FBI raids Mar-A-Lago

The warrant was issued by the judge under three statutes:  18 USC 793, 1519, 2071. 

18 USC 793 : 

(d)Whoever, lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; or;

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

18 USC 1519: 

Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

18 USC 2071

(a)Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.



Souvenirs.  It was all about the souvenirs (until he needed the cash, when it would become all about the cash).


Wait until Joe and the First Lady come back from vacation with Hunter and that father/son partnership gets investigated. Hopefully sans drugs and porn.

Or, Nancy Pelosi’s son, who traveled to Asia as her “escort”, but he had business to handle. Something about electric motors or chips? His name was not on the manifest.


The talking heads on my TV have been talking about possible destruction of evidence.

Is it possible that there are not electronic copies of every one of those documents? Can you legally destroy something if there's a copy?

Or are there rules regarding (certain) classified docs that they're only on paper?



They have to be destroyed in a certain manner.  If you ever go into a government office (e.g., US Attorney), you'll see that they have locked toters into which classified material gets put to be destroyed.

eta:  This is to ensure actual and complete destruction as opposed to, for example, that guy's habit of ripping paper which was then taped back together.


Notice the numerous right wing cartoons on the Mar-A-Lago search and on denigrating Biden? A ramping up of the MAGA base with cartoonish appeals to their low intellects.

The right wing leadership and their pundits seem worried.


Seems, thus far, that Mrs. C got away with a whole lot — including murder. Positively deplorable.


murder?

mtierney said:

Seems, thus far, that Mrs. C got away with a whole lot — including murder. Positively deplorable.

she got away with murder?

you've entered QANON territory.

(though to be fair, conspiracy theories about Hillary killing people far predates QANON by quite some time.)

regardless, a charge like this is just despicable.

I didn't think I could lose more respect for you.

I was wrong.


She’s coming over here with her stupid, offensive cartoons also… 

I actually like Nan….


Trump yesterday: “The FBI planted the documents.”

Trump Today: “I declassified those documents.”

MAGA: OK!


Jaytee said:

Trump yesterday: “The FBI planted the documents.”

Trump Today: “I declassified those documents.”

MAGA: OK!

The funniest one is that he took documents home so that he could do some extra work.


Jaytee said:

Trump yesterday: “The FBI planted the documents.”

Trump Today: “I declassified those documents.”

MAGA: OK!


Jaytee said:

Trump yesterday: “The FBI planted the documents.”

Trump Today: “I declassified those documents.”

MAGA: OK!

His base is too stupid to see inconsistencies. Another of why he likes them.


Trumpenstein is claiming the FBI took his two passports…


Jaytee said:

Trumpenstein is claiming the FBI took his two passports…

Well, seems like he's right since the FBI said it was returning them.


Kash Patel, former Trump Admin official said this:

He can literally stand over a set of documents and say these are now declassified and that is done with definitive action immediately.

if I remember my catechism correctly, I think that's called "transubstantiation."


Let this be a lesson.  The President isn't above the law.  Only illegal immigrants are above the law.  And possibly Steven Seagal. 


terp said:

Let this be a lesson.  The President isn't above the law.  Only illegal immigrants are above the law.  And possibly Steven Seagal. 

just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water….


It's amazing to see who is rallying around the Trump side in all of this.

(Note - Judge Reinhart is a Magistrate Judge, and they issue warrants)


nohero said:

It's amazing to see who is rallying around the Trump side in all of this.

(Note - Judge Reinhart is a Magistrate Judge, and they issue warrants)

He shows evidence of being qualified for the job.  

https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/content/judge-bruce-e-reinhart

"Bruce Reinhart was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Florida on March 14, 2018. Prior to taking the bench, he was in private practice for 10 years, both as a solo practitioner and as the co-chair of the white collar crime practice group of a national firm. His practice focused on white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. From 1996-2008, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in West Palm Beach. From 1988-1996, he was a Trial Attorney in the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice., having entered the Department as part of the Attorney General's Honors Program. He began his legal career as the law clerk to the Honorable Norma L. Shapiro on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Reinhart earned a degree in civil engineering cum laude from Princeton University in 1984 and a J.D. cum laude in 1987 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School."


nohero said:

It's amazing to see who is rallying around the Trump side in all of this.

(Note - Judge Reinhart is a Magistrate Judge, and they issue warrants)

I used to be amazed… now I am seeing it all too clearly…as people age, they lose their filters that kept them from being exposed. I thank you for doing the legwork. It all comes out in the wash…


Some people seem to be opposed to anything any branch of government is for.  A lot of people are in burn it all down mode right now although I think only a tiny fraction can handle what will come next if they succeed.  I know that I am not looking forward to the prospect of America disintegrating into a patchwork of armed enclaves like China during the warlord period of the early 20th century.


nohero said:

It's amazing to see who is rallying around the Trump side in all of this.

(Note - Judge Reinhart is a Magistrate Judge, and they issue warrants)

It's not surprising. He campaigned for Tulsi. Tulsi blasted the FBI raid on Mar A Lago, saying it was a blatant use of power. 


Tulsi is an odd one.  It always feels like she's going out of her way to appeal to the two extremes, just for the sake of having some relevancy.  An opportunist perhaps?  Very similar to Tucker.  Though Tucker is pretty one sided, I just don't buy HE actually believes what he's saying.


TULSI GABBARD: Now, whatever your views are on Donald Trump, there is no denying that the unprecedented raid on his Palm Beach home earlier this week has set our country on a dangerous new course, and there's no turning back. The FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago changed the country that we grew up in.

We grew up believing that, "Hey, our government will apply the law equally to all Americans, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat." We're seeing more and more that, that country no longer exists. Law enforcement at the highest levels of government, whether it's the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and now even the IRS have been weaponized to target the political opponents of the uni-party, the permanent Washington and the Biden regime. Attorney General Merrick Garland has already issued a stark warning to anyone who dares to disagree with these tactics that are all hallmarks of a dictatorship.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/tulsi-gabbard-trump-raid-set-dangerous-new-course

She's the same as Trump in inciting the MAGA crowd. 


Not all Americans have nuclear secrets lying around with cheeseburger wrappers.

Tulsi is a deplorable.   And she is a traitor.   


jamie said:

Tulsi is an odd one.  It always feels like she's going out of her way to appeal to the two extremes, just for the sake of having some relevancy.  An opportunist perhaps?  Very similar to Tucker.  Though Tucker is pretty one sided, I just don't buy HE actually believes what he's saying.

You're being too charitable to her. We (or most of us) criticize the Republicans who have to share the blame for the unprecendented number of threats against the bureau because of Mar A Lago. She's no different. This is a person who ran for the highest office in the land, 


I don't understand what the argument is supposed to be here. Partisanship? Clinton was investigated as well; how is Trump being investigated unfair? Investigations being too close to an election? It's 202, is the rule that anyone who might run for office can never be investigated -- being a current or likely candidate immunizes one from any investigation? Different standards? If anything, Trump is getting a lot more deference than someone else who took such highly classified information would receive (and at least some of the material he held on to appears to be of a category that presidents don't have the authority to unilaterally declassify, so that excuse doesn't work either).

I have no idea of Trump will be prosecuted for this. It may be that the warrant was mainly about securing sensitive documents and less about seizing evidence for prosecution. Surely securing such highly sensitive documents is a proper and expected function of our government?

I also don't get this "since when are progressives supporters of the FBI" line. I guess that's directed against the people who literally want to abolish all law enforcement agencies? How many of those people exist in the country? They could probably fill a small conference room somewhere. If the police regularly entered people's homes in a non-violent way, with proper authorization, the way the FBI did in this case, I think that's exactly what most critics of law enforcement are asking for?

Such strange arguments. The Trumpist ones make sense since it's just the same kind of pathological partisanship that supports Trump in the first place, but the anti-anti-Trump arguments are just bizarre.


When was Clinton's house raided by the FBI?  We're requests for these documents ignored or denied?  It is odd that there is a raid 17 months after a President leaves the White House.  I don't think there's an SOP for this.  


In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.

Sponsored Business

Find Business

Advertise here!