Trump workers moved Mar-a-Lago boxes a day before Justice Dept. came for documents

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

Two of Donald Trump’s employees moved boxes of papers the day before FBI agents and a prosecutor visited the former president’s Florida home to retrieve classified documents in response to a subpoena — timing that investigators have come to view as suspicious and an indication of possible obstruction, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump and his aides also allegedly carried out a “dress rehearsal” for moving sensitive papers even before his office received the May 2022 subpoena, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive ongoing investigation.

Prosecutors in addition have gathered evidence indicating that Trump at times kept classified documents in his office in a place where they were visible and sometimes showed them to others, these people said.

Taken together, the new details of the classified-documents investigation suggest a greater breadth and specificity to the instances of possible obstruction found by the FBI and Justice Department than has been previously reported. It also broadens the timeline of possible obstruction episodes that investigators are examining — a period stretching from events at Mar-a-Lago before the subpoena to the period after the FBI raid there on Aug. 8.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/25/trump-classified-documents-mar-a-lago/

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No paywall (gift)

[Drum]

1. Damning

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. Criminal-in-Chief nt

[tinrobot]

3. If he showed them to others, it's way more serious than just obstruction

The next stop on this ride is espionage.

[gab13by13]

17. Obstruction of justice is 20 years

espionage is 10 years I believe. Now if he sold them or shared them it's treason in my book.

[MontanaMama]

21. Espionage is 10 years and Obstruction is 20?

Did I read that correctly?

[Botany]

25. If Trump was at the level of espionage that he very well might have been @ we need to remember ....

.... that we have had 3 Americans who were convicted at that level and we executed 2 of them the Rosenbergs,
and the other is FBI Agent Robert Hansen who is doing 15 life terms back to back to back @ the U.S. Super Max
in Florence, CO.

They were moving the boxes of classified information the day before the FBI search? Who tipped off Trump?

[onecaliberal]

43. I'd like to know who tipped him off as well. The timing of moving the boxes can't be a coincidence.

[moniss]

50. There is no doubt in my mind

that he was tipped by MAGA types working for the FBI/DOJ.

[Ray Bruns]

45. Why not both? 30 years.

[Ray Bruns]

46. Why not both? 30 years.

[Faux pas]

4. Who

here is gobsmacked

[Novara]

5. not gobsmacked, but really, really happy the DOJ has receipts

[Faux pas]

7. Agree 👍

I was being facetious

[ProfessorPlum]

6. Jesus christ, arrest this lawless outlaw immediately

what the fuck

[Mickju]

13. I agree!

He should be in custody now. Anyone else in a similar situation would be.

[PatSeg]

8. Whoa, doesn't sound good for Trump

Did he honestly believe that no one would talk? Or that ordinary people would commit perjury for him? He is delusional.......also very guilty.

[C_U_L8R]

9. There should be more search warrants

Every crevice of every property of every trump and ally ought to be scoured for stolen secrets

[SledDriver]

14. This. The fact that there hasn't been at this point is suspect.

[gab13by13]

18. Can't get search warrants without probable cause.

[C_U_L8R]

22. How much probable cause is required?

Cause it seems there are witnesses and physical evidence. Broken subpoenas. False assertions. Do we need to see Donald Trump with secret dossiers stuffed out of his pockets walking into the Saudi embassy?

[onecaliberal]

44. The fact this hasn't been done is mind boggling.

[nowforever]

10. Arrest him now!

Get the gallows ready...heavyweight coming in.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. A shell game

Find the marble under the walnut shells.

Let's make a deal - door #1, door #2, or door #3?

[maxsolomon]

12. He was the Prezdent. He'll get a fine at worst.

No matter how bad this looks. And it looks very bad.

[Tommy Carcetti]

19. He wasn't the President when he was knowingly moving around classified documents.

Documents that he almost certainly shouldn't have had in his personal possession in the first place.

[maxsolomon]

28. What I'm saying is that when * did this or that doesn't matter.

There's little real harm done by his hoarding/theft/imaginary declassification; no evidence (yet) that any of it went anywhere or that any intelligence was compromised. He took it because he's possessive, and he was hurt and angry. He is a small man with a small mind; his motives are banal.

But the DOJ does not want to put a former POTUS in jail. Even if it's richly deserved. Garland is far too Institutionalist; he'll do everything he can to avoid it.

New York, or Fulton County? TBD.

[Novara]

15. What he did in showing them to others is no different than...

... what Jack Teixeira did by posting shit on Reddit. And he's sitting in prison right now.

[LiberalFighter]

16. The evidence is growing against him.

I would love to see the rest of the family prosecuted too since they are accessories. IMO

[Vinca]

20. Dress rehearsals on hiding secret documents???? Wow - Trump must have gotten a good price for them.

[Seinan Sensei]

26. Jared got a good price for his stash of documents

[mcar]

23. Well, well, well

[JohnnyRingo]

24. Move over Edward Snowden.

Let a professional traitor show you how to spill secrets and brag about it.

[FirstLight]

27. UGH - Just arrest him already!

He needs to be incarcerated YESTERDAY!

[moonscape]

29. Shocking would be if he hadn't done this.

[quaint]

30. TY for the article.

[bahboo]

31. charge him, convict him, and execute him....

motherfucker....

[republianmushroom]

32. 28 months and counting

[Rhiannon12866]

33. Yet another smoking gun...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

34. How deep does this shit go?

[crickets]

36. Always keep digging. There's no low too low. nt

[AwakeAtLast]

35. Is it espionage yet?

[moniss]

37. How about a new chant

like "Dig Her Up!, Dig Her Up!, Dig Her Up!"?

[FakeNoose]

47. I like this, made me chuckle - even though it's slightly disrespectful

I never had anything against Ivana. The man she married turned out to be a world-class asshole, but how is that her fault? As I understand it, she married a couple-three guys after Chump and they all turned out to be assholes. But she never changed her name after the first asshole, I guess for the sake of her (pathetic) children.

[Captain Zero]

38. Ruh-Roh

somebody going to federal prison

[Blue Owl]

39. The workings of a fattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity

[msfiddlestix]

40. Anyone here surprised at any time? Who didn't intuitively know this would happen?

Who doesn't know removing evidence in advance of evidence gathering operation from any law enforcement agency is

standard MO when criminals are informed in advance?

Oh wait. never mind.

[RussBLib]

42. Welcome to DU!

Fortunately there is someone "on the inside" at Mara Lardo that is spilling some of the beans. Looks like Jack Smith is closing in on the Orange One. Even held a "dress rehearsal" to practice hiding boxes from the DOJ? Wow, that's really thumbing your nose at justice.

[Red Pest]

48. Interesting wording from Trump's spokesman Steven Cheung: "fake hoaxes"

To quote from the Washington Post:

Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman, wrote in a statement. “Just like all the other fake hoaxes thrown at President Trump, this corrupt effort will also fail.”

So, if they are fake hoaxes, that would indicate what the government is stating the truth.

[FakeNoose]

49. It proves they knew it was illegal - acknowledgment of guilt

BRDS - thank you for the gifted article!

They've got the goods on the Chump workers. Now the question is, will they shut up and go to jail like good little employees? Or will they turn on their boss and spill the beans? I have no doubt he's waving the signed NDAs in their faces, because that's his standard M.O.

[BumRushDaShow]

51. I think in this case

that is what DOJ has to determine - how many and exactly who participated in this and then decide what to charge them with. This would be a judgement call requiring they can show that these participants knowingly attempted to obstruct or were innocently caught up in the scheme as workers who "did as they were told" without any conception of doing so being "illegal". This is all ancillary to 45's involvement, but it adds to what type of testimony is needed and types of documentation that might have to be gathered, to make those determinations.

(and I keep forgetting that both the NYT and WaPo offer 10 "free" gift links per month but I try to find non-paywalled stuff to make it easier in any case )