Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

that's the point.

more importantly, he says he is innocent. guilty people don't say that.

guys I want to remind u of something

~innocent until PROVEN guilty~

ergo

if he has not been proven guilty in a court of law

that means he is innocent

and legally

that means he can no longer be investigated

Regular reminder to the Biden administration and the DOJ that much of the public will judge how severe Trump's misconduct is based on how severe the consequences he will face are, not the other way around!

— Michael Tae Sweeney (@mtsw) August 12, 2022

"the power of positive thinking" case for the prosecution

he's like the ultimate 1-dimensional chess player. his big scheme to squeeze Ukraine for dirt on the Bidens was just to call Zelensky up on the phone and say it outright while like 50 different people were listening. i would be shocked if there were any plan at play in his mind beyond some variation of "having this stuff makes me feel cool"

It's kind of a shame, the one person reckless and wild enough to release secret proof of aliens also turned out to be the one imbecile so intellectually incurious he probably didn't bother to look. He probably just did the top-secret archives equivalent of googling himself all day.

xpost The way I heard it put yesterday was that the DOJ is playing chess but he is eating checkers. Might have to credit Jennifer fuckin' Rubin for that one.

agents left this behind

https://khristore.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/s-l1600-17.jpg

Breaking on WSJ: FBI removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as Top Secret, as well as information about the President of France, binders of photos, a handwritten note and an executive grant of clemency for Roger Stone.

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 12, 2022

BTW, it's one hour before deadline and nothing has been released/revealed yet. Probably because of the audit.

Mon dieu, Macron!

The man really loves the French Presidents.

Didn’t he call Sarkozy (or Macron) randomly at the middle of the night just to talk?

https://andrewsidea.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/bar2.jpg

Boom.

The former President is under investigation for 793.

(And obstruction). pic.twitter.com/WXQCVObQK8

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) August 12, 2022

NEW via Breitbart: Trump under investigation per search warrant for:
18 USC 2071 — Concealment, removal or mutilation
18 USC 793 — Gathering, transmitting or losing defence information
18 USC 1519 — Destruction, alteration or falsification of records in Federal investigations

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) August 12, 2022

if's the ufo stuff

Someone should ask emptywheel if he is under investigation for violations of BOFA.

793 is apparently the espionage act.

For those following along at home, 793 is a main Espionage Act offense, 2071 is purloining government records, and 1519 is destroying or mutilating them. https://t.co/vxmyFb4tpc pic.twitter.com/TB0xhySPOV

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) August 12, 2022

Breitbart: The document, obtained and reviewed by Breitbart News, shows that the DOJ and FBI waited several days after Reinhart approved the warrant to conduct the raid, something that severely undercuts the talking points issued by Attorney General Merrick Garland in a public statement on Thursday

Early in the article, it admits 'nearly three full days' and then goes on to repeatedly say 'several days'

The first time I saw the judge referenced I thought they were talking about Judge Reinhold.

more breitbart: " ...seems to indicate that the judge did not think this is so serious that immediate or urgent action was needed..."

This will become a talking point: the judge didn't think it was very serious

let them talk.

he's not going to jail for ten years, more than likely, but this is definitely not a 'i can't wait to see Trump wriggle out of that one' scenario. if charges don't get filed, it'll be because they didn't find what they expect or the investigation didn't turn up what they thought, not because anybody leaned on them. Trump and conservative media is outright trying to get FBI agents murdered, I sincerely doubt any of them are going to show restraint.

he fucked up in a way he can't easily snap his fingers out of this time.

Breitbart breaking the story is literally the ep of South Park with Cartman showing the entire class the pic of him sticking his dick in Butters's mouth so he could get ahead of the story

lol

Y'know, fuckit, even if all that comes out of this is Trump being rendered ineligible to run for president again, I'll count it as a pretty major W.

Maybe the funniest breaking news article I've ever read https://t.co/7Eo0MtQK14 pic.twitter.com/YivbFJKr3h

— Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) August 12, 2022

“much of the public will judge how severe Trump's misconduct is based on how severe the consequences he will face are, not the other way around!”

No it’s worse as usual. Trumpists will only judge misconduct as negative if any negative effects will affect them PERSONALLY.

That is the loyalty oath. “I don’t care that you did crime. I will defend or deny your blackest deed. I only care if your crime was against ME. Otherwise, fuck my enemies and make our side win.”

The longer receipt was signed by FBI Special Agent Jeremy Linton and the shorter receipt was signed by the name: “L. Grady Gary” and includes the title SSA. It is unclear who that person is, and the handwriting is not the clearest.

Grassy knoll guy obv

Trump apparently leaked the warrant to Breitbart. The DOJ had sought to redact or shield the names of agents involved. Trump took no caution. The Breitbart article has names of agents, which obviously puts a target on their back. Reprehensible. Trump needs to be stopped. Enough.

— Don Lewis (@DonLew87) August 12, 2022

yeah right wingers already going nuts because Linton filed an affidavit with the 1/6 committee

that bit from breitbart - "as president he has original and absolute declassification authority" - is flat wrong, as i understand it - the current president can re-classify anything declassified by their predecessor. and also that "absolute" declassification authority does not extend to things like espionage-related material & nuclear secrets. if that is going to be their best argument, it will not get them very far.

CNN re WSJ:

Federal agents reportedly seized one set of "top secret/SCI" documents, the highest level of classification. Agents took four sets of "top secret" documents, three sets of "secret" documents and three sets of "confidential" documents, the lowest level of classification, the Journal reported.

they believe taking a little Harry Potter wand and going "declassifiiiiiiiiied" is all it takes

FBI are so stupid... the docs they planted were already declassified!

DECLASSIFIUS

xp

it's been pointed out elsewhere that the crimes being investigated do not hinge upon the classification status of the documents

yeah, the whole declassifying stuff as I'm running out the door thing smacks of "Of course I can pardon myself"

ya it's a tough spot because somehow I don't think "so what Obama took 33,000,000 pages of documents with him" is gonna stick either

esp since it was a completely different situation.

why has nobody investigated 311 yet

i'm going to a metal show where I know the , uh, Trump quotient is going to be, well, way above zero, and not looking forward to talking to anybody tonight.

my friend is working a country music festival and she's already worried about shenanigans or people harassing her about being liberal and shit, which already happens

also b/c he made his entire campaign in 2016 about handling of confidential information which led to him signing the law he's gonna get tried for lmao

as much as I enjoy watching all these idiots squirm, I'm really annoyed that he's back in the news... a year or so ago, he seemed to be fading away

real question is who's gonna prosecute him, the federal courts are full of Trump loyalists and if Congress has anything to do with it it's over

my friend is working a country music festival and she's already worried about shenanigans or people harassing her about being liberal and shit, which already happens

Really can't believe nobody ever made Biden/Harris "Fuck Your Feelings" T-shirts, except for, you know, the risk of getting shot.

another amusing detail: it turns out that Christina Bobb, Trump's attorney who suggested on various news shows that the evidence was planted and there was no nuclear info, is the person who signed the receipt received from the FBI

I'm sure they used their FBI bedazzlers to get her to sign

Yesterday I walked into a bookstore and overhead this guy who looked to be in his mid-60s just absolutely berating a cashier to the point of her being in tears. Fortunately another employee (probably a manager of some sort) came out and firmly shut him down and escorted him out.

I was not at all surprised to see that he was wearing both a "Let's Go Brandon" hat AND t-shirt when he turned around.

And Underoos, probably

The more I hear it being talked and read what's being written about it, the more I think the dude might finally be fucked, at least as a politician. Desantis (or some other ghoul or goon) must be loving this.