BREAKING NEWS: FBI RAIDS TRUMP RESIDENCE IN MAR-A-LAGO FOR CLASSIFIED NUCLEAR DOCUMENTS, AMONG OTHERS

[Elfdart]

Always a bad sign when a person can't convince a lawyer to work for them.

Have to wonder if, when the dust settles, this will make Watergate look like a papercut in comparison.

So far, this is a pellet of sleet compared to the iceberg of Watergate. The reason he and his Plumbers tried to obtain blackmail information (including break-ins like Watergate), planting forgeries (like they tried to do to the guy who shot George Wallace) and plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institute was to counter the dirt LBJ had on him: Treason. Nixon, Kissinger, Anna Chennault and other sabotaged the Paris Peace Talks in order to kneecap Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 election. This prolonged the Vietnam War by seven years and millions of lives.

Trump was most likely taking a payoff from the Saudis, who offered Jared Kushner $2 billion. The only thing Kushner could possibly have that's of any value to Murderous Bone Saw is state secrets obtained from his father-in-law. He deserves to die in prison for it if true, but it's baby shit compared to Nixon's crimes.

[Lost Soal]

Always a bad sign when a person can't convince a lawyer to work for them.

Have to wonder if, when the dust settles, this will make Watergate look like a papercut in comparison.

He's probably better off with a public defender. The way he stiffs the people he hires, anyone taking his case is working pro bono anyway.

I believe his PACS are paying his lawyers so this hasn't been a thing recently. It's more that half his lawyers end up getting threatened with sanctions pushing his nonsense defences.

[bobalot]

This is a pretty good summation of the latest charges.

https://youtu.be/7KRceywz-rU

It is pretty damning.

[Ralin]

He may not be good for the money, but there's an entire Republican network of 'dark money' set up that can make sure they get paid (upfront if they're smart) if they think it's worth it. And to all appearances they still think it's worth it.

It's more that half his lawyers end up getting threatened with sanctions pushing his nonsense defences.

Sanctions, and the non-negligible possibility of him getting them implicated in actual crimes too.

[Lord Revan]

This is a pretty good summation of the latest charges.

https://youtu.be/7KRceywz-rU

It is pretty damning.

When the material involved in a (potential) crime you committed is so sensitive that it can't be used for evidence due it not being able for even a redacted version to be made public and there's more then 1 such document that was recovered yeah that's pretty damning.

[Broomstick]

Always a bad sign when a person can't convince a lawyer to work for them.

Have to wonder if, when the dust settles, this will make Watergate look like a papercut in comparison.

He's probably better off with a public defender. The way he stiffs the people he hires, anyone taking his case is working pro bono anyway.

You only get a public defender if you can't afford to pay for an attorney on your own. Trump certainly can afford an attorney. No attorney wants to work for you? Sucks to be you - but if you can afford to pay one you don't get a public defender. That's for the po' folks.

[bobalot]

They have transcripts of Trump openly stating the documents are classified and he shouldn't be showing them to people... before showing them to people (including possibly Kid Rock).

[Khaat]

"Am I supposed to be in on this s***?" - Kid Rock in a 2022 interview (about a 2017 visit to the White House.) With Tucker Carlson. For Fox.

[Zaune]

"Am I supposed to be in on this s***?" - Kid Rock in a 2022 interview (about a 2017 visit to the White House.) With Tucker Carlson. For Fox.

Anyone else feeling a powerful urge to stick a sign on their front door saying, "The Outside of the Asylum"?

[bobalot]

Imagine, one day a history book will be detailing how Kid Rock had access to classified information.

[bilateralrope]

Special counsel seeks court order to ensure Trump and his defense don’t share materials turned over in discovery

By Tierney Sneed, Annie Grayer and Zachary Cohen, CNN
Updated 8:37 PM EDT, Fri June 16, 2023

CNN
—
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team is asking the judge in the classified documents case against Donald Trump to bar the former president and his defense team from publicly disclosing some of the materials shared in the criminal case as part of the discovery process.

In a new filing on Friday, Smith’s team said that among the unclassified materials that prosecutors are set to turn over to the defense is “information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals.”

The filing, which includes a proposed protective order, is an expected, procedural step now that Trump has entered his not guilty plea and the proceedings are moving forward. Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta do not oppose the requested protective order, according to the filing.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge assigned to preside over the case, referred the matter to US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, citing local court rules. Reinhart approved the search warrant the FBI executed at Mar-a-Lago last year.

Smith’s team said in the filing that the “government is ready to provide unclassified discovery to the defense.”

“The discovery materials include sensitive and confidential information,” including personal and financial data, information that reveals “sensitive” investigative techniques and information about potential witnesses, according to the filing. Some of that information could be in grand jury transcripts or recordings of witness interviews.

“The materials also include information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals,” the filing said.

The special counsel’s proposed protective order would bar the defendants and their lawyers from disclosing the discovery materials “directly or indirectly to any person or entity other than persons employed to assist in the defense, persons who are interviewed as potential witnesses, counsel for potential witnesses, and other persons to whom the Court may authorize disclosure.”

The order also would require those on the defense teams who access discovery materials to sign an agreement recognizing the restrictions on sharing it, and it would require that the defendants only view the materials under the supervision of their counsel. In addition, the defendants would not be allowed to keep copies of the materials.

“The Discovery Materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court,” the proposed order states.

This could be an interesting order. Right now it appears that the defense lawyers won't oppose it. If Trump makes them change their position, it could be an early test for how biased judge Cannon will be. Along with Trump's reaction to her approving what seems like such a routine protective order.

Then there is the issue of Trump being unable to keep his mouth shut.

[Solauren]

What happens if there is an order, and Trump violates it via Twitter or however?

[Ralin]

Then there is the issue of Trump being unable to keep his mouth shut.

Yeah skip ahead to that one. Trump will immediately break and and all gag order. The real issue is that there's nothing a judge can do in response short of putting him in a cell that will deter or cow him, and who expects to see that happen?

[LadyTevar]

What happens if there is an order, and Trump violates it via Twitter or however?

As Ralin said, at this point the only way to keep Trump from breaking the order is for the lawyers to duct-tape his mouth shut. Fuck, at this point as soon as Trumps' Lawyers tell him "don't talk about this bit" I fully expect Trump to have diarrhea of the mouth and have it everywhere he can post it.

And that's when we'll find out how biased the Judge is, because the normal response is to jail the offender to punish them, and keep them from saying more. No one in Trump's inner circle has the balls to force Trump to shut up, take away his cellphone, or stop him from public speaking. Even if they put him on house arrest in Mar-a-lago, he'll still find a way to "get his message out".

[bilateralrope]

Donald Trump to face trial in mid-August over classified documents charges

Justice department promises speedy trial in Florida following a 37-count indictment, but lengthy delay is still widely expected

Reuters
Tue 20 Jun 2023 15.30 BST

US district judge Aileen Cannon has set an initial trial date of 14 August in Florida on former US president Donald Trump’s federal charges of willful retention of classified government records and obstruction of justice, according to a court order on Tuesday.

The justice department’s special counsel in the case, Jack Smith, promised a speedy trial after a 37-count indictment charging Trump with willfully retaining classified government records and obstructing justice.

But the complexities of handling highly classified evidence, the degree to which Trump’s legal team challenges the government’s pre-trial motions, and the way the judge manages the schedule could all lead to a trial that is anything but swift, legal experts say, and a lengthy delay is widely expected.

Trump’s lawyers and a US justice department spokesperson did not immediately return requests for comment.

The latest order came after a US judge on Monday ordered Trump’s defense lawyers not to release evidence in the classified documents case to the media or the public, according to a court filing.

The order from US magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart also put strict conditions on Trump’s access to the materials.

Trump was arraigned in Miami federal court last Tuesday, during which he pleaded not guilty to charges he unlawfully kept national-security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them.

Trump's best strategy here is to delay long enough to win the presidency and pardon himself. Judge Cannon schedules an unusually quick trial.

We shall see what delays happen between now and the trial starting.

[Khaat]

The latest order came after a US judge on Monday ordered Trump’s defense lawyers not to release evidence in the classified documents case to the media or the public, according to a court filing.

This leaves the lawyers on the hook for their client (finally!), when the inevitable all-caps incitement-to-murder against the witnesses "bleat" gets posted to Trump's social media, about how "disloyalty" somehow doesn't mean there were many cooks in the kitchen, and everyone involved KNOW he's guilty of even just these charges.

I will be sad to see Meadows get away with his part in EVERYTHING, unless it also brings about charges against Gini Thomas in the Jan 6 investigation.

[bilateralrope]

Trump valet arraigned over role in classified documents case

Walt Nauta faces six charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing a record and making false statements

Edward Helmore
Thu 6 Jul 2023 16.16 BST

Waltine “Walt” Nauta, widely known for his role as Donald Trump’s personal valet, was arraigned on Thursday over his role in the federal classified documents case.

Nauta, 40, arrived in the former president’s orbit by way of a military assignment.

Trump’s “body man”, as he would become known, was raised as one of six siblings in the village of Agat, Guam, which has a population of about 4,515. His aunt Elly Nauta told the Washington Post in March that he was always a “good boy” and had enlisted in the Navy as a cook in 2001 “to see the world”.

After rising to the rank of culinary specialist, Nauta was assigned to presidential food service in 2012, which prepares meals for the president and first family, as well as catering dinners for visiting heads of state.

Nauta worked in a small White House passageway connecting the West Wing to a private dining room. After Trump was elected president, Nauta was assigned to Trump’s military valet. It fell to him to answer the presidential call button, often to serve Diet Cokes, sometimes Big Macs.

“Everyone realized Walt is the one who Trump knows and feels comfortable with. So let’s just give Trump what he wants, which is familiarity,” a former official told the Post.

But he was not regarded as a political operator, doing no more or less than what was required of him. When Trump’s term ended in January 2021, Nauta followed the ex-president to Florida.

“There was a need for someone who wasn’t too proud to get a new tie, pick up dry cleaning, follow him around on the golf course, staff his dinners, do things that a lot of people just aren’t dying to spend their whole life doing,” a Trump adviser told the Post.

But Nauta now faces six federal charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing a document or record, and making false statements, over his alleged role in the classified documents case.

According to the government, Nauta moved boxes from the White House in the dying days of Trump’s presidency, repeatedly moved them again at Trump’s direction at Mar-a-Lago, and then lied about it to investigators.

The allegations include claims that Nauta discovered that several boxes in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago had fallen, spilling classified documents, and photographed the mess that allegedly included documents restricted to the “Five Eyes” western intelligence alliance.

Later asked by investigators if he knew where the boxes had been stored, he allegedly said: “I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I don’t – I honestly just don’t know.”

Nauta’s inclusion as an alleged co-conspirator in the case was met with opposition by Trump last month who described him as “a wonderful man” who had “served proudly with me in the White House, retired as senior chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide”.

Trump accused the government of “trying to destroy” Nauta’s life.

Former White House attorney Ty Cobb told the Associated Press last month that he feels sorry for Nauta, whom he described as a dutiful worker who “nods and then does what he’s been told to do”.

Nauta’s aunt Elly told the Post that her nephew had relayed to the family that he was merely following instructions when he moved the boxes at Mar-a-Lago.

“He told his mom there’s nothing to worry about. He didn’t do anything wrong. All he was instructed [to do] was to put the boxes where they were supposed to go,” she said.

Nauta should have been arraigned about the same time as Trump, but he wasn't because Nauta wasn't able to arrange a Florida lawyer for it. So the arraignment was delayed. Twice. With some speculation that Trump was going to try and use it as a delay tactic.

Unfortunately this article doesn't say why the arraignment went ahead this time.

[Lost Soal]

Nauta should have been arraigned about the same time as Trump, but he wasn't because Nauta wasn't able to arrange a Florida lawyer for it. So the arraignment was delayed. Twice. With some speculation that Trump was going to try and use it as a delay tactic.

Unfortunately this article doesn't say why the arraignment went ahead this time.

He has a local counsel who mostly handles DUI, although the lead is still one paid for by a Trump PAC.

[LadyTevar]

Nauta should have been arraigned about the same time as Trump, but he wasn't because Nauta wasn't able to arrange a Florida lawyer for it. So the arraignment was delayed. Twice. With some speculation that Trump was going to try and use it as a delay tactic.

Unfortunately this article doesn't say why the arraignment went ahead this time.

He has a local counsel who mostly handles DUI, although the lead is still one paid for by a Trump PAC.

Huh.
I almost feel sorry for the guy. Just what Trump wanted, a total "Yes Man" who never forced Trump to think.

[Khaat]

Nauta should have been arraigned about the same time as Trump, but he wasn't because Nauta wasn't able to arrange a Florida lawyer for it. So the arraignment was delayed. Twice. With some speculation that Trump was going to try and use it as a delay tactic.

Unfortunately this article doesn't say why the arraignment went ahead this time.

He has a local counsel who mostly handles DUI, although the lead is still one paid for by a Trump PAC.

Huh.
I almost feel sorry for the guy. Just what Trump wanted, a total "Yes Man" who never forced Trump to think.

I have no sympathy for an ex-Navy "cook" following a "strongman" leader any more than the one in Russia.
And I'm betting the PAC-paid lawyer is keeping Nauta from flipping, through obfuscation or misinformation/malpractice (like the fake electors who NEVER GOT THE DEAL OFFER).

[LadyTevar]

He has a local counsel who mostly handles DUI, although the lead is still one paid for by a Trump PAC.

Huh.
I almost feel sorry for the guy. Just what Trump wanted, a total "Yes Man" who never forced Trump to think.

I have no sympathy for an ex-Navy "cook" following a "strongman" leader any more than the one in Russia.
And I'm betting the PAC-paid lawyer is keeping Nauta from flipping, through obfuscation or misinformation/malpractice (like the fake electors who NEVER GOT THE DEAL OFFER).

I really don't see Trump as a "strongman". Conman, someone who talks a good game, yes.
Either way, I also agree that the PAC-funded lawyer is probably doing his damnedest to keep Nauta from flipping, although he seems far too loyal.

[bilateralrope]

POLITICS
Trump hit with new charges in classified documents case, third defendant added

PUBLISHED THU, JUL 27 20235:53 PM EDT
UPDATED THU, JUL 27 20238:58 PM EDT

Dan Mangan
@_DANMANGAN

Kevin Breuninger
@KEVINWILLIAMB

- Donald Trump was hit with new criminal charges in addition to the ones he already faced related to his retaining classified documents at his Florida residence after leaving the White House.
- Trump is accused in a new superseding indictment with his valet, Walt Nauta, of an attempt to delete video surveillance footage at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida during the summer of 2022.
- A third defendant, Mar-a-Lago maintenance chief Carlos de Oliveira, was added to the case in federal court.

Donald Trump was hit Thursday night with three new federal criminal charges, and a third defendant was added to the case where the former president already was accused of dozens of felonies related to retaining classified documents at his Florida residence after leaving the White House.

Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is charged in a new superseding indictment with his valet, Walt Nauta, over an alleged attempt to delete video surveillance footage at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, during the summer of 2022.

At that time, federal officials were seeking the return of government records they suspected of being kept at that location.

Trump is also newly accused of retaining a classified document detailing a U.S. military plan of attack on Iran, which Trump showed to a writer, publisher and two staff members at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on July 21, 2021.

At the time, Trump had not been president for six months, and his guests “did not have security clearances” to view the document, according to the superseding indictment in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Carlos de Oliveira, the third defendant added to the case against Trump and Nauta, is head of maintenance at Mar-a-Lago.

De Oliveira allegedly told another Mar-a-Lago employee that “the boss” wanted to delete a server containing surveillance footage showing how Trump’s boxes had been moved around at the club, according to the superseding indictment.

The new charging document also identifies de Oliveira as the person who helped Nauta move about 30 boxes from Trump’s residence to a storage room.

He also allegedly told the FBI he was not involved in moving documents that officials sought, telling agents, “Never saw anything.”

New charges

The new charges against Trump include an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two new counts of obstruction against both him and Nauta.

The new obstruction counts relate to the alleged efforts by Trump, Nauta and de Oliveira to delete Mar-a-Lago security camera footage that was sought by a federal grand jury in June 2022.

With the new charges, Trump now faces 40 criminal counts in the case, which was first lodged in early June by Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith.

The most serious counts against Trump carry 20-year maximum prison terms.

De Oliveira, 56, was charged Thursday with conspiracy to obstruct justice, altering destroying, mutilating a document and false statements.

The false statements charge relates to the voluntary interview De Oliveira gave FBI agents in January.

Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, stored hundreds of government documents at Mar-a-Lago after he left office, and according to prosecutors took steps to keep them hidden from U.S. officials seeking their return.

Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty in the case. A trial in the case has been scheduled for May, just months before the general election.

John Irving, a lawyer for de Oliveira, declined to comment, according to NBC News.

What’s next?

De Oliveira has been ordered to appear in Miami federal court on Monday for his first hearing in the case.

Peter Carr, a spokesman for Smith, said in a statement, “Today, a superseding indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida that adds one defendant and four charges to the prior indictment filed against Donald J. Trump and Waltine Nauta.”

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung slammed the DOJ over the new charges. “This is nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him,” he said in a statement.

“Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden,” Cheung said.

Smith separately is overseeing a criminal investigation of Trump related to his efforts to undo his 2020 electoral loss to President Joe Biden. The special counsel last week informed Trump that he is a target in that probe, a notification that typically occurs before the target is charged in a case.

A grand jury that has been hearing testimony and reviewing evidence in that case in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ended a session Thursday afternoon without issuing an indictment.

Trump faces other legal issues. In spring, a Manhattan grand jury charged him with falsifying business documents related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. In Georgia, meanwhile, a local district attorney is probing the former president over his attempt to overturn his 2020 electoral loss in that state.

Correction: Trump had not been president for six months on July 21, 2021. An earlier version misstated the time frame.

Looks like the investigation kept digging and found enough to add more charges.

[bilateralrope]

Prosecutors: Trump Mar-a-Lago security aide flipped after changing lawyers

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team revealed the details of the employee’s about-face in a new filing.

By KYLE CHENEY and JOSH GERSTEIN

08/22/2023 06:01 PM EDT

Updated: 08/22/2023 06:32 PM EDT

A Trump employee who monitored security cameras at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate abruptly retracted his earlier grand jury testimony and implicated Trump and others in obstruction of justice just after switching from an attorney paid for by a Trump political action committee to a lawyer from the federal defender’s office in Washington, prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday.

The aide — described as “Trump Employee 4” in public court filings but identified elsewhere as Yuscil Taveras — held the title of director of information technology at Mar-a-Lago. He initially testified to a grand jury in Washington, D.C., that he was unaware of any effort to erase the videos, but after getting the new attorney “immediately … retracted his prior false testimony” and detailed the alleged effort to tamper with evidence related to the investigation of the handling of classified information stored at Trump’s Florida home, the new submission said.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team revealed the details of the employee’s about-face as part of a filing demanded by Florida-based U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the classified records case against the former president.

She had questioned why prosecutors continued to collect evidence from a grand jury empaneled in Washington, D.C., even after Smith obtained a grand jury indictment in Florida in June charging Trump with more than 30 counts of retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump and longtime aides Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira are also charged in the case with taking steps to obstruct investigators seeking to recover the government documents.

Taveras’ reversal led directly to new charges against Trump that Smith’s prosecutors included in a superseding indictment issued by a federal grand jury in Miami last month, detailing alleged efforts to erase the security camera recordings, prosecutors said. Nauta had been charged in the initial indictment, but de Oliveira was added as a defendant only in the revised indictment.

In an apparent bid to assuage any continuing concerns by Cannon about a grand jury hundred of miles away working on matters related to the case she is handling, Smith’s team informed her that the D.C. grand jury officially completed its work Aug. 17.

Cannon’s request for an explanation of the D.C. federal court action came as prosecutors raised concerns about a conflict of interest between Nauta and Taveras, who were both — for a time — represented by attorney Stanley Woodward, who has become ubiquitous in cases involving Trump associates. He represents several defendants and witnesses connected to Smith’s investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents and his bid to subvert the 2020 election.

Prosecutors said Taveras’ turnaround would put Woodward in an awkward position if he continues with representation of Nauta, since Woodward could have to press his former client about why he changed his story.

“The Government anticipates calling Trump Employee 4 as a trial witness and expects that he will testify to conduct alleged in the superseding indictment regarding efforts to delete security footage,” prosecutors wrote. “Trump Employee 4 will very likely face cross-examination about his prior inconsistent statements in his grand jury testimony, which occurred while Mr. Woodward represented him, and which he disavowed immediately after obtaining new counsel.”

Woodward did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Assistant special counsel David Harbach, who signed the new filing, said Woodward appeared to be stoking concerns about the use of the D.C. grand jury to gain a “tactical advantage” for both Nauta and Trump, whose PAC is covering Woodward’s legal bills.

Harbach dismissed a suggestion by Woodward in an earlier filing that one way to address any alleged conflict would be for the government not to call Taveras at any trial in the documents case.

“The Government is unaware of one, in which a court has excluded evidence to avoid a conflict on facts remotely similar to this case, where the Government put Mr. Woodward on notice long ago about potential conflicts,” Harbach wrote, “and he is now seeking to affirmatively use those conflicts to gain a tactical advantage at trial by excluding highly incriminating evidence to the benefit of not only his own client but also a co-defendant [Trump] whose PAC is paying his legal fees.”

Sounds like Trump's lawyers are persuading witnesses to lie under oath.

[Lost Soal]

They already were before, see Cassidy Yates.

[LadyTevar]

They already were before, see Cassidy Yates.

I figured that's what was happening. Trump can't let his minions speak freely after all.

But this is probably just the first stone to fall. That lawyer's representing SEVERAL key witnesses -- how long before they look around and think "Hey, is this lawyer *really* doing what's right for *me*?"

Once they start asking that question, they're not gonna like the answer and the rats will start looking for new ships.