[johnforbes]

"When it comes to the National Archives, history has a funny way of repeating itself. And legal experts say a decade-old case over audio tapes that Bill Clinton once kept in his sock drawer may have significant impact over the FBI search of Melania Trump's closet and Donald Trump's personal office.

The case in question is titled Judicial Watch v. National Archives and Records Administration and it involved an effort by the conservative watchdog to compel the Archives to forcibly seize hours of audio recordings that Clinton made during his presidency with historian Taylor Branch.st memorable for the revelation that the 42nd president for a time stored the audio tapes in his sock drawer at the White House. The tapes became the focal point of a 2009 book that Branch wrote.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington D.C. ultimately rejected Judicial Watch's suit by concluding there was no provision in the Presidential Records Act to force the National Archives to seize records from a former president.

But Jackson's ruling — along with the Justice Department's arguments that preceded it — made some other sweeping declarations that have more direct relevance to the FBI's decision to seize handwritten notes and files Trump took with him to Mar-a-Lago. The most relevant is that a president's discretion on what are personal vs. official records is far-reaching and solely his, as is his ability to declassify or destroy records at will."

[sillydaddy]

I have always wondered where Bubba keeps his cigars..!

[sillydaddy]

The Demos are just being assholes.
They know the President has the final word on what is classified and what can be de-classified.

[Clownkicker]

sillydummy is just being an asshole.

Trump was not alleged to have violated classification laws.

He was searched based on three other statutes. It has nothing to do with the declassification of documents, dummy.


"The first law, Section 793 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, is better known as the Espionage Act. It criminalizes the unauthorized retention or disclosure of information related to national defense that could be used to harm the United States or aid a foreign adversary. Each offense can carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison."

"The second, Section 1519, is an obstruction law that is part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a broad set of reforms enacted by Congress in 2002 after financial scandals at firms like Enron, Arthur Andersen and WorldCom.

Section 1519 sets a penalty of up to 20 years in prison per offense for the act of destroying or concealing documents or records “with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter” within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies."

"The third law that investigators cite in the warrant, Section 2071, criminalizes the theft or destruction of government documents. It makes it a crime, punishable in part by up to three years in prison per offense, for anyone with custody of any record or document from federal court or public office to willfully and unlawfully conceal, remove, mutilate, falsify or destroy it."-NYTimes


Once again we see that sillydummy doesn't have a clue what the Trump search is about. No Trump supporter actually understands it. They just want to act outraged. Even johnforbes, who claims to be a lawyer, doesn't understand it. He's still here talking about irrelevant classifications.

If Hillary had done the same thing, they would all be out chanting "Lock her up! Lock her up!"

But with Trump it's "Let him violate the law and do whatever he wants! Let him violate the law and do whatever he wants! Defund the FBI! Trump is our God! Fuck America!"

[johnforbes]

That search warrant was so overly broad as to violate the 4th Amendment. A good warrant will have particularity.

As to the affidavid, Justice Brandeis said sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Sure, it'll probably be redacted, and perhaps there will be some need for witness secrecy, but in most cases sunlight helps disinfect a situation.

[Clownkicker]

"That search warrant was so overly broad as to violate the 4th Amendment."-johnflubs

Trump had been refusing to turn over the documents for 18 months. He refused to turn them over even after a subpoena. He was still fighting the subpoena. There was no option but to go get the documents.

When you refuse to cooperate with legal subpoenas, criminals forfeit their right to "be secure in their...houses" The stolen documents must be retrieved for the security of the nation.

The Fourth Amendment is not a guarantee against all searches and seizures, but only those that are deemed unreasonable under the law. This search was quite reasonable. Refusal to comply with a lawful subpoena is a reasonable cause for a search, regardless of what johnforbes' matchbook cover law school taught him.

[johnforbes]

Trump did cooperate with a subpoena, and in May reportedly they were surprised at how cooperative he was, even coming downstairs to chat and thank them for their work.

There was supposedly another contact in June, so apparently at that point nobody on Trump's side felt there was any problem.

Of course, those of us outside the inner group on Trump's team and outside whatever the federal thinking was, we have no idea what other turmoil might have been unfolding.

But it is a very odd scenario to raid the house of a former president.

Imagine if President Trump had approved a raid of Bill Clinton's house. Just picture the depth of the leftist outrage.

And that would have been wrong absent real, serious cause.

[Clownkicker]

"Trump did cooperate with a subpoena, and in May reportedly they were surprised at how cooperative he was,..."-johnflubs

Yes, he cooperated with a partial turnover of documents. But he refused to turn over all of them that were subpoenaed.

In other words, he did not actually cooperate. He only pretended to cooperate.

Understandably, the Justice Department was not amused at the intentional deception.


"There was supposedly another contact in June, so apparently at that point nobody on Trump's side felt there was any problem."-johnfibs

That euphemistic "contact in June" was the service of another subpoena for documents that had not been turned over to the Archives, which subpoena Trump did not cooperate with. Again, the Justice Department was not amused.

And after another month went by without compliance, they decided to get the documents back because they were tired of the 18-month belligerence and foot dragging by Trump.


"But it is a very odd scenario to raid the house of a former president."-johnflubs

Yes, it is very odd that a President would be such a blatant criminal that he requires a raid on his home to force compliance with lawful subpoenas. But he is learning (as are you) that no one is above the law. "Law and Order" Republicans should be cheering.

What is it about the unprecedented corruption of the Trump White House that so many members of Trump's team of "the best people" have been indicted and put in prison?


"First, attorneys for Trump’s longtime attorney Rudy Giuliani revealed that the former New York mayor is a target of a criminal investigation in the state of Georgia centered on the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election in that state. Then we learned that Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen H. Weisselberg is expected to plead guilty to charges that he underreported his income for 15 years.

"This expansion of the Trumpworld legal universe pales in comparison to last week’s dramatic development, of course: the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. But it’s a reminder of the scale of alleged and proven criminal conduct that has surrounded Trump since he first announced his candidacy in June 2015.

"The scale is large enough that it’s useful to set some boundaries should one hope to map that universe out. So let’s set aside Trumpworld figures like Dinesh D’Souza, whose 2018 pardon from Trump was less a function of adjacency to the president than involvement in the broader conservative ecosystem. Let’s also ignore Trump backers who’ve faced prosecution, like early supporter and former congressman Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif).

"We can even set aside people closer to Trump who received pardons, like Jared Kushner’s father or Kushner’s former business partner Ken Kurson. Nor will we include those accused of aiding Trump’s effort to retain power after his 2020 election loss like attorney John Eastman or former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. They may yet face charges, but the Justice Department’s seizure of their phones may not herald an imminent indictment.

That leaves us with 14 figures from Trumpworld — including the president — who have been charged with crimes, are the subjects of investigation, have been convicted or pleaded guilty and/or have been pardoned by the former president.

"The 2016 campaign

"Stephen K. Bannon. CEO of Trump’s 2016 campaign. Accused of defrauding donors in a border-wall construction scheme. Later convicted on contempt of Congress charges. Pardoned by Trump on fraud charges. Awaiting sentencing on contempt.

"Rick Gates. Deputy chairman of the 2016 campaign. Pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and conspiring to conceal millions of dollars earned through foreign lobbying. Sentenced to 45 days in prison, suspended early in the pandemic.

Corey Lewandowski. Manager of the 2016 campaign. Charged with battery after grabbing a reporter at a Trump property in Florida. Charges were dropped.

Paul Manafort. Chairman of the 2016 campaign. Convicted of fraud by a jury. Pleaded guilty to two federal conspiracy counts. Served less than two years in prison before being released during the pandemic. Pardoned by Trump after the election.

George Papadopoulos. 2016 Campaign adviser. Pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators. Sentenced to 14 days, which he served.

"Attorneys

"Michael Cohen. Attorney for Trump. Pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and fraud charges. Sentenced to three years in prison. Served a year before being released to home confinement during the pandemic.

"Rudy Giuliani. Attorney for Trump. Subject of a federal search warrant in early 2021. Identified as a target for potential prosecution by state prosecutors in Georgia. No current indictments.

Igor Fruman. Colleague of Rudy Giuliani. Accused of soliciting foreign campaign contributions. Pleaded guilty.

Lev Parnas. Colleague of Rudy Giuliani. Indicted on charges of fraud and making illegal campaign contributions. Sentenced to 20 months in prison.

"The administration

"Michael Flynn. Trump’s first national security adviser. Pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators. Pardoned by Trump.

"Peter Navarro. Former Trump administration official. Indicted on contempt of Congress charges. Awaiting trial.

"Outsiders

Roger Stone. Longtime adviser. Convicted of witness tampering and obstruction. Sentence commuted by Trump before he began serving time. Later pardoned.

Allen H. Weisselberg. Chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. Accused of cheating on his taxes by underreporting income over more than a decade. Expected to plead guilty.

If the past two weeks have taught us anything, it’s that this list should not be considered final."-Washington Post


"Very odd" indeed, johnny. And very sad.

[johnforbes]

May 2022 is different than 2016.

Like sands through an hour glass, so are the days of our lives.

Like baloney through a typewriter, so are the posts of Clowntroller.