putin the go ahead to invade Ukraine knowing we wouldn't do shit to stop him if he threatened nukes.

[Dawson Leery]

48. kick

[gab13by13]

49. This is a game changer,

this is firing squad shit. If Trump gave away our nuclear information our enemies know our strengths and our weaknesses.

If he gave away our allies nuclear information we are going to lose our allies.

This is fucking espionage. Fuck you Magat Republicans, Fuck you Magat politicians, fucking move to Russia or Hungary.

[BumRushDaShow]

61. Michael Beschloss invoked the "T" word as his parting remark to Ali Velshi

which is different from sedition!

[AngryOldDem]

81. I'll say it. Treason.

That was my thought all along. It’s always been my fear that he would be compromised in some dangerous way. It would certainly explain his deference toward autocrats.

And to think he still has people in the GOP defending him.

[hamsterjill]

55. Probably outted all of the undercover agents

That stupid pig needs to fry. How much more does America have to see before this evil is stopped.

Enough. Charge him! Lock his ass up where he can never hurt another person.

[oasis]

62. I completely agree. Trump has no allegiance except to himself. NT

[Bayard]

59. It doesn't have to be nuclear weapons,

It could be blueprints and info on our nuclear subs.

John Brennan (former CIA chief), was just on MSNBC talking about how difficult it is for anyone to get their hands on these documents. You can't just check them out like a library book. This type of theft would take painstaking planning and execution by more than just TFG.

My favorite historian, Michael Beschloss, just said the big T word, if trump stole Top Secret documents with the intent to sell them.

[Solly Mack]

60. K&R

[Botany]

65. Boy I wished I had thought of this / What I think / know. I very well might be wrong.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217027244

Trump took highly classified documents with him to Florida

Trump knew that was illegal

The documents were "sensitive compartmented" information and had to do with national security

The "sensitive compartmented" information had something to do with America's nuclear weapons programs

Trump has already or wanted to sell that information to foreign governments or organized criminal operations

Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Russian mob, and Iran (Iranian Revolutionary Guard) were the likely targets for being
potential buyers for this top secret information.

I would suggest that Erik Prince, Gen. Flynn, Manafort, and Roger Stone might have something to do with this
international criminal/nuclear terror operation. (I have no idea what to call "it." )

When the truth comes out it will be so bad that even Fox News will dump Trump PDQ and the MAGA/GOP folks will
try to pretend that they never knew him.

This "thing" will not only end Trump's political career and he might very well end up in prison too.

[gab13by13]

69. Our #1 narrative should be that Trump is a traitor.

Our #2 narrative should be that Magat politicians are covering for a traitor. Keep the GQP hitched to Trump.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

70. Ok... This is very confusing. The FBI was there in June.

So if they were worried about nuke related docs, they were in June? Because best I've been able to tell, the staffers down there are junior and not likely to think, OMG, those are nuke docs. In fact best I can tell no one has reported on who is actually there. There are several reports about who was going to be down there. Like Cassidy Hutchinson. And it's quite a mystery as to whether she went or not.

[Jon King]

72. They probably got recent information from an informant.

The negotiations since June were for all the classified materials to be returned. The search was the result of recent information about the nuclear documents in all likelihood. I doubt they knew the remaining docs contained nuclear stuff until recently.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

77. Ok. So we're likely talking a big wig. And it would lead you to believe that there was likely

A plan to do something with those docs. My only point was that the people who are down there are *i think* very junior.

In my mind, I think it's much more likely that one of the junior people told the FBI that there were still documents down there. Meaning that if there were nuke docs, past FBI motivation.

[BumRushDaShow]

85. ...

Garland Moves to Release Details on Search of Trump’s Home


By Glenn Thrush, Maggie Haberman and Ben Protess
Aug. 11, 2022Updated 10:08 p.m. ET

(snip)


The subpoena factored into a visit that Jay Bratt, the Justice Department’s top counterintelligence official, made with a small group of other federal officials to Mar-a-Lago in early June, one of the people said.

The officials met with Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Evan Corcoran. Mr. Trump, who likes to play host and has a long history of trying to charm officials inquiring about his practices, also made an appearance. During the visit, the officials examined a basement storage area where the former president had stowed material that had come with him from the White House.

A few days after the visit, Mr. Bratt emailed Mr. Corcoran and told him to further secure the remaining documents, which were kept in the storage area with a stronger padlock, one of the people said. The email was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.

Then, they subpoenaed surveillance footage from the club, which could have given officials a glimpse of who was coming in and out of the storage area, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. They received footage specifically from areas of the club where they believed the documents might have been stored, the person said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/us/politics/trump-fbi-subpoena.html

(no paywall link)

FBI Quest for Trump Documents Started With Breezy Chats, Tour of a Crowded Closet

By Alex Leary, Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman
Aug. 10, 2022 6:09 pm ET

Around lunchtime on June 3, a senior Justice Department national security supervisor and three FBI agents arrived at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida to discuss boxes with government records sitting in a basement storage room along with suits, sweaters and golf shoes. A few days later, the FBI sent a note asking that a stronger lock be installed on the storage room door, signing off: “Thank you. Very truly yours, Jay Bratt, chief of counterintelligence and export control section.”

In the following weeks, however, someone familiar with the stored papers told investigators there may be still more classified documents at the private club after the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes earlier in the year, people familiar with the matter said. And Justice Department officials had doubts that the Trump team was being truthful regarding what material remained at the property, one person said. Newsweek earlier reported on the source of the FBI’s information. Two months later, two dozen Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were back at Mar-a-Lago with a warrant predicated on convincing a federal magistrate judge that there was evidence a crime may have been committed. After hours at the property, the agents took the boxes away in a Ryder truck.


(snip)

The controversy began after Mr. Trump left office, when the National Archives and Records Administration reached out to his team to ask for what it thought were missing records. All official documents are required to be turned over under the Watergate-era Presidential Records Act. The Archives in January retrieved 15 boxes of documents and other items from Mar-a-Lago. The boxes contained some documents archives officials described only as “classified national security information,” prompting them to refer the matter to the Justice Department for investigation.

(snip)

Aides to Mr. Trump have said they had been cooperating with the department to get the matter settled. The former president even popped into the June 3 meeting at Mar-a-Lago, shaking hands. “I appreciate the job you’re doing,” he said, according to a person familiar with the exchange. “Anything you need, let us know.” Five days later, Trump attorney Evan Corcoran received an email from Mr. Bratt, the chief of the Justice Department’s counterintelligence and export control section, who oversees investigations involving classified information. “We ask that the room at Mar-a-Lago where the documents had been stored be secured and that all the boxes that were moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago (along with any other items in that room) be preserved in that room in their current condition until further notice,” according to what was read to The Wall Street Journal over the phone. Mr. Corcoran wrote back, “Jay, thank you. I write to acknowledge receipt of this letter. With best regards, Evan.” By the next day, according to a person familiar with the events, a larger lock was placed on the door. It was the last communication between the men until Monday’s search of Mar-a-Lago, according to the person.

(snip)

—Deborah Acosta contributed to this article.

https://archive.ph/QKSD6#selection-99.5-577.44 (Wall St. Journal no paywall link)

[Laura PourMeADrink]

88. Thank you so much for sharing. Makes so much more sense

now. It did stick out that NYT felt the need to insert that Garland was a former "mid-level prosecutor" . I know! not the most important point, but just stuck out.

Where there's smoke there's fire. Apply the typical honest man test. Add in that he met with Russians early on and the stenographer was sworn to secrecy about what was said. Add in that Jared sought a back channel before they were even in the White House!. Add in that it was reported he wanted junior staffers at ML The odds of this doc episode not being nefarious are now absolutely miniscule.

I know people love to trash the NYT but this is the best reporting out there.

[BumRushDaShow]

93. You're welcome. But wait... there's more

Exclusive: An Informer Told the FBI What Docs Trump Was Hiding, and Where

By William M. Arkin On 8/10/22 at 10:03 AM EDT


The raid on Mar-a-Lago was based largely on information from an FBI confidential human source, one who was able to identify what classified documents former President Trump was still hiding and even the location of those documents, two senior government officials told Newsweek. The officials, who have direct knowledge of the FBI's deliberations and were granted anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters, said the raid of Donald Trump's Florida residence was deliberately timed to occur when the former president was away.

FBI decision-makers in Washington and Miami thought that denying the former president a photo opportunity or a platform from which to grandstand (or to attempt to thwart the raid) would lower the profile of the event, says one of the sources, a senior Justice Department official who is a 30-year veteran of the FBI. The effort to keep the raid low-key failed: instead, it prompted a furious response from GOP leaders and Trump supporters. "What a spectacular backfire," says the Justice official.

"I know that there is much speculation out there that this is political persecution, but it is really the best and the worst of the bureaucracy in action," the official says. "They wanted to punctuate the fact that this was a routine law enforcement action, stripped of any political overtones, and yet [they] got exactly the opposite." Both senior government officials say the raid was scheduled with no political motive, the FBI solely intent on recovering highly classified documents that were illegally removed from the White House.

Preparations to conduct such an operation began weeks ago, but in planning the date and time, the FBI Miami Field Office and Washington headquarters were focused on the former president's scheduled return to Florida from his residences in New York and New Jersey. "They were seeking to avoid any media circus," says the second source, a senior intelligence official who was briefed on the investigation and the operation. "So even though everything made sense bureaucratically and the FBI feared that the documents might be destroyed, they also created the very firestorm they sought to avoid, in ignoring the fallout."

(snip)

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-informer-told-fbi-what-docs-trump-was-hiding-where-1732283

[Laura PourMeADrink]

97. Wonder why media keeps saying it all caused a media circus?

Personally don't think it did. I mean no more than any other story. It might have help though to get some kind of basic talking points out there tho. Can't you at least have said former president was asked in writing 10 times to return all government documents. That the former president said that all documents had been turned over. And then the government found out there were more? You know something benign like that

So what do you think? I still don't think someone in Washington is going to know precisely where the documents were, unless this is really a huge deal as far as plans to use those documents nefariously.

I think it's someone that actually works there that knows exactly where stuff is.

[BumRushDaShow]

98. It sounds to me that since we are only now finding out

that the FBI was down there in June and that was obviously kept hush hush, then they figured, "okay - we'll go ahead and do the next step and start the seizure" knowing that the resort is fairly isolated and could handle a pile of people coming in and gathering stuff without alot "neighborhood" witnessing.

But once that happened, some decision was made by someone (maybe at the resort) to "notify the press" about the seizure and that was the end of a "quiet process".

It's difficult as it is trying to do any of this against someone who used to host a reality show and is mindful of "appearances" and "creating drama for ratings". And this is why they picked a day when he wasn't there and was actually engaged in the 400+ "5th amendment" utterances up in NYC over a 6 hour period that very same day.

It sounds like these outlets were actually sitting on info since just before June and once the dam broke, here come all these other outlets releasing their stories in one fell swoop.

Per that Newsweek story - there was an informant and I know there was some cable news buzz speculating about whether someone was wearing a wire and whatnot. Plus there had been a request for the CCTV footage for certain days.

So will have to see if any other bombshells drop today...

[Laura PourMeADrink]

101. Yup. Are you sure we didn't know about this in June?

[BumRushDaShow]

102. Well during June, the J6 Committee was holding its meetings

and the SCOTUS was doing the last of its rulings so it may have been bubbling "under the surface" and not highlighted as I think during June, it was at the subpoena level and supposedly negotiations were ongoing.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

103. If you aren't dedicated 24/7 ( with a team of people) there's no way to keep up

with it all. For me, it's like oh ya, I vaguely remember. Just could have sworn it was a big deal in the past that he took docs to ML. I'll look it up

[BumRushDaShow]

104. Since I do a lot of LBN OPs

I end up seeing a lot of this stuff since I get breaking news banners from multiple news sources, and try to get stuff posted when I can.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

105. Hey... Just found this tidbit from CNN going back to the June search

"Earlier this spring, federal investigators began interviewing members of Trump's staff and former White House officials who were involved in moving documents from the West Wing to his Palm Beach residence when he left office ​or who were familiar with how those records were being stored at his Palm Beach residence, according to three people familiar with those interviews. ​Among the aides interviewed by federal investigators were Molly Michael, then an executive assistant to Trump; Beau Harrison, an operations coordinator for Trump who previously worked in the White House; former White House staff secretary Derek Lyons; and Walt Nauta, a former White House valet, according to three people familiar with the matter. None of these aides returned requests for comment.

[BumRushDaShow]

106. I have seen a couple of the names bandied about

and I also saw an article where the former FLOTUS had already started moving stuff "a couple months before" they left in January. And few have brought up whether any stuff may be at other residences.

There was a rotating set of people in the West Wing like Flynn and Manafort who might have wanted some of this info, and you also had people like Bolton who probably knows some of the shenanigans that went on with document handling. What would be instructive is the date/times of when items were initially accessed and "checked out" of their storage locations (and whether they had been held for awhile or were only "checked out" just before move-out).

So this may be the tip of the iceberg.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

107. This is so mind-blowing! Looking more and more like

they definitely were holding on to something. Whether or not they had a vision for future use or they had some buyers waiting in the wings.

It would be just a mathematically close to zero probability that these wayward hidden boxes contained the most highly classified documents there are AND it was an innocent mistake.

You are SO right! Tip of the iceberg.

[BumRushDaShow]

108. Remember the family and their associates were never "politicians" or public servants

but were and still are "business people", and furthering their businesses was, and will always be, their primary focus.

I clearly remember this and will leave this here -

Officials rejected Jared Kushner for top secret security clearance, but were overruled

Jared Kushner was rejected for a top-secret clearance by two career security specialists, but their supervisor overruled them and approved him, sources say.

Jan. 24, 2019, 8:14 PM EST / Updated Jan. 24, 2019, 10:17 PM EST
By Laura Strickler, Ken Dilanian and Peter Alexander

WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner's application for a top-secret clearance was rejected by two career White House security specialists after an FBI background check raised concerns about potential foreign influence on him — but their supervisor overruled the recommendation and approved the clearance, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The official, Carl Kline, is a former Pentagon employee who was installed as director of the personnel security office in the Executive Office of the President in May 2017.

Kushner's was one of at least 30 cases in which Kline overruled career security experts and approved a top-secret clearance for incoming Trump officials despite unfavorable information, the two sources said. They said the number of rejections that were overruled was unprecedented — it had happened only once in the three years preceding Kline's arrival. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said the Trump White House attracted many people with untraditional backgrounds who had complicated financial and personal histories, some of which raised red flags.

Kushner's FBI background check identified questions about his family's business, his foreign contacts, his foreign travel and meetings he had during the campaign, the sources said, declining to be more specific. The White House office only determines eligibility for secret and top-secret clearances. As a very senior official, Kushner was seeking an even higher designation that would grant him access to what is known as "sensitive compartmented information," or SCI. That material makes up the government's most sensitive secrets, including transcripts of intercepted foreign communications, CIA source reporting and other intelligence seemingly important for Kushner, whose job portfolio covers the Mideast and Mexico.

The CIA is the agency that decides whether to grant SCI clearance to senior White House officials after conducting a further background check. After Kline overruled the White House security specialists and recommended Kushner for a top-secret clearance, Kushner's file then went to the CIA for a ruling on SCI. After reviewing the file, CIA officers who make clearance decisions balked, two of the people familiar with the matter said. One called over to the White House security division, wondering how Kushner got even a top-secret clearance, the sources said. Top-secret information is defined as material that would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security if disclosed to adversaries.

(snip)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/officials-rejected-jared-kushner-top-secret-security-clearance-were-overruled-n962221

[Jon King]

71. Trump who? Desantis was always our guy!!

Donald will find out how quickly they throw him overboard. The Repug bet is that even Trump fanatics will vote for Desantis over a Dem.

[PatrickforB]

73. Geez. I wouldn't be surprised if the dirtbag stole the White House silver as well.

I wonder who he showed them to, don't you?

[PurgedVoter]

76. Remember Valarie Plame

The "Good" Republicans were happy to destroy our network of agents working to stop Armageddon so they could hit back at a person who was being honest. Think for a moment, what the "Bad" Republicans are capable of.

Never forget, with Republicans, you have three flavors, traitor light, traitor, and maga traitor.

[Snackshack]

78. Nuclear Documents oh FFS

I wonder what he planned to do with Nuclear ☢️ Documents.

[LudwigPastorius]

82. Trump was cut off from intelligence briefings by the CIA after January 6th.

President Biden followed that up by banning him from the intelligence that former presidents usually receive.

Trump was probably planning to cash in on those after his time in office, but couldn't.
So, he did the next best thing, he walked away with highly classified documents that could be monetized.

I'd like to think that the DOJ and intelligence agencies strongly suspected this was going to happen, and that they placed an officer close to Trump (under cover, perhaps, as Secret Service).

I'm beginning to believe Garland wouldn't serve a search warrant on a former president unless he had him on more than unauthorized possession of classified documents. I think Trump already sold, or tried to sell, national secrets to a foreign nation.

For the first time, I think Trump is going down for espionage.

[lees1975]

83. So here's my concern. How much do the Russians have and what disadvantage has that created for us?

It almost seems like Trump has been functioning as one of Putin's oligarchs. Trumpies are always threatening civil war, which would be to Putin's benefit. If he's got access to the nuclear arsenal, the implications of that are deadly serious.

[AngryOldDem]

86. Remember that meeting Trump and Putin had a few years back?

In secret, with no record or witnesses? Just one of many alarm bells.

Putin doesn’t need the codes to do great harm if he has this information. If this is true, Trump MUST be held accountable.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

91. Why do you think Jared got $2 billion?

[SWBTATTReg]

100. I thought earlier today this exact thought that you verbalized so well here. Supposedly

for Jared to invest for his Arab friends but who really knows? I thought Jared (and his wife) were distancing themselves from tRUMP too. A 'long game' going on here, by the tRUMPs? Sell terrorists secrets that they would be willing to pay untold $billions of dollars for (especially those that still have it in for Israel).

[orangecrush]

92. My brain is exploding.

How could Trump ever happen to this country?

A fucking mole for a president.

Holy fucking shit.

[Brainfodder]

95. The endless they are picking on me scams are starting to look like Easter Bunny at 21 level stupid?

Someone needs a death row cell definitely?

Instead is actually free to bloviate his latest believe me scam and still asks for $ for himself, like all billionaires do?



The Mango Marshmallow finally getting what he deserves as his BS falls apart, so yummy!