Bradley Moss - Great summary of the DOJ filing last night!

[Roland99]

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1564825192865611777.html

I have read the entire Government filing. I spend all day, every day, litigating against the Government, so some of this is familiar stuff to see. This particular brief is very well-done.

Here are the highlights:

1) The facts. NARA negotiated in 2021 for the missing records. They finally got 15 boxes. After going through them and finding all kinds of classified records (not organized at all), they raised the alarm. They wanted to make a referral to the FBI but had to first consult with Trump's team, per the PRA procedure. Trump's team delayed for weeks and weeks, and never substantively responded. Finally, NARA told Trump's team they were making the referral and rejected the "protective" assertion of Executive Privilege.

2) At no time did Trump's legal team file an action *at that point* to prevent the referral to FBI.

3) The FBI reviewed the records and the criminal inquiry was opened. A grand jury subpoena was issued to Trump's team. Again, they delayed and delayed in complying. Finally, in early June they agreed to a meeting at MAL to comply. They turned over more classified records, and swore out a statement that they had done a diligent search, they had not found any more classified records, and any records that remained were in the storage room. They refused to let the FBI agents look at the boxes in the storage room.

4) The FBI gathered new evidence that there were in fact more classified records at MAL, including in locations outside of the storage room. They got the search warrant and found approximately 100 additional classified records, some located in Trump's own office.

5) That is straight up obstruction and concealment of classified records, and willfully retaining them in an unauthorized location.

6) Now come the legal arguments. First, DOJ says Trump lacks standing. The records are not his: they are the property of the US. Even if he wanted to claim them as personal records, he never did so. He did not do so in 2021, he did not do so when subpoenaed, he never did it. He has no possessory interest in the records.

7) Second, they argue Trump is not entitled to any injunctive relief. Again, these are not his records, he waited way too long to even try to stop the FBI from getting the records, he's not entitled to relief given Executive Privilege would not apply, and even if it did the criminal investigative need outweighs it.

8) Third, the Special Master is moot. The A/C privilege records
were already separated and are set to be evaluated by the magistrate. The records Trump claims are covered by EP are not his anyway, and the Nixon precedents make clear he cannot invoke it to override the need to conduct a criminal investigation.

9) To sum it up, Trump took
PLAINLY MARKED classified records to MAL, he delayed, obstructed and resisted Government efforts to recover them, he (or his staff) concealed the records from investigators, and they got caught doing so.

/end

Soooooo. For ONE thing, TFG and his legal team KNEW about the FBI investigation referral in 2021! *2021*

They KNEW this wasn’t about being political as a midterm election neared. This was over a year ago!

[yellowcanine]

1. Trump gets his tiny nuts handed back to him.

[Cha]

68. 😎✔

[empedocles]

2. Very good.

[Lovie777]

3. shithole and his comrades had ample amount of time to respond......

taking top secret documents is a clear violation of the security of The United States of America. Selling them and or given them to other persons/countries that are not part of the security of the USA is a grievous compromise to the well being of the USA.

shithole and his comrades have proven that they are a enemy of the state.

[sop]

4. These are the actions of a scofflaw who has never been held accountable for anything.

Trump has (successfully, so far) given the middle finger to our legal system so many times, he's come to believe he's untouchable.

[musclecar6]

5. Yep

Completely accurate. He keeps throwing shit out there while he's coming lying and cheating and he thinks he'll be able to bullshit his way out of anything that comes up. And you're correct he has gotten away with it up till now and maybe will continue to and maybe not.


With all the criminal charges breathing down his neck he's and he's able to duck all of these and then get nominated and reelected he will have pulled off the biggest score of his miserable life. Let's hope he falls flat on his face which he probably will.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

25. He did have to pay 20M for the Trump U scam ... and I'd imagine he's lost some other civil cases

he's had to pay for over the years.

But yeah, basically ... he's skated with fines his whole life.

[Justice matters.]

48. Mango managed to pay with other people's money (loans, money-laundering, grifts, stiffs, u-name-it)

The IRS files proved he lost a BILLION in 10 years.

His KKK daddy gave him $404 Million. He squandered it all long ago.

[Cha]

69. It Must Be So Ketchupie Frustrating

for him.

[SheltieLover]

6. Ty!

[OneGrassRoot]

7. K&R and thank you! n/t

[OneGrassRoot]

8. Do we (the DU collective) think DOJ knows what Trump DID with the documents?

I know the word "transmission" was used in docs released around the search warrant. I realize having the docs is a crime but knowing what has been done with them as far as who has laid eyes on them seems to be the slam dunk.

[stopdiggin]

9. No, we don't know. (the DOJ might ..

(conceivably other branches of intel/law enforcement might as well). But the short answer is, no, we do not know - and those people aren't providing 'hints.' And it's somewhat unfortunate there's been a free for all of speculation and free association conjecture around the subject.
----- -----

[OneGrassRoot]

13. Understood Thank you. n/t

[Irish_Dem]

32. Speculation about Trump's crimes is not unfortunate. It is the prudent, moral, practical reaction

to a POTUS who was on an obvious crime spree.

Not to ask some questions is totally irresponsible.

[EndlessWire]

59. I agree. n/t

[stopdiggin]

63. you're right, let me substitute fruitless,

83% half cocked (or half crocked, whichever suits), and largely a waste of time - in place of 'speculation.' Fixed it.

[Irish_Dem]

66. Thank you!

Speculation based on hard facts, data and history is a good thing to do sometimes.

If we don't face reality, we cannot fix anything.

[Irish_Dem]

34. One Grass, if the US government is totally clueless about what Trump did with the docs, we are sunk.

The vast wealth we hand the military and national security agencies is a waste of money.

Trump was not sane or smart enough to hide his tracks that well.

[EndlessWire]

60. If it's true that he carted classified docs

overseas, we sure don't know what he did. SS might know.

I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that he showed them off to his millionaire buddies at MAL.

I'd be willing to wait for Garland to uncover this info. He's gonna need someone to step up and tell the story perhaps...hard to say he can get a piece of direct evidence.

I wonder if he had classified docs on the table when Xi visited MAL. There is a pic of him sitting around eating with gov docs on the table.

[Irish_Dem]

62. He probably couldn't help himself, he had to show off as much as possible.

Waving classified documents around.

He is addicted to attention, fame, adoration, power.

He also loves money.

It was just too tempting for him.

One of his former employees was on TV the other day, saying by the long list of witnesses the DOJ referred to in search warrant paperwork, and knowing Trump, she says he was most likely showing off the docs to a lot of people.

[WestMichRad]

38. WE don't know, but...

… I’m willing to bet the FBI was monitoring closely and knows if and to whom he was sharing or selling the information. We’ll find out something about it eventually, but DOJ has tried very hard to keep some information in the affidavit secret, and I’m sure that includes their sources and investigations in progress.

The FBI knew a long time ago he had classified and National security related information. They were watching, somehow.

The orange skidmark is truly screwed, by his own making. Hoisted on his own peturd.

[2naSalit]

10. Therefore...

TFB if this is on the front pages this close to an election.

[phylny]

11. On a totally unrelated note,

every time I see “MAL” I smile inside because it’s the Spanish word for “bad.”

[wnylib]

26. Same here. It's also a prefix for a lot of words

such as malfeasance, maladjusted, malignant, malign, maladapted, malapropism, malapropos, malpractice, maladroit, malafide, malefactor, malevolent, malfunction, malicious, maltreat.

It's as if "mal" were created specifically for DJT. He can brag about it. "No one has as many words to describe themselves as I do."

[phylny]

40. I love this!

[CentralMass]

46. Malefactor as well as in the Mango Malefactor.

[Joinfortmill]

12. There's more coming, I suspect.

Why did he take the docs? Who helped him? What did he do with them.

[Lonestarblue]

19. That's the question I want answered.

These records weren’t souvenirs, they were some of the most secret documents the intelligence community had. I would also question how he got these documents in the first place, because why would Trump’s intelligence briefings contain the raw intelligence behind such sensitive information that he most likely did not need for making any decisions? And because they have known he was a national security risk since his inauguration.

I have been wondering whether one of his stooges stole them. If so, I would think the intelligence agencies could prove that they did not provide these documents to Trump.

[Irish_Dem]

37. I think some docs were souvenirs or trophies, but most served a bigger purpose.

Sale to highest bidder, leverage, blackmail, extortion, etc.

The sexual material was a turn on for him.

Yes exactly how Trump obtained access and possession of these documents is an excellent question.

Yes of course, Trump did not pull this off without help.

He had crooks do the actual theft, then middlemen who handled the pricing and transfer of documents.

[KPN]

21. As well as where are the rest of them. Knowing he routinely took boxes

of docs purportedly to “work on” when he traveled from the WH, and knowing what we now know he had hidden away at MAL, it would be irresponsibly naive to assume there are not others and search his properties elsewhere.

[JudyM]

52. I've been wondering that. Ideally an index of highly sensitive documents exists that the FBI could

check against those that they’ve recovered. There ought to be a record of in whose hands each document resides, like a library book.

[crickets]

56. Who helped him?

I think the FBI has a good idea what he did with some of them (and likely can prove it) but how he managed to lift this many SCI documents from secure storage and managed to leave town with all of them is still a big question.

How he knew which documents to take, especially in such great number, is another.

He had help. Lots of help.

Who helped him?

[Tanuki]

14. Thanks for this! Kicking for exposure.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. My favorite, on page 15, citing CREW v Trump

Plaintiff has no property interest in any Presidential records (including classified records) seized from the Premises. The Presidential Records Act provides—under a heading entitled “Ownership of Presidential records”—that “[t]he United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential records.” 44 U.S.C. § 2202;see Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Wash. v. Trump, 924 F.3d 602, 603 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (the PRA “establishes the public ownership of records created by . . . presidents and their staffs in the course of discharging their official duties” (brackets and internal quotations omitted)). And Presidential Records include any “documentary materials” that were “created or received by the President, the President’s immediate staff, or a unit or individual of the Executive Office of the President whose function is to advise or assist the President” while “conducting activities which relate to or have an effect upon the carrying out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President.” 44 U.S.C. § 2201(2).

[JudyM]

53. CREW absolutely rocks.

Here’s more of what they’re doing and a link to donate!
https://www.citizensforethics.org/

[Hermit-The-Prog]

54. And CREW's table of Traitortrump's many crimes...

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-reports/president-trump-staggering-record-of-uncharged-criminal-misconduct/

Donald Trump has been credibly accused of committing at least 48 criminal offenses while he was serving as President of the United States or campaigning for that office. Those offenses are listed in the table below, which includes possible offenses that were investigated by the Department of Justice while President Trump was in office as well as possible offenses that have not been the subject of any confirmed reported investigation. While he was in office, President Trump was protected by the DOJ’s policy of not indicting a sitting president, but that policy of course does not apply to a former president. The table does not include potential crimes being investigated by authorities in New York relating to the Trump Organization

[niyad]

16. Thank you.

[kacekwl]

17. Sounds good, now

lock him and his whole group up today. Send them to Gitmo and let interrogators sort them out.

[Stuart G]

18. Donald Trump is totally screwed beyond belief...

[Justice matters.]

50. Yet, he's STILL free to incite violence against government institutions, the FBI...

And the Democratic lawmakers and executives!

And this, after he launched an ARMED attack on the Capitol!!

Free to feed violent BS hundreds times a day publicly on his "illegaly Named" app!!

[Squaredeal]

20. I wonder if they found the linguist's notes of Trump's private meeting with Putin.

He demanded them so that there would be no official record of what was discussed in our national interest.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

22. If it was me,

I'd subpoena the linguist and have them testify to what happened. In a closed meeting to start with.............

[msfiddlestix]

23. Well done!

[mnhtnbb]

24. LOCK HIM UP, dammit!

I am sick of tip toeing around this a$$hole. Throw the book at him and lock him up while he awaits trial.

[Goodheart]

27. So, why hasn't he been arrested?

[AllaN01Bear]

28. what is nara? thanks

[Roland99]

29. National Archives

[AllaN01Bear]

30. thanks .

[Wounded Bear]

33. National Archives...

I believe it is National Archives and Records Administration or some such.

[FakeNoose]

31. K & R This is perfect for non-lawyers like myself

Thanks for posting

[Ray Bruns]

35. Trump and the lawyers who signed off on turning

Those documents over should be immediately arrested.

[Ray Bruns]

36. Trump and the lawyers who signed off on turning

Those documents over should be immediately arrested.

[Goodheart]

39. Anybody have a link to the actual filing?

I'd like to read it for myself.

[Roland99]

45. I think this is it....

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763.48.0_1.pdf

[Goodheart]

47. Thanks!

[cbdo2007]

41. I would argue Trump caused the delay, making it political....

He knew if he put them off as close to the 2022 election as possible that it would give him more excuse to say it was all set up and is just for political gain, and can therefore claim the election was not fair again. That is always his MO - it wasn't fair.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

44. And that's what all the GOPers said I saw on news last night

It's kind of like their go-to excuse if we are anywhere near an election which we typically are.
It's the go-to excuse when there is no other excuse.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

42. Thank you! +1

[Alien Life Form]

43. What if he sold them to foreign adversaries?

His base of MAGGATS would not care..that is the disgusting part

[Jarqui]

49. I described that DoJ response to a Republican friend as 'bullshit remover'

At the outset of this Special Master case, I agreed with those who thought this effort by Trump was a mistake for this reason:
The DoJ, who are normally silent, got to lay out a bunch of what occurred backed by evidence in a venue when Trump cannot lie without perjury. DoJ even blew up his passport complaint.

We'll see this evening what Trump narrative can salvage. I doubt very much.

As the 60 election fraud cases showed, court cases are great at ending Trump's bullshit. It's all about evidence and facts. One can lie their head off to the media and get away with it (these days) but they can't make evidence and facts up in court.

All Trump is proving here, once again, is that he's a dishonest fool.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

51. Interesting too

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=2xEYHOVwBeFog4Puq34cpg

[Roland99]

55. Let's see, passports, some tape, post-it note pad, ah, yes, here they are. TS/SCI documents

[Laura PourMeADrink]

57. Frankly I'm surprised recordkeepers aren't in trouble

If TFG has been taking secret documents to MAL and who knows where all through his reign of terror, doesn't sound like the record keepers did a very good job. Just saying

[Martin68]

58. Thanks for the excellent summary.

[BumRushDaShow]

61. Glad someone described this

because I have had to battle the "why did it take DOJ so long (fill in the blank number of months - 18, 19, 20) to "act".

As I have written - regular civilian/regulatory agencies don't have the power to "prosecute" so they use DOJ to do that. However BEFORE they do that, they have their own "internal" procedures, that progressively escalate, to have someone or some firm "comply" with a request.

They will usually send a written request on agency letterhead asking for "A, B, C" and will add that the reply be returned by "x" date. If they don't hear back, they will repeat the request, referencing the previous written request and the date that was sent... And there is usually wiggle room given to extend the date, because sometimes the people who have the knowledge about the requested info, may be out of the country or otherwise not available due to some unusual circumstances but they will try to get hold of them and/or find someone who can act on their behalf... So there is some negotiation. And it escalates from there until they get to the point where they may go to DOJ to subpoena the info.

And even then, if not everything that was received was responsive, it eventually escalates into something like we saw here - a search/seizure, IF there is a reasonable belief that there is criminal activity that might have occurred or is going on.

[JoeOtterbein]

64. K n R ! Thanks for posting! nt

[scipan]

65. Another interesting tidbit in a footnote: detailed list ok to unseal.

1 Plaintiff also sought a more detailed receipt for the property seized during the August 8,
2022 execution of the search warrant. D.E. 1 at 19-21; see generally D.E. 28. The Court ordered
the government to file under seal “[a] more detailed Receipt for Property specifying all
property seized pursuant to the search warrant.” D.E. 29 at 2. The government filed today
under seal, in accordance with the Court’s order, the more detailed receipt. Although the
receipt of property already provided to Plaintiff at the time of the search, see In Re Sealed Search
Warrant, No. 22-MJ-8332 (S.D. Fla.) (hereinafter, “MJ Docket”), D.E. 17 at 5-7, is sufficient
under Fed. R. Crim. P. 41, the government is prepared, given the extraordinary
circumstances, to unseal the more detailed receipt and provide it immediately to Plaintiff.

[calimary]

67. Kicking.

So I can find this later.

[Hekate]

70. K R Bookmark

[Faux pas]

71. ...