The Mar-a-Lago espionage scandal is a three-alarm national security crisis. We should act like it.

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/04/trump-national-security-crisis/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/UeXO6

Republicans are treating the investigation of defeated former president Donald Trump’s purloining of classified government documents as another opportunity to play victim and attack law enforcement. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, a last-minute Trump nominee jammed through during the 2020 lame-duck session, seems to be contemplating a special master to review the documents one by one to see whether there is some basis for blocking them from prosecutors, even as the intelligence community feverishly conducts a national security review. (Trump is bizarrely asking the court to block the Justice Department from seeing what intelligence reviewers already are examining. One longs for the “unitary executive theory” to be applied consistently.)

Even former attorney general William P. Barr observes, “Well, I think the whole idea of a special master is a bit of a red herring ... at this stage, since they have already gone through the documents, I think it’s a waste of time.” He added, “I think the driver on this from the beginning was loads of classified information sitting in Mar-a-Lago. People say this was unprecedented, well it’s also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club.”

Alas, Barr’s party cares not one whit about national security, only the security of their cult leader and his war on American intelligence.

The extent of the national security crisis Trump thrust upon us has not yet been fully appreciated. The more detailed inventory released on Friday is jaw-dropping. As the Associated Press reports: “Though the inventory does not describe the content of the documents, it shows the extent to which classified information — including material at the top-secret level — was stashed in boxes at the home and mixed among newspapers, magazines, clothing and other personal items.” The volume of documents is even more troubling.

*snip*

[SheltieLover]

1. Lock. The. Slob. Up!

Solitary, with stricg gag order.

[onecaliberal]

2. William Barr allowed this to happen. Cipallone allowed this to happen. And the list goes on.

They were willing to let him grab them by the top secret documents.
This is DEFCON1, our enemies have everything.

[2naSalit]

5. Yup...

And it is wise to consider all secrets have already been exposed.

[moondust]

3. How long?

Did it start when he left the WH? When he entered the WH? Sometime in between?

[OMGWTF]

9. Traitor Tot has been selling us out for a while now --

https://news.yahoo.com/oval-office-incident-2019-perfectly-173357590.html

[NullTuples]

10. My guess is it started with his very first exposure to classified info in the briefings from Pres O.

Sure, he had to wait until January 21st to actually get hands-on possession but by then he probably had a shopping list provided for him, with Russian-English translation, instructions for transfer, and everything.

Seriously, at this point why should we NOT assume he was a Russian asset embedded into the very top of our federal government? Everything from 2015 or so back onwards points to him being one.

[onecaliberal]

15. I agree with you, it's why he wouldn't allow any read out of the meetings with enemies.

There is already reporting that people knew he was taking these documents to the residence and they were never given back.

[dchill]

16. Yep. He was doing direct delivery to Putin and MBS.

Can't have any records kept of THAT.

[onecaliberal]

17. All of the empty envelopes were hand delivered.

[dchill]

19. I assumed it was treason at the time. I'm just a guy...

...with a TV. I assumed that the IC community of savvy long-time professionals was ON THE CASE. I see no sign at the moment that this was the case.

[onecaliberal]

20. Same here but continually accused of jumping to conclusions.

This fucking clown does it all in public, it’s not rocket science.

[dchill]

21. It's not POLITICAL science either, but most of the politicians...

... don't see it that way. To the GOP, treason is a matter of opinion.

[CrispyQ]

22. May 10, 2017

[sop]

4. Republicans are desperate to find some plausible excuse for Trump's breach of national security.

The latest one I'm hearing is "the US government needlessly classifies far too many documents" and Trump took the stuff because "he just wanted more transparency." They're framing it as Trump vs. the Deep State. When that falls apart, they'll concoct another preposterous rationale.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. Did Putin get everything he wanted from his puppet or is the debt as yet unpaid?

[markodochartaigh]

7. Debt

A debt to an authoritarian Strong Leader is a debt on one's soul, it is never repaid.

[erronis]

8. trump will try to stiff putin; putin will stiff trump like he has other oligarchs

The trumpf family ought to be worried also. Even tho the FSB has some notable failures, they keep trying.

I'm not sure if the trumpfsters should fear most poisoning, defenstration, garrots, or just being cut off from their supply of rubles.

[Traildogbob]

11. Windows

Reserved for the entire trump family. May need a big ass picture window for the head of the snake. Pity the fools under that window on their knees for his attention. The thud heard round the world. The sound of justice.

[Justice matters.]

12. "the explosive sideshow that will come with it" ... give me a break!

There either won't be such a sideshow, or the fascist domestic terrorists who would break the Law will be brought to justice.

It's time to secure a nation of over 330 million people no matter the potential fascist fringe's attempts to subdue it.

No more corrupt cowards in the administration of the Justice Department. The home of the Brave or bust!

[Cha]

13. Yeah, Stupid Fuckhead Admitted it at his

latest FuckFest.

[triron]

14. Garland certainly doesn't seem to to?

[NullTuples]

24. I've been wondering about that & playing what if in my head.

As in,

"What if US Intelligence fed Trump only the most surface level, cartoon powerpoint version of highly sensitive information once the recognized what he was likely doing, and that he was so clueless as to not recognize what they were doing?"

I mean, these are US Intelligence! They're practically a government inside the government. Double and triple thinking is what they do, day in and day out, while Trump...well, at best he quarter-thinks.

And also, I wonder if when he asked for specifics - which would have seemed out of place for him - said IA pros fed him info which they immediately changed, thus conforming to his request but avoiding putting the USA or our assets in danger. Surely they did so after early 2017 when he was known to have given highly classified info to the Russian foreign minister & ambassador, which was followed by the emergency extraction of a spy we had in Russia.

And what if Garland is at least somewhat aware that all this had transpired?

[The Jungle 1]

18. This is the worst treason this country has ever seen.

[triron]

23. Yep.

[Duppers]

25. K & R +100

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

26. K&R