Weeks before Mar-a-Lago search, ex-DOD official vowed to publish classified documents

[William769]

Source: ABC News

In June of this year, seven weeks before the FBI raided former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in search of classified materials, former Defense Department appointee and outspoken Trump loyalist Kash Patel vowed to retrieve classified documents from the National Archives and publish them on his website.

Trump had just issued a letter instructing the National Archives to grant Patel and conservative journalist John Solomon access to nonpublic administration records, according to reporting at the time.

Patel, who under Trump had been the chief of staff for the acting defense secretary, claimed in a string of interviews that Trump had declassified a trove of "Russiagate documents" in the final days of his administration. But Patel claimed Trump's White House counsel had blocked the release of those documents, and instead had them delivered to the National Archives.

MORE: Despite Trump's claims, experts say there's no 'magic wand' for a president to declassify documents
"I've never told anyone this because it just happened," Patel said in an interview on a pro-Trump podcast on June 22. "I'm going to identify every single document that they blocked from being declassified at the National Archives, and we're going to start putting that information out next week."

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/weeks-before-mar-a-lago-search-ex-dod-official-vowed-to-publish-classified-documents/ar-AA10MmLh?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=32493a54680a4d1b9c1e57c44ab799e9

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When will this madness stop?

[keithbvadu2]

1. If the documents were "blocked from being declassified", they were not declassified.

If the documents were "blocked from being declassified", they were not declassified.

[intrepidity]

2. When will this madness stop?

When they face overwhelming consequences. Until then...

[William769]

3. That's what I'm waiting for.

[COL Mustard]

5. LOCK HIM UP!!!

And him, and him, and that guy over there too. Lock them all up!

[rockfordfile]

20. I agree

[onetexan]

7. THIS

[enough]

10. That's not madness, that's a conspiracy.

[Lonestarblue]

4. What are the penalties for publishing top secret documents that jeopardize national security?

This guy thinks he’s Rambo and can do anything he wants.

[SergeStorms]

17. Well....

he did have a letter from the twice impeached, traitorous, past president saying it was OK. If that's not enough to walk away with classified documents from the National Archives, I don't know what is.

[Grins]

24. Doesn't mean they accepted it!

Wouldn’t NSA/CIA/Other have a say in giving him access to anything other than his golf schedule?

[SergeStorms]

27. I used the sarcasm emoji.

Meaning Trump's letter was suitable for flushing.

[bringthePaine]

6. time for Patel to be locked up

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. Absolutely

[Maraya1969]

8. I don't understand any of this.

When Patel said this he was lying because the documents were already at Maralardo?

""White House counsel and company disobeyed a presidential order and implemented federal governmental bureaucracy on the way out to basically send the stash to the National Archives, and now that's where it's at," Patel said in a subsequent interview on June 23 on a different pro-Trump internet show."


Or why? What are they looking to accomplish by publishing documents that probably won't even be read?


I do not understand what could be the motivation behind this.

[bluestarone]

9. My only guess is mass CONFUSION

They love confusion. The more the merrier! THEY love it!

[Jarqui]

12. This seems like a damning blog for Patel

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/15/2115705/-Kash-Patel-Admits-Top-Secret-Classified-Docs-Trump-Stole-Were-NEVER-Declassified

But the combination of that blog and the article at the top of the thread: who can fault the FBI for getting a warrant to stop this craziness - declaring intent to publish classified stuff that they hoarded - wouldn't return.

Combine that with the fact that they found 45 boxes or collections of documents that did not belong to Trump - 11 bunches of it already marked classified.

And recall, that of the 113 classified emails found on Hillary's server, only three were poorly marked as classified. 110 or 98% of them got classified AFTER they were sent or received. In other words, it is highly likely that in those 45 boxes/collection of documents at Mar-a-lago, they undoubtedly had classified documents that had not been labeled yet (probably that Trump wouldn't allow to be classified).

For me, this is game over - if it wasn't already.
The FBI were absolutely justified to do what they did and get a search warrant.
They were taunted into doing so by this clown.
And the search warrant proved Trump had the documents he denied having.

[Six117]

13. Enemies of the United States

Every
Single
One
Of
Them

[Rebl2]

14. How would

tfg even have the ability to tell the national archives to release any documents. He’s not the President. I don’t care if he supposedly declassified them before he left office. As for Patel, expect a knock on your door.

[EndlessWire]

26. I agree. n/t

[sprinkleeninow]

15. Gibberish, gobbledygook nonsense.

[Ruby the Liberal]

16. That might explain DOJ's timing

if they thought there was a chance that could have worked.

These idiots can't be locked up fast enough.

[LeftInTX]

19. Yes...agree!

[Deminpenn]

23. Yep

Crossed my mind, too.

[SheltieLover]

18. It will stop when tfg & all coconspirators are locked up & under gag orders.

[William769]

21. Can we start with the gags?

[SheltieLover]

22. Of course!

[EndlessWire]

25. Another guy falling on his sword for Trump.

It's just another attempt to get Trump out from under an indictment. Trying to imply that the docs were either sent back before, or that there was an attempt to declassify them.

Didn't he say that this happened between batches of documents that were retrieved, when was it, June? It's like he is saying that the papers were supposed to be declassified, but it was refused by the National Archives, thereby deflecting blame onto the National Archive personnel. This is despicable by Kash Patel.

It also supports the floated excuse that the FBI planted the docs, because he is saying they were sent to the National Archives by trump's attorney. Well, what was Trump doing with classified docs at that time, anyway? His Counsel had clearance to view those docs?

And, what in the world did Patel think he was doing by admitting that he knows the documents? I sure as shit would be planning a "raid" on Patel. Just keep talking, fellas, you can occupy adjoining cells.

And, who the hell is John Solomon? Another lead to follow up.

IMO, Patel has to be considered as a potential person of interest for possibly having helped Trump steal docs.