Trump Charged With 37 counts of Espionage, Obstruction and related crimes

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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

Logic once again exposed to severe enhanced interrogation techniques.

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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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Trump's attorneys have objected both of the DoJ's proposed special master choices, bizarrely saying that don't want to say why. The DoJ, on the other hand, indicate that they are fine with either of their choices, Hon. Barbara Jones (Ret.), who was the special master in both the Michael Cohen and Giuliani situations, and Hon. Thomas Griffith (Ret.), a Republican appointee, or one of Trump's choices, Judge Raymond J. Dearie (who contrary to what Trump's attorneys stated is not retired but is on "senior" active status), who was actually the FISA judge who signed off on the Carter Page FISA warrants (so it is pretty strange that Trump's team suggested him). They did not agree to the Trump teams other suggestion, Paul Huck Jr., former counsel to the Governor of Florida, saying that he did not have sufficient experience. Presumably that means that Judge Cannon will not Judge Drearie since both sides accept him, and the DOJ further indicated that he was available, had the requisite staff, and could perform the job in their proposed accelerated timeline. I can't believe that even Judge Cannon would turn around and name Huck.

Now we wait to see how she responds to the motion for the stay of her order with regard to the classified materials (which Trump's team didn't claim was ever de-classified by Trump but still claim it is not settled whether the material is actually classified), as well as how she will structure the Special Master order. The DoJ has given her till Thursday to respond to their motion before going to the appellate court for relief. Based on the fact that she ordered Trump's team to respond by this morning at 10:00 a.m., it seems like she is taking that deadline seriously.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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The DoJ released a slightly less redacted version of the search warrant affidavit, reflecting information about the Grand Jury subpoena for surveillance tapes at Mar-a-Lago that Trump's team revealed.

https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content ... ctions.pdf

Meanwhile, the DoJ also filed a reply brief in response to the opposition that Trump's team filed to their motion for a stay of Judge Cannon's order with regard to the classified information. They absolutely eviscerated the Trump team.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

Dr. Wheeler keeps pulling out the same little details that stand out for me. Here's one.

YES, TRUMP WAS TAKING NOTES ON CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

Post by N.E. Brigand »

Trump apparently said in an interview today that he declassified all the material he took with him upon leaving office. That's not a claim his team has yet made in court filings (although they've hinted at it), and it's not actually a defense against the alleged crimes that were used to obtain the search warrant he's retroactively fighting, but on top of that, if he ever does make that argument in a legal setting, I imagine the Dept. of Justice will turn to President Biden, who will say that he reclassified everything immediately upon taking office.

In the same interview, Trump seems to be telling his supporters that they should riot if he is charged.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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The fact remains, classified or no, the materials do not belong to Trump. They are stolen government property. Period.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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Judge Cannon denied the motion for a partial stay and appointed Judge Dearie as the Special Master. She did order that Trump bear the entire cost and ordered a somewhat faster timeline then he ordered. I expect a motion to be filed with the 11th Circuit soon.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

Post by N.E. Brigand »

RoseMorninStar wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 6:31 pm The fact remains, classified or no, the materials do not belong to Trump. They are stolen government property. Period.
Judge Cannon's new order suggests that she's not sure about that. (Cross posted with V.)
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

Post by RoseMorninStar »

N.E. Brigand wrote: Fri Sep 16, 2022 12:24 am
RoseMorninStar wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 6:31 pm The fact remains, classified or no, the materials do not belong to Trump. They are stolen government property. Period.
Judge Cannon's new order suggests that she's not sure about that. (Cross posted with V.)
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

Post by N.E. Brigand »

As noted here, Cannon's order appointing Judge Raymond Dearie as the Special Master conflicts with her order denying the Department of Justice's motion for a partial stay, and it would require the government to provided access to the recovered classified documents to Donald Trump's lawyers, who do not have clearance to view them (and who themselves may be facing criminal liability in this case). Presumably this gets sorted out in the appeal.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

I was just going to post that. :)

The DoJ has already taken the procedural step of filing a Certificate of Interested Persons and Corporate Disclosure Statement filed by Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Jr. (the U.S. Attorney for Southern Florida).
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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The DoJ filed a motion for a partial stay with the 11th Circuit. Meanwhile, Judge Dearie has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday to discuss the next steps in his role as the special master. I'm not sure how those two things will intersect. The DoJ did not give the 11th Circuit any time frame within which it wanted a ruling.

ETA: So many good passages in this motion, but I think this is the best:
Plaintiff has never disputed that the government’s search recovered records bearing classification markings. See A115-A121. Instead, the district court cited portions of Plaintiff’s filings in which he suggested that he could have declassified those documents or purported to designate them as “personal” records under the PRA before leaving office. A7-A8. But despite multiple opportunities, Plaintiff has never represented that he in fact took either of those steps—much less supported such a representation with competent evidence. The court erred in granting extraordinary relief based on unsubstantiated possibilities.
My second favorite:
Disregarding a sworn declaration from a senior FBI official, the court dismissed such concerns as “hypothetical scenarios” and faulted the government for not identifying an “emergency” or “imminent disclosure of classified information.” A11. But the record makes clear that the materials were stored in an unsecure manner over a prolonged period, and the court’s injunction itself prevents the government from even beginning to take necessary steps to determine whether improper disclosures might have occurred or may still occur
One more:
The court’s order hamstrings that investigation and places the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) under a Damoclean threat of contempt should the court later disagree with how investigators disaggregated their previously integrated criminal-investigative and
national-security activities. It also irreparably harms the government by enjoining critical steps of an ongoing criminal investigation and needlessly compelling disclosure of highly sensitive records, including to Plaintiff’s counsel.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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One thing I learned over the last few years is how many ways there are for the media to say "lied" without using the word.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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The 11th Circuit has ordered Trump to file a response to the DoJ's motion by noon on Tuesday, 2 hours before the hearing with Judge Dearie.
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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Hope his lawyers are being paid for this...
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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One of the news stories that came out recently is that he paid a rather extraordinary $3 million retainer to his new attorney, Christopher M. Kise.
Trump paid his new lead attorney an 'unusually high' $3 million retainer after others rejected him
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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This brief, by the same group of former GOP officials that submitted an amicus brief to Judge Cannon (who refused to accept it) is even more devastating than the brief filed by the DoJ. They pull no punches in describing just how unlawful Judge Cannon's orders have been.

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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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From that brief:
The district court repeated its error of privileging the former President when
it denied the Government’s motion for a stay. In a final section called “Relevant
Principles,” the court asserted that “the principles of equity require” it to consider
“the position formerly held by Plaintiff.” ECF No. 89 at 9–10. The court did not
explain what that statement meant, but whatever the court intended to imply, the
assertion is wrong.

“Principles of equity” require that citizens be treated equally under the law.
The district court’s analysis, which gave greater weight to the reputation of a
former President than to the reputation of any other citizen, and greater weight to
that personal reputation than to national security concerns, is fundamentally
inconsistent with the basic tenets of U.S. law. Under the court’s reasoning, its
analysis would be different if the plaintiff were not the former President but a
school teacher, police officer, or veteran who had taken classified information from
a U.S. government facility and stored it in their home.

There is no basis for that distinction, and no principled reason for applying a
different rule to former presidents and endowing them with rights greater than
afforded to other citizens. To do so would only undermine the “appearance of
fairness and integrity” that the court sought to protect in its order, ECF No. 89 at
10, and belie the fundamental principle that “[a]ll the officers of the government,
from the highest to the lowest, are creatures of the law and are bound to obey it.”
United States v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196, 220 (1882).
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Re: Trump Espionage and Obstruction Investigation

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Speaking of the $3 million lawyer Kise.
@SegelBrown wrote:A member of Trump's legal team (Kise) is or was employed to advise and represent the Attorney General of Venezuala (Reinaldo Predroza) whom the US regards as part of an illegitimate authoritarian regime. So, Kise should not be given access to top secret info.
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