In his briefing yesterday, Merrick Garland didn’t say much of substance about the raid on Mar-a-Lago. His utterances on the subject didn’t even make the front page of the Washington Post. However, Garland’s underlings at the Department of Justice are
Trump is a distraction. The Democrats’ Emmanuel Goldstein. Do you think they’re gonna pay $80,000,000,000 to the IRS to “get Trump”? No. They are coming for you and me. He’s just standing in their way. In the interest of self-preservation you might start with that in mind. Unless you’re just hoping the alligator eats you last. First, they came for Alex Jones. Then they came for General Mike Flynn. Then they came for Trump. Who is next?
We don't know all the facts, but the DOJ raid on Mar-a-Lago is impossible to justify.
The Trump reps claim they cooperated with the proper authorities to identify and return or secure t presidential, rather than personal, papers, and had agreed to cooperate on an ongoing basis. So far, there has been no leaker claim to the contrary. So why the multi-hour, air, sea and land raid by oodles of agents instead of issuing a subpoena or just accepting the Trump invitation to identify presidential papers?
There are breathless claims of very top secret materials, and in particular nuclear secrets, that had to be secured. The conduct of DOJ doesn't support this claim. The DOJ didn't execute the search warrant until three days after it was issued, which suggests a lack of urgency. More to the point, the federal magistrate judge who issued the warrant said it could be executed at any time within two weeks after issuance. We haven't seen the DOJ affidavit, but it would seems the judge didn't see anything that required an immediate, gun-toting, break down the doors search.
If there was truly very top secrets in Mar-a-Lago, it was handled in the worse way imaginable. Under federal law, regulations or practice, this stuff could only be reviewed or handled in a secure room by people with the highest security clearance. Here, it appears that stuff was grabbed willy nilly by agents, many of whom probably didn't have the required clearance and almost certainly didn't handle the stuff in the prescribed manner. If there really was sensitive stuff on site, it would have been much better to handle it in cooperation with Trump's staff. The lack of spiriting it away is minimal, for what possible incentive would Trump have to use or misuse nuclear secrets?
And then there's the federal magistrate judge who issued the warrant. Trump reps and commentators have pointed to the fact he appears to be a partisan Democrat, but that's the least of his problems. A magistrate judge is not nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate. He's an agent of the court. It appears the magistrate in this case issued a sweeping warrant to search the residence of a former president without consulting with a federal district judge. Just another day at the beach. Unbelievable!
As I said, we await facts, but not with baited breath. It's hard to see what facts would justify this action by a DOJ with a proven and recent record of political bias.
Thoughtful, sober analysis. On the surface the raid seems an outrage, and it could well be…one of a growing list. Trump’s ego and narcissism are always in the mix, but his political enemies are SO much worse in every way. Maybe this is just another example. We shall see. Sad.
Trump is a distraction. The Democrats’ Emmanuel Goldstein. Do you think they’re gonna pay $80,000,000,000 to the IRS to “get Trump”? No. They are coming for you and me. He’s just standing in their way. In the interest of self-preservation you might start with that in mind. Unless you’re just hoping the alligator eats you last. First, they came for Alex Jones. Then they came for General Mike Flynn. Then they came for Trump. Who is next?
We don't know all the facts, but the DOJ raid on Mar-a-Lago is impossible to justify.
The Trump reps claim they cooperated with the proper authorities to identify and return or secure t presidential, rather than personal, papers, and had agreed to cooperate on an ongoing basis. So far, there has been no leaker claim to the contrary. So why the multi-hour, air, sea and land raid by oodles of agents instead of issuing a subpoena or just accepting the Trump invitation to identify presidential papers?
There are breathless claims of very top secret materials, and in particular nuclear secrets, that had to be secured. The conduct of DOJ doesn't support this claim. The DOJ didn't execute the search warrant until three days after it was issued, which suggests a lack of urgency. More to the point, the federal magistrate judge who issued the warrant said it could be executed at any time within two weeks after issuance. We haven't seen the DOJ affidavit, but it would seems the judge didn't see anything that required an immediate, gun-toting, break down the doors search.
If there was truly very top secrets in Mar-a-Lago, it was handled in the worse way imaginable. Under federal law, regulations or practice, this stuff could only be reviewed or handled in a secure room by people with the highest security clearance. Here, it appears that stuff was grabbed willy nilly by agents, many of whom probably didn't have the required clearance and almost certainly didn't handle the stuff in the prescribed manner. If there really was sensitive stuff on site, it would have been much better to handle it in cooperation with Trump's staff. The lack of spiriting it away is minimal, for what possible incentive would Trump have to use or misuse nuclear secrets?
And then there's the federal magistrate judge who issued the warrant. Trump reps and commentators have pointed to the fact he appears to be a partisan Democrat, but that's the least of his problems. A magistrate judge is not nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate. He's an agent of the court. It appears the magistrate in this case issued a sweeping warrant to search the residence of a former president without consulting with a federal district judge. Just another day at the beach. Unbelievable!
As I said, we await facts, but not with baited breath. It's hard to see what facts would justify this action by a DOJ with a proven and recent record of political bias.
Jim Dueholm
Thoughtful, sober analysis. On the surface the raid seems an outrage, and it could well be…one of a growing list. Trump’s ego and narcissism are always in the mix, but his political enemies are SO much worse in every way. Maybe this is just another example. We shall see. Sad.