Takeaways from the court hearing on releasing more documents from the Mar-a-Lago search

[Scott]

 

Deanna Shullman, attorney for Dow Jones & Co., right, speaks to member of the media outside the federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, US, on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. Portions of the FBI affidavit used to secure a search warrant for former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate should be unsealed, a federal judge in Florida said.

(CNN)A US magistrate judge started the process of potentially releasing some information from the affidavit that the Justice Department used to obtain a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Florida residence.

Judge Bruce Reinhart said during a hearing at the West Palm Beach courthouse that he was planning to unseal portions of the affidavit, which is sought by various media outlets and other organizations.

 

His announcement came after the Justice Department, while arguing against the disclosure of the documents, revealed new, if not extremely vague, details about the investigation into the handling of classified documents from the Trump White House.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/18/politics/trump-mar-a-lago-fbi-search-hearing-takeaways/index.html

[pomchop]

The redaction will have more black covering it up than an Iraqi woman.

[Chomper Higgot]

4 hours ago, pomchop said:

The redaction will have more black covering it up than an Iraqi woman.

And very rightly so.

 

This is an ongoing investigation into national security, why do Trump and his supporters want to see an affidavits that they all know will be delivered to them if an indictment is filed?

 

Perhaps they want to know the names of witnesses, to stick their names addresses and the names and addresses of their families on ‘Truth Social’.

 

Affidavits in ongoing criminal investigations are not revealed to targets of investigations unless an indictment is filed, at which point they are delivered to the ‘defendant’ as part of ‘disclosure’.

 

As for Lindsey Graham wading into this claiming information is being withheld - well yes Lindsey, you know how that works don’t you, as you wriggle and squirm to trying to fight a subpoena and avoid giving testimony under oath against Trump in the

Georgia vote rigging investigation of which Trump is the target.

[SunnyinBangrak]

8 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

And very rightly so.

 

This is an ongoing investigation into national security, why do Trump and his supporters want to see an affidavits that they all know will be delivered to them if an indictment is filed?

 

Perhaps they want to know the names of witnesses, to stick their names addresses and the names and addresses of their families on ‘Truth Social’.

 

Affidavits in ongoing criminal investigations are not revealed to targets of investigations unless an indictment is filed, at which point they are delivered to the ‘defendant’ as part of ‘disclosure’.

 

As for Lindsey Graham wading into this claiming information is being withheld - well yes Lindsey, you know how that works don’t you, as you wriggle and squirm to trying to fight a subpoena and avoid giving testimony under oath against Trump in the

Georgia vote rigging investigation of which Trump is the target.

You intentionally miss the key point. Trump is an ex President. They stormed his private residence. This is a new chapter in American politics. The chapter of hatred and revenge and attacking the man they fear more than anything. The ONE thing they needed is to make very sure they had serious criminal acts to be busting, otherwise they pretty much started a civil war by continuing to persecute(with no valid reason other than hate and fear) the leader of the Republican party. Yet many days are passing and it is starting to look very much like they had no real reason to do this house raid.

 

"Former President Donald Trump and his allies are ramping up warnings that Trump might seek payback for the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago club if he recaptures the presidency. 

On Wednesday, Trump posted a link to an article headlined “The Payback for Mar-a-Lago Will Be Brutal” on his Truth Social account."

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vy7y/trump-revenge-fbi-search-mar-a-lago

 

 The left will only realize the mistake they made once Hillary, Obama, Biden, all democrat disinformation pushers and censors in the media get raided on general search warrants. All panty drawers of all spouses thoroughly searched. Ex Presidents and VIPs charged on nonsensical charges. You guys started this, and you guys are celebrating this. It is a disgrace.

 

[JonnyF]

Everyone knows this was politically motivated.

 

I'm not surprised they are reluctant to reveal what was in the affadavit. It would get torn to shreds if it weren't so flimsy that it would fall apart upon being held up to the light of day to be read.

 

Still no indictment? What a surprise...

[Chomper Higgot]

19 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

You intentionally miss the key point. Trump is an ex President. They stormed his private residence. This is a new chapter in American politics. The chapter of hatred and revenge and attacking the man they fear more than anything. The ONE thing they needed is to make very sure they had serious criminal acts to be busting, otherwise they pretty much started a civil war by continuing to persecute(with no valid reason other than hate and fear) the leader of the Republican party. Yet many days are passing and it is starting to look very much like they had no real reason to do this house raid.

 

"Former President Donald Trump and his allies are ramping up warnings that Trump might seek payback for the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago club if he recaptures the presidency. 

On Wednesday, Trump posted a link to an article headlined “The Payback for Mar-a-Lago Will Be Brutal” on his Truth Social account."

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vy7y/trump-revenge-fbi-search-mar-a-lago

 

 The left will only realize the mistake they made once Hillary, Obama, Biden, all democrat disinformation pushers and censors in the media get raided on general search warrants. All panty drawers of all spouses thoroughly searched. Ex Presidents and VIPs charged on nonsensical charges. You guys started this, and you guys are celebrating this. It is a disgrace.

 

What’s Trump being an ex President got to do with judicial process?

 

The FBI can search any private citizens home of they obtain a warrant to do so.

 

Why should the FBI treat a former President any different.

 

One law and nobody above it!

 

 

Thanks for providing the  reference to the warnings Trump and his Allie’s are handing out on ‘Truth Social’, they are exactly the reason why the identities of witnesses in the Affidavit must be kept secret.

 

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by Chomper Higgot

[Bkk Brian]

7 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Everyone knows this was politically motivated.

 

I'm not surprised they are reluctant to reveal what was in the affadavit. It would get torn to shreds if it weren't so flimsy that it would fall apart upon being held up to the light of day to be read.

 

Still no indictment? What a surprise...

For those with a touch of reality which apparently is lacking in the Trump cult, they know such a serious investigation that includes not only Trump but others who may be involved, witness interviews, statements, etc takes time. They've not even finished sifting through the piles of boxes they seized yet.

 

Nine days after Mar-a-Lago search, FBI agents are still sifting through Trump documents

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/nine-days-mar-lago-search-fbi-agents-are-still-sifting-trump-documents-rcna43630

[placeholder]

10 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

You intentionally miss the key point. Trump is an ex President. They stormed his private residence. This is a new chapter in American politics. The chapter of hatred and revenge and attacking the man they fear more than anything. The ONE thing they needed is to make very sure they had serious criminal acts to be busting, otherwise they pretty much started a civil war by continuing to persecute(with no valid reason other than hate and fear) the leader of the Republican party. Yet many days are passing and it is starting to look very much like they had no real reason to do this house raid.

 

"Former President Donald Trump and his allies are ramping up warnings that Trump might seek payback for the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago club if he recaptures the presidency. 

On Wednesday, Trump posted a link to an article headlined “The Payback for Mar-a-Lago Will Be Brutal” on his Truth Social account."

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vy7y/trump-revenge-fbi-search-mar-a-lago

 

 The left will only realize the mistake they made once Hillary, Obama, Biden, all democrat disinformation pushers and censors in the media get raided on general search warrants. All panty drawers of all spouses thoroughly searched. Ex Presidents and VIPs charged on nonsensical charges. You guys started this, and you guys are celebrating this. It is a disgrace.

 

No, you miss the point. Donald Trump is a private citizen. He is not entitled to any privilieges in regards to the justice system. And stop lying about what the FBI did. The agents did not "storm" Trump's residence. They served a warrant and were admitted. No battering rams were employed.

In addition, Trump was given a huge amount of consideration. Negotiations went on for months for Trump to return documents he wasn't entitled to hold.

And what demonstrates better his unfitness for office than his promise for "Payback".  This is the clown who publicly denigrated his first Attorney General for following the rules. He denigrated another for refusing to pursue groundless allegations.

And the Justice Dept. clearly had evidence to pursue their investigation. Are you suggesting that Trump will instigate investigations regardless of lack of evidence. He already made groundless accusations against Obama that he did the same thing as Trump. This was false. But thanks for revealing the mindset of a typical Trump supporter.

[Chomper Higgot]

6 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Everyone knows this was politically motivated.

 

I'm not surprised they are reluctant to reveal what was in the affadavit. It would get torn to shreds if it weren't so flimsy that it would fall apart upon being held up to the light of day to be read.

 

Still no indictment? What a surprise...

No, you assert it is politically motivated, but you have produced zero evidence of it being so.

 

A search warrant was lawfully issued, a search warrant was lawfully executed, TS/SCI documents relating to national security were discovered at the property and lawfully removed.

 

The investigation is on going.

 

It is right, proper and standard procedure to protect witnesses and protect the investigation from interference.

 

Trump will be given the affidavit of and when an indictment is handed down by a Grand Jury, just like every single person subject to criminal investigation is.

 

‘Still no indictment’.

 

Indictments are handed down by Grand Juries, it takes time.

 

It is the Grand Jury’s job to examine the evidence to determine if an indictment is appropriate, if the case is ‘flimsy’ the Grand jury will toss it out

 

Or is this another Constitution of the US thing you need schooling on?

 

Fifth Amendment, if you care to look.

[SunnyinBangrak]

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

What’s Trump being an ex President got to do with judicial process?

 

The FBI can search any private citizens home of they obtain a warrant to do so.

 

Why should the FBI treat a former President any different.

 

One law and nobody above it!

Its an unwritten rule that ex Presidents are left alone and allowed a quiet and dignified life after serving. If other ex-Presidents are left completely alone after making monstrous decisions based on false evidence that literally led to the deaths of millions of people in the middle east, then other ex Presidents will be left alone over paperwork issues that caused zero deaths and zero harm.

 It is all a question of comparative seriousness of the alleged crime. In my mind killing millions of people is worse than possessing some documents in safe storage that may have been reclassified after Trump left office. 

 You "one law and nobody above it" is a troll. You know full well the democrats and republicans are held to different standards. Allegations against Republicans without evidence get major air time and discussion. Allegations against Democrats with mountains of evidence are censored across social media.

[Chomper Higgot]

2 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Its an unwritten rule that ex Presidents are left alone and allowed a quiet and dignified life after serving. If other ex-Presidents are left completely alone after making monstrous decisions based on false evidence that literally led to the deaths of millions of people in the middle east, then other ex Presidents will be left alone over paperwork issues that caused zero deaths and zero harm.

 It is all a question of comparative seriousness of the alleged crime. In my mind killing millions of people is worse than possessing some documents in safe storage that may have been reclassified after Trump left office. 

 You "one law and nobody above it" is a troll. You know full well the democrats and republicans are held to different standards. Allegations against Republicans without evidence get major air time and discussion. Allegations against Democrats with mountains of evidence are censored across social media.

Away with your ‘unwritten rules’,

 

What does the law say?

[JonnyF]

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

No, you assert it is politically motivated, but you have produced zero evidence of it being so.

 

A search warrant was lawfully issued, a search warrant was lawfully executed, TS/SCI documents relating to national security were discovered at the property and lawfully removed.

 

The investigation is on going.

 

It is right, proper and standard procedure to protect witnesses and protect the investigation from interference.

 

Trump will be given the affidavit of and when an indictment is handed down by a Grand Jury, just like every single person subject to criminal investigation is.

 

‘Still no indictment’.

 

Indictments are handed down by Grand Juries, it takes time.

 

It is the Grand Jury’s job to examine the evidence to determine if an indictment is appropriate, if the case is ‘flimsy’ the Grand jury will toss it out

 

Or is this another Constitution of the US thing you need schooling on?

 

Fifth Amendment, if you care to look.

I very much doubt there will be an indictment.

 

If they do manage to find enough crumbs to charge him with something, I am sure it will impeccably timed to cause as much damage to his re-election campaign as possible.

 

After all, that is what this is all about. Keeping him away from the Oval Office. And everyone knows it. Your disingenuity is clear for all to see. 

[Chomper Higgot]

Just now, JonnyF said:

I very much doubt there will be an indictment.

 

If they do manage to find enough crumbs to charge him with something, I am sure it will impeccably timed to cause as much damage to his re-election campaign as possible.

 

After all, that is what this is all about. Keeping him away from the Oval Office. And everyone knows it. Your disingenuity is clear for all to see. 

You seem very sure of the future.

 

Good luck with that.

[placeholder]

13 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Everyone knows this was politically motivated.

 

I'm not surprised they are reluctant to reveal what was in the affadavit. It would get torn to shreds if it weren't so flimsy that it would fall apart upon being held up to the light of day to be read.

 

Still no indictment? What a surprise...

Comments re "politically motivated"  from a self-described "neutral" observer who apparently has access to information not yet revealed to the general public.

Ordinarily I'd say that anyone expecting an "indictment" 10 days after such a huge amount of evidence was gathered, would be seriously clueless about how the legal system system and the care that has to be taken when analyzing such evidence.   But since you're "neutral"...

Robert Mueller in his report cited 10 instances of obstruction of justice that Trump could be indicted for were he not the President. An affidavit would reveal witnesses and the direction the investigation was going. So the justice dept is well justified in keeping information from him. 

[placeholder]

9 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Its an unwritten rule that ex Presidents are left alone and allowed a quiet and dignified life after serving. If other ex-Presidents are left completely alone after making monstrous decisions based on false evidence that literally led to the deaths of millions of people in the middle east, then other ex Presidents will be left alone over paperwork issues that caused zero deaths and zero harm.

 It is all a question of comparative seriousness of the alleged crime. In my mind killing millions of people is worse than possessing some documents in safe storage that may have been reclassified after Trump left office. 

 You "one law and nobody above it" is a troll. You know full well the democrats and republicans are held to different standards. Allegations against Republicans without evidence get major air time and discussion. Allegations against Democrats with mountains of evidence are censored across social media.

Sure. The case against Hillary Clinton was something the press failed to report. James Comey's denunciation of her behavior, which violated Justice Dept. rules, was left entirely unreported. Can you please share with us the location of the alternative universe you apparently live in?

[SunnyinBangrak]

6 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Sure. The case against Hillary Clinton was something the press failed to report. James Comey's denunciation of her behavior, which violated Justice Dept. rules, was left entirely unreported. Can you please share with us the location of the alternative universe you apparently live in?

My quote from Comey about how sane prosecutors would treat her hammering to destroy evidence was removed. It is very relevant because a)she was not President and b)she actively physically tried to destroy evidence.  So difficult to no charge Trump for a lesser "crime" on every level.

 

 

[LosLobo]

26 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Its an unwritten rule that ex Presidents are left alone and allowed a quiet and dignified life after serving. If other ex-Presidents are left completely alone after making monstrous decisions based on false evidence that literally led to the deaths of millions of people in the middle east, then other ex Presidents will be left alone over paperwork issues that caused zero deaths and zero harm.

 It is all a question of comparative seriousness of the alleged crime. In my mind killing millions of people is worse than possessing some documents in safe storage that may have been reclassified after Trump left office. 

 You "one law and nobody above it" is a troll. You know full well the democrats and republicans are held to different standards. Allegations against Republicans without evidence get major air time and discussion. Allegations against Democrats with mountains of evidence are censored across social media.

You "one law and nobody above it" is a troll. Really?

Trump seems to be promoting it!

 

In 2016 during a campaign stop in Charlotte, Donald Trump promised to 'enforce all laws' to protect classified material and that no-one will be above the law.

 

 

 

The SCOTUS is also on board with it!

 

 

Edited August 19, 2022 by LosLobo

[placeholder]

23 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I very much doubt there will be an indictment.

 

After all, that is what this is all about. Keeping him away from the Oval Office. And everyone knows it. Your disingenuity is clear for all to see. 

And who appointed you the spokesperson for everybody?

[JonnyF]

20 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You seem very sure of the future.

 

Good luck with that.

Just going on what we know so far...

 

Evidence to justify the raid? Nothing.

 

Evidence found during the raid? Nothing.

 

Get back to me when they have some concrete evidence. Until then, it's all spin.

[JonnyF]

Just now, placeholder said:

And who appointed you the spokesperson for everybody?

Nobody.

 

Who claimed I was the spokesperson for everybody? Link please...

[Chomper Higgot]

16 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

My quote from Comey about how sane prosecutors would treat her hammering to destroy evidence was removed. It is very relevant because a)she was not President and b)she actively physically tried to destroy evidence.  So difficult to no charge Trump for a lesser "crime" on every level.

 

 

Trump is not President at this time.

He has a history of actively destroying evidence.

He was in possession of TC/SCI documents relating to national security

 

Let the investigation run its course.

[placeholder]

8 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Nobody.

 

Who claimed I was the spokesperson for everybody? Link please...

You followed up your claim that this is a political prosecution with these words: "And everyone knows it "

[Chomper Higgot]

31 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Just going on what we know so far...

 

Evidence to justify the raid? Nothing.

 

Evidence found during the raid? Nothing.

 

Get back to me when they have some concrete evidence. Until then, it's all spin.

Oh, so all those documents, they’re not evidence?

[placeholder]

54 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

My quote from Comey about how sane prosecutors would treat her hammering to destroy evidence was removed. It is very relevant because a)she was not President and b)she actively physically tried to destroy evidence.  So difficult to no charge Trump for a lesser "crime" on every level.

 

 

Deflecting much? Here's what you claimed:

"You "one law and nobody above it" is a troll. You know full well the democrats and republicans are held to different standards. Allegations against Republicans without evidence get major air time and discussion. Allegations against Democrats with mountains of evidence are censored across social media."

[candide]

1 hour ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

You intentionally miss the key point. Trump is an ex President. They stormed his private residence. This is a new chapter in American politics. The chapter of hatred and revenge and attacking the man they fear more than anything. The ONE thing they needed is to make very sure they had serious criminal acts to be busting, otherwise they pretty much started a civil war by continuing to persecute(with no valid reason other than hate and fear) the leader of the Republican party. Yet many days are passing and it is starting to look very much like they had no real reason to do this house raid.

 

"Former President Donald Trump and his allies are ramping up warnings that Trump might seek payback for the FBI’s search of his Mar-a-Lago club if he recaptures the presidency. 

On Wednesday, Trump posted a link to an article headlined “The Payback for Mar-a-Lago Will Be Brutal” on his Truth Social account."

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vy7y/trump-revenge-fbi-search-mar-a-lago

 

 The left will only realize the mistake they made once Hillary, Obama, Biden, all democrat disinformation pushers and censors in the media get raided on general search warrants. All panty drawers of all spouses thoroughly searched. Ex Presidents and VIPs charged on nonsensical charges. You guys started this, and you guys are celebrating this. It is a disgrace.

 

Why? Did they (will they) keep classified documents at home after leaving their position and refuse to give them back? 

[JonnyF]

37 minutes ago, placeholder said:

You followed up your claim that this is a political prosecution with these words: "And everyone knows it "

Yes I believe that everyone knows it. If Trump had Biden raided I am sure your perspective would change due to your extreme bias and partisan opinions. So you know it, but you defend it because you hate Trump. As a neutral I am fortunate that I am able to look at these things objectively and it is patently clear that this was done to discredit Trump and attempt to smear him before the next election.

 

Holding that opinion does not mean I am claiming to be a "spokesperson for everybody". It means I believe people are being disingenuous because of their political bias.

[Rimmer]

Troll posts and replies have been removed

[JonnyF]

24 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Oh, so all those documents, they’re not evidence?

What documents? The ones they refuse to release because the lack of content is all a bit embarrassing?

[Eric Loh]

12 minutes ago, rumak said:

sorry,  didn't mean to break the momentum of this thread.      but i see I had nothing to worry about

You shouldn’t if you not in Trump’s orbit. Just remember that everything Trump touches dies. 

[candide]

3 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Yes I believe that everyone knows it. If Trump had Biden raided I am sure your perspective would change due to your extreme bias and partisan opinions. So you know it, but you defend it because you hate Trump. As a neutral I am fortunate that I am able to look at these things objectively and it is patently clear that this was done to discredit Trump and attempt to smear him before the next election.

 

Holding that opinion does not mean I am claiming to be a "spokesperson for everybody". It means I believe people are being disingenuous because of their political bias.

And Trump would have raided Biden for which reason?