Fox News is reporting that the FBI seized boxes containing attorney-client privileged and potentially executive privileged material during its raid Mar-a-Lago. When the raid occurred, I noted that the legal team had likely marked material as privileged at the residence and that the collection could create an immediate conflict over such material. Now, sources are telling Fox that the Justice Department not only took attorney-client material but has refused Trump requests for a special master to review the records.
The request for a special master would seem reasonable, particularly given the sweeping language used in the warrant. It is hard to see what material could not be gathered under this warrant.
Attachment B of the warrant has this provision:
“Any physical documents with classification markings, along with any containers/boxes (including any other contents) in which such documents are located, as well as any other containers/boxes that are collectively stored or found together with the aforementioned documents and containers/boxes; b.. Information, including communications in any form, regarding the retrieval, storage, or transmission of national defense information or classified material”
Thus, the agents could not only take an entire box if it contained a single document with classification markings of any kind but could then take all boxes around that box.
It is not surprising that dozens of boxes were seized.
Given that sweeping language (and the various lawsuits and investigations facing Trump), it would seem reasonable to request a special magistrate. That is why the reported refusal is so concerning. What is the harm from such a review? The material is now under lock and key. There is no approaching deadline in court or referenced grand jury.
Moreover, many have accused the Justice Department of using this search as a pretext. While saying that they were seeking potential national security information, critics have alleged that the real purpose was to gather evidence that could be used against Trump in a prosecution over his role in January 6th riot. I have noted that such a pretext would be deeply disturbing given the documented history of Justice Department officials misleading or lying to courts in prior Trump-related investigations. The continuation of such subterfuge could be disclosed in a later oversight investigation.
The use of a special master could have helped quell such claims of a pretextual search. Conversely, the denial of such a protective measure would fuel even greater concerns.
The refusal to take this protective measures is almost as troubling as the sweeping language in the search warrant itself. We need to see the affidavit that led to this search warrant. I am not going to assume that the search was unwarranted until I see that evidence. However, in the interim, Attorney General Merrick Garland could have allowed accommodations for this review to assure not just the Trump team but the public that the search was not a pretext for seeking other evidence like January 6th-related material.
RE: “HEADLINE”:::””””Feds see American anger over Trump raid, insecure border as posing increased terror threat”””. This is all they see. . That administration after administration, across the past 30+ years, notwithstanding video recordings of exhortations by the Chief Executive at the time as to the need for secure borders, have failed doesn’t move to action and remedy.. The responsibility for enforcing existing promulgated immigration law has been abrogated completely by the current occupant of the White House. The former occupant was vilified and taken to court, time and time again, when he attempted to strictly enforce the existing laws. The blatant refusal of the DOJ to enforce laws prohibiting public demonstrations in front of the homes of SCOTUS justices is a travesty not overlooked by many. All these miscreants, up to and including this President, can find to address is the need to protect themselves from the consequences of their failures to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
“While saying that they were seeking potential national security information, critics have alleged that the real purpose was to gather evidence that could be used against Trump in a prosecution over his role in January 6th riot.”
You have an ongoing problem with dangling modifiers. Obvious typos are one thing, but grammatical errors of this sort are jolting, like a sudden dissonant chord.
Jonathan: You have tried mightily to try to undermine the legitimacy of the FBI search warrant of Trump’s private residence, e.g., so second subpoena, claims of attorney/client privilege, et al. Nothing has stuck so now you take the low road in your column yesterday in USA Today: “Attorney General Garland’s stature shrinks as he doggedly pursues Trump”. It’s a personal attack on Garland’s reputation. You falsely claim the AG has “politicalized” the DOJ in approving the search warrant. That’s a funny claim to make when you ignored Bill Barr’s time as AG. In intervening in the Michael Flynn and Roger Stone cases Barr turned the DOJ into Trump’s personal law firm. The DOJ, under Barr, lost it’s independence. There is absolutely no evidence indicating Pres. Biden played any role in Garland’s decision to approve the search warrant. That’s the difference between Barr, your close friend, and Garland. The current AG is unwilling to bend to “political” pressures when making decisions about search warrants. He follows the evidence and the law because, as he often says: “No person is above the law”.
You must be Garland’s assistant. He’s scum and a traitor to his oath. Trump’s personal effects are not included in the warrant even if you leftists want it to be so.
RE:”You must be Garland’s assistant.” You’re going to find that some of the games of jai-lai which are played here using gleanings from the cow pasture aren’t worth your time. Try for a cogent and well structured comment and then head for the sidelines. Save for one contribution, I’ve deleted all of today’s cow chips.
You might appreciate this article. I fell for it initially. Look at those p values. Hysterical.
Testosterone Administration Induces A Red Shift in Democrats
Before the testosterone treatment, we found that weakly affiliated Democrats had 19% higher basal testosterone than those who identified strongly with the party (p=0.015). When weakly affiliated Democrats received additional testosterone, the strength of their party fell by 12% (p=.01) and they reported 45% warmer feelings towards Republican candidates for president (p < 0.001). Our results demonstrate that testosterone induces a “red shift" among weakly-affiliated Democrats. This effect was associated with improved mood.
Zak, Paul. Testosterone Administration Induces A Red Shift in Democrats. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-11-24. doi.org/10.3886/E155441V1
RE:”You might appreciate this article…” Google “Hormone and political preferences’ and you’ll find host of studies published in this area. They might be loosely categorized under the heading ‘What makes people tick?” What would be most interesting would be a meta-analysis of all this behavioral research for the purpose of learning how to best influence the outcome of an election.through chemistry. Perhaps large quantities of oysters on Election Day?
Valcyclovir should work well for the monkeypox; oh and maybe keeping it to one partner for a bit, stay out of the bathhouses.
Dennis,
Your astounding ignorance is worthy of inclusion in the Guinness Book of World records.
You are sick. LTG Flynn was still attacked by crooked judge Sullivan after the DOJ dropped the case. You democrats don’t care about truth or justice anymore. It’s sickening to the American people and is going to cost you as corruption in plain sight will be met with fierce resistance.
Are you on drugs
Americans be thinking
Me: hey what up with those Clinton Private servers?
FBI: 🤷♂️
Me: hey what’s up with those Epstein flight logs?
FBI: 🤷♂️
Me: hey what’s up with Hunter‘s laptop?
FBI: 🤷♂️
Me: hey what’s up with raiding a former presidents home?
FBI: “Just following orders”
Exactly.
“Trump pilfered classified documents.”
“He snubbed his nose at subpoenas.”
“He’s guilty of this-that-and-the-other crimes.”
If the Left were not lead by pathological liars engineering a Reign of Terror, its claims might be taken seriously.
Trump did illegally keep classified documents and White House records that were not his to keep.
He did snub his subpoenas. The fact that he had to be subpoenaed is clearly indicating he was not complying with requests to return documents he had no right to possess.
He’s already lied multiple times about this being a hoax, FBI planting evidence when he had full CCTV records of the search. He can release that anytime. He lied about declassifying those documents when his own lawyer stated to the DOJ that all classified documents were turned in. Now he’s claiming executive privilege after never making such a claim when the first batch of 15 boxes were retrieved.
The only pathological liar here is Trump. He HAS already broken several federal laws by just having the documents, and withholding them. Then there’s the problem of improper storage especially for the TS/SCI documents. He’s in worse trouble than Hillary ever was.
Svelaz, you should know better that Trump’s cult cannot or will not listen to the facts. But thanks for trying to bring light into this dark echo chamber to and for Trump supporters.
Fishwings, it’s certainly become a cult. They’ll do or say anything that excuses their dear leader’s crimes and malfeasance. This is bona fide dictator territory. No wonder Trump was always impressed with dictators and why he showered them with praise. Because they could exercise absolute power when they wanted to and Trump often believes this. His latest example? His claims that he could declassify anything he wanted just by decreeing it.
It’s no surprise that he’s desperate. What is surprising is that those congressmen who are defending him may be doing so because they too were in on his scheme to steal the election and they don’t want to be discovered as being part of it. It’s the only rational explanation for why they are so supportive of his efforts. That’s just my opinion of course.
Svalez, people who pushed the Russia Hoax, paid for by Hillary Clinton, and who pretended that Trump called racists “very fine people”, have no business declaring that anyone else will do or say anything that excuses malfeasance.
Seriously, I can’t believe you wrote that with a straight face.
How many times are you going to declare that Trump definitely committed crimes, only to be proven wrong, before you realize your judgement is suspect?
“Trump did illegally keep classified documents and White House records that were not his to keep.” You have listed an allegation as fact.
Not only does it have to be proven, but since the President can declassify documents, seems unlikely. What did happen is that General Services boxed up documents and sent them to Mar-a-Lago. National Archives requested certain documents. Aids and attorneys went through boxes and sent over 15 boxes of material to NA. The Archives believed that some of the material was classified, and referred the matter to the highly politicized DOJ, which then orchestrated this raid.
Trump and his attorneys disagree that any documents were classified at the time. They cooperated with turning over documents to the National Archives, making this armed raid unnecessary, and perhaps a ruse to gain unfettered access to his private papers.
If what you say is true, then the General Services should be in prison for packing up and sending a single sheet of paper to Mar-a-Lago.
Finally, Hillary Clinton kept an illegal server in her home in order to bypass the closed State system, and thus retain total control over her communications and what State was given. Everyone who entered her home, including IT professionals, had access to the server. She kept Classified Information, including Top Secret, on that server. She had it backed up to the Cloud, which made it easy to hack, and likely was. She deleted thousands of work related emails, giving only a fraction of them to State long after she left office. While under subpoena, she wiped the server with Bleach Bit, and then lied about it afterward. Thousands of emails, including those with classified information, were found on Huma’s laptop, in the possession of her convicted sex-offender, possible sex addict, ex-husband, Anthony Weiner. He used the laptop to view porn, infamous for having phishing and hacking vulnerabilities.
Despite breaking just about every possible law regarding the handling of classified information, Clinton was never charged. The FBI didn’t raid her home.
You cannot apply two wildly different standards of the law, depending on political affiliation. I suspect that violates the Equal Protection clause.
Unlike Hillary, Trump didn’t upload that information to the Cloud, he didn’t lie about having documents, he cooperated with the National Archives, and he simply disagrees about the classified status.
Sam knows all despite many lawyers and scholars saying he DID NOT pilfer classified docs! Obvious Sam hates Trump and watches a lot of Morning Idiot and Mad Cow derangement…. Sam is a useful idiot that is ok w/ gov’t abusing and tramping basic citizen rights. I bet Sam didn’t care, actually defended Hillary, Obama, Holder for not cooperating w/ request, subpoenas… Idiots like Sam are dangerous to our republic and all of us!
“Sam knows . . .”
Huh?
I think you misread my comment. Though I don’t know how, given that those statements are in quotes, and my last sentence. (Or are you trying to be funny?)
Caught!!! As always the lies is in what they “don’t tell you”. WSJ, FOX News, MSNBC – no only missed this. They MISREPRESENTED
https://nypost.com/2022/08/14/theres-no-sainthood-for-obama-national-archives-in-trump-fbi-raid-uproar/
Where I work everyone has a clearance. The standing joke, getting too old to repeat anymore, after one of several security refreshers per year is that “unless your name is ‘Hillary Clinton’…”, that you’d be ruined and spend a very long time in jail if you elect to not closely follow the rules.
Her flagrant violation is akin to one of us taking a pile of higher-than secret documents straight into a Russian embassy and then going on Fox to brag about it. Your life would essentially be over.
Then take Hunter Biden… JFC. If my wife were to so much as visit a friendly (to USA) country without it being reported, I’d likely lose my clearance. And I’m just another guy banging out code.
From where I’m sitting, never mind the multitude of greater political minds than myself pointing out just how corrupt the FBI is, this is the government letting us all know — in case there’s any remaining doubt — they don’t follow the law, that’s for us. They do as they please and we just suck it up and deal with it.
The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the federal laws, do not constrain their actions whatsoever. And, by applying their actions so flagrantly to a former president (and even when he was a sitting president), the message is loud and clear — there ain’t shit anyone can do about it.
It’s a shame that Orwell is not alive to see this because his follow-on work would be terrifying. Better make sure your T’s are crossed and your I’s are dotted on your tax returns. Lazy with receipt keeping? Better learn diligence and careful record keeping… real soon.
I mean, unless your a leftist/statist. Then no worries. And don’t think about changing your mind now because they already know who’s who.
If you’re not on a watch list by now, you’re doing it wrong.
Your projection has to be rated, even on the blog as being really bat**** crazy.
Typical. Attack with no content.
That is proof of an empty mind.
Fish brains.
Has anyone noticed that the Iranians have bounties on the heads of prominent republicans from the Trump administration. Odd how they are not going after democrats.
Great point, Independent. Bounties exist on the heads of Republicans while Democrats pay bounties to the terrorist Iranians.
Trust in Justice System is so Important for All of Us!
Professor, I feel your pain!
Instead of brainstorming with scientists like Condoleezza Rice (a vivid example of living the “American Dream”) in a fancy Georgetown restaurant (after “Meet & Great” with countless other Patricii) about eg developments in
* Afghanistan (after Taliban took over a year ago and there is widespread famine, should we reinstall humanitarian aid and help women get better education?)
* Iraq (why is there a serious civil unrest, do we live in a safer world after Saddams rule how is the progress of disarming from WMD developing?),
* Lybia (are they better of than during Muammar Gaddafi leadership)
* Russia (why is it impossible to check if Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC’s bank account got $ 3.5 Mil infusion in 2014?)
* Ukraine (why do we asset extensively while our our southern border is left out?)
you devoted your limited time for writing a blogpost, columns in USA Today, The Hill – you name it – or for an appearance at Fox News. about the fortune of a man who you (secretly) believe should have never be elected to the precidency_ A pleb devoted to offensive rhetoric, name calling and painting absolute pictures. Although ousted as Incumbent 21 months ago and an unfriendly coverage by propaganda outlets he still attracts Amrerican’s who back his agenda, attend his rallies vocally and vote extensively for canditates he endorse. As this dynamic is hard to control, and leads RNC to a dilemma: Taking the Congress in midterms (in uniting forcefully behind primary winners or playing oversensitive in offering only plattitudes and wishy-washy statements (like in Fridays chaotic presser House Intelligence Commitee presser).
However, as voters shifted the direction of the GOP, candidates who like to stay at the field have to shift accordingly. To oppose, doesn’t chance the paths but plays only in DNC handsl (what figures like Adam Kinzinger (R-IL# 17) and Liz Cheney (WY at large) either not seen through or their Trump animosity overshadows their perspective.
Same goes for Professor Turley and his friend Bill Barr (Why did he accept President Trumps AG nomination?): As the pattern is crystal clear, we don’t need another explanation, more documents to analyze or establish a Special Counsel. What we need is someone who explain the routine that lead to a justice system that a significant number of American’s don’t trust:
1. Appointment of Nicholas McQuaid to lead the DoJ’s Criminal Division
He was partner at Latham & Watkins, a law firm with company attorneys and other employees donating more than $ 1/2 mil to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. Another partner, Christopher Clark, represented Hunter Biden in a grand jury investigation regarding tax issues. A son-in-law of a former VP who served as a political appointee in George W. Bush’s administration is also listed on their pay roll.
2. Officials who share a hostile opinion about former President Trump publiciy, were repeatedly appointed to cases that touch his fortune
While Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) offered evidence about political bias within the FBI while DoJ AG Merrick Garland said in his presser on Thursday that law is evenly applied. Surprisingly officials like Brian Auten, Kevin Clinesmith Lisa Page, Peter Strzok and Timothy Thibault with a biased were appointed.
3.Unwelcome Whistleblower should say silent
After John Paul Mac Isaac, the “Repairman” of “The Labtop from Hell”, learned that Brian Autens report was the basis that FBI didn’t investigate, he went to Rudy Guliani who referred the case to NYP.. According to his new book he got a nasty vist from two agent, one told him this. “It is our experience that nothing ever happens to people that don’t talk about these things.” Meanwhile he left the state. On the other hand Whistleblower who play by the agencies narrative get a pass.
4. DoJ opened a formal investigation into former President Donald Trump for purportedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, WaPo reported on 8/27
As to the WaPo reported on 7/27: DoJ prosecutors are probing “conversations with Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won,” This was leaked from four persons familiar with this matter
5. Nomination of Magistrate Bruce E. Reinhart to clear AG Merrick Garland’s authoriziced search warrant that leads to Mar-a-Lago raid’
The late Rep John Lewis (D-GA # 5), Senio Chief Deputy Whip on NBC (1/13/17):
“I don’t see the president-elect as a legitimate president.[…] I think the Russians participated in having this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. I don’t plan to attend the inauguration. I think there was a conspiracy on the part of the Russians, and others, that helped him get elected. That’s not right. That’s not fair. That’s not the open, democratic process.”
President-elect answered the next day figuratively: Mind your own businss.
The same day on his private FB page Reinhart attacks Trump for his lack of decency when talking about Congressman John Lewis and agrees with former Clinton advisor Robert Reich that “Donald Trump doesn’t have the moral stature to kiss John Lewis’s feet.”
Leading Democrats iopenly denied the legitimacy of that election and spent the next several years engaging in full on lawfare against the President. Six year later AG Garlick gave Magistrate Reinhart the pass to participate in lawfare an he took it..
6. Green Lawyers like Christina Bobb and Alina Habba were appointed to represent former President Trump
As George W Bush gaining the WH was in jeopardy, heavywheight James Baker III was at the scene to observe the recount and William Rehnquist was on standby. Practically, W didn`t need a chief legal adviser in Florida. He had Katherine Harris, the patrician who cost Al Gore the presidency. But as patrici have to have clean hands, her ambitions to flip the U.S. senate seat in 2004 was destroyed by the administration.
I am puzzled that lhowoever is responsible for picked lightweights to represent the former President. People who speak on his behalf
‘ should be aware of SCOTUS Navy v Egan 484 U.S. 518 (1988),
‘ could link theJ6 criminal investigation to the fishing for sharks in the raid and
‘ how the State Department between 2009 and 2013 secured the exchange of messages between people using electronic devices.
‘ Chris Wallace, the new stallwart for “The Most Trusted Name in News” channel: “[…] this was not a raid. This was a very carefully-vetted search.”.
Very bizzare post.
If you want some control in the republican party – join that party and vote in your primaries.
Some of your critiques of Trump are true. And if those things are important to you – you get to vote accordingly when you get a chance.
But it should be clear that more than hundred million people disagree with you regarding Trump, the GOP, ….
I am libertarian – not republican. I hoped like many that Trump would lose the primary in 2016.
He did not.
I did not vote for him in 2016 or 2020.
But he was elected in 2016 – and while I share many of your critiques – he was the best president in the 21st century – even now.
Does he live up to his own bragging – no. is he better than a C+ president over all – no. But every other president in the 21st century has been worse. And Biden is working hard to be the worst in history. I get angry when people compare Biden to Carter. Carter was much better president. Frankly Carter was better than Trump. But we do not have Carter as a choice today.
I would further note that a huge portion of the electorate is angry. One of the major reasons they are angry on the right, and the reason that Trump endorsed candidates are doing well, is that the republicans YOU think should win are the ones that roll over for the left.
That at best merely slow down the decay of the country.
You do not need a degree in economics to look at the world and the data to know that statism – big government FAILS.
Throughout the world the more power government has they slower quality of life improves.
This lesson is taught to us over and over again.
And increasingly – ordinary people are getting it. They may not understand the details of how government spending causes inflation.
But they grasp that is true.
They may not understand how diseases spread – but they understand that the states and people who followed the CDC and FDA and NIH and federal governments recommendations – did worse than those that did not.
Or more simply – they understand that after spending Trillions of dollars and taking our liberties – the government could not make us any safer.
They understand that voting from your couch may be convenient – but it is an invitation for fraud.
They understand that if our laws and constitution are not good enough for the bad times – they are not enough for the good.
That if we can abandon the rule of law and use the latest crisis to get whatever we want – that what we actually have is anarchy and chaos.
They understand that govenrment and elections that are not transparent are not trustworthy.
And that government that can not be trusted is not legitimate.
I do not watch Fox much or Tucker Carlson – but I watched his show a few days ago. Tucker was on vacation.
And his guest host was one of the top 6 contenders in the democratic primary in 2020 – Tulsi Gabbard.
And like many actual liberals, civil libertarians, people like Alan Dershowitz, or Turley or Glenn Greenwald or Matt Taibbi, or Barri Weis or …. she is increasing red pilled by the illiberal left.
We are in the midst of a massive political re-alignment.
I can go through issue after issue – and with few exceptions todays “far right” have adopted the positions of liberals 2 or 3 decades ago.
And the left has adopted the worst positions of the right decades ago.
Good post, John Say. You may want to watch Tucker Carlson more when he is back. I don’t always agree with him but he has interesting things to say and can be very funny.
“ But every other president in the 21st century has been worse. And Biden is working hard to be the worst in history. I get angry when people compare Biden to Carter. Carter was much better president. Frankly Carter was better than Trump.”
If Carter was better than Trump Trump couldn’t be the best president ever.
As it is currently unfolding Trump has caused serious divisions and spread the support of malfeasance and lawlessness as you often say. His constantly changing excuses for this latest scandal in stolen government documents is just part of the pattern of lies and deceit that has plagued Trump. He isn’t the best. He’s actually the worst. Twice impeached and now having been caught with highly sensitive defense department documents he had no right to, a far worse situation than that of Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified documents which every Republican demanded she be jailed for is now faced by Trump.
He should face charges for the obvious. No matter how many excuses he makes there’s no justification for what he did. Blaming the FBI or the DOJ as corrupt because they caught Trump breaking the law is ignoring the fact that he still had illegal possession of those documents. That cannot be ignored and since it’s a law that must be enforced as you often argue regardless of how unfair it is. It MUST still be enforced. Many Trump supporters want to focus on the DOJ “corruption” instead of the enforcement of the law.
“If Carter was better than Trump Trump couldn’t be the best president ever.”
Read what I wrote. Trump is far from the best president ever.
He is just the best president of the 21st century that is a very low bar.
Trump is not as good a president overall as Carter, Reagan, Bush I, or Clinton.
Though he is their peer and possibly better at foreign policy – which oddly turned out to be something he was excellent at.
Carter got peace between Israel and Eqypt – which was a massively important accomplishmet, but Trump normalized relations between Israel and most of the mideast – that might not be quite as significant, but it is certainly more consequential than any other presidents (except carter) mideast diplomacy. Reagen effective brought down the USSR – though the collapse occured under Bush. Carter made the core decisions that resulted in what is called the great moderation – the longest sustained prosperity in US history – but he did not effectively communicate that to the people. Reagan continued and extended Carter’s economic policies – but he created a sense of optimism and expectation. Everyone from Carter through Clinton was better economically than Trump – Though Trump gets credit for taking the economy out of the Bush/Obama doldrums and proving that stagnation was not the new normal. Trump did not keep all his promises about getting us out of foriegn entanglements that were not in our interests. But he tried and made substantial progress.
Contra the Left at the conclusion of Trump’s term the US was both respected by the world and feared by those at odds with us.
Biden has brought back the era of endless war. The good news is they he did leave afghanistan – even if he botched the departure and that having returned us to essentially a cold war footing with China and Russia Biden is MOSTLY keeping a good balance there. But most of us are likely correct that were Trump president Putin would not have invaded Ukraine, our children would not be anxious about nuclear war, and China would not be sabre rattling over Tiawan. That is not possible to prove.
But most people understand it is likely true.
I would give Trump an A possibly even an A+ on foreign policy – he presided over and drove a re-alignment of US and western foreign policy that will be the story of the next several decades. Trump and reality are responsible for demoting Russia from a global power to a regional power – still a very dangerous one. Trump re-oriented US foreign policy – and our relations with the world and particularly asia to focus on China – which is an emerging superpower, and one that is dangerous and needs to be contained.
But there is nothing amazing about Trump’s economic policies – those are C at best. They only look good – because Bush and Obama were D presidents on Economics at Best. Biden is a D- and at serious risk of becoming a failure.
There is an excellent Honestly podcast with Bari Weis and Tyler Cowan on the economy from April. That continues to apply through the present. I am more classically economic than Cowan – I do not beleive the Trump Covid Stimulus was a good idea and beleive it too contributed to the current mess. But I fully agree with Cowan that by Jan 2021 we needed to STOP stimulus.
I beleive with Hayek, Friedman, and ultimately even Keynes that government economic stimulus is always too late and improperly directed. That the market is just far too complex to sucessfully stimulate. That all stimulus causes signifcant harm as well as good and the odds of those balancing are small. But Cown beleive that the 2020 Covid stimulus was needed and that we we did from 2021 forward was the cause of our current problems.
Regardless, I would highly recomend listening to the Cowan Honestly podcast.
Frankly I would highly recomend all of Barri Weis’s podcasts – even where I think she and her guests are wrong, they are atleast intelligent and worth considering.
“But there is nothing amazing about Trump’s economic policies – those are C at best. “
John, foreign policy is in the domain of the President. Domestic policy and spending is controlled more by Congress. Trump faced terrible odds because not only Democrats, but Republicans pushed his programs in the wrong direction while tying his hands. Many Republicans acted against what they pledged because they wished to get Trump and because too many of them are self-serving and don’t deserve to represent the people.
Every president has the same problems and must deal with the congress he has.
The Tax bill was very good. Not perfect, but still very good.
He was possibly more deregulatory than Carter, Those more bottom up that top down.
His 2 out for every one in EO was genius.
The mere fact that it was hard to keep burdening the economy with new regulations was the primary engine of his growth.
But spending was WAY high.
We must find a way to get spending increases off autopilot.
I was very disappointed by Ryan. I was a big Paul Ryan fan. But Ryan did not seem to be able to get past the fact that Trump used Alynsky’s tactics against the left.
Ryan was brillint as a congessmen and speaker when Obama was president. But he did not know how to move from opposition to governing.
“But spending was WAY high.”
Absolutely, but to put the nation in a good position so that he could deal in foreign policy he had to make economic deals he said he didn’t like. Remember, you gave him an A+ for foreign policy and what you, I and he didn’t want came along. That was the compromise.
I never trusted Ryan and he screwed Trump adding to the spending significantly.
As a rule it seems Republicans cannot move from opposition to the governing party. We need a Newt Gingrich approach.
Sorry, not going o give you the spending.
Very little of Trump’s foreign policy success hinged on spending.
Rebuilding our military was an important part of Trump’s foreign policy. He led by example. Think of NATO. He provided the means for the military to act. Think of Syria. Think of what he said when he passed the bill that included so much spending. Think of his impeachments that Republicans didn’t fight against.
I believe you to be wrong.
Our military is important.
Biden continues to spent a fortune on it.
But recruitment is down 40%, and readiness is down an equal amount.
In the event we should need it – having wasted time on idiocy and political correctness, it may not be there when we need it.
Less money and more warfighters.
“Our military is important. Biden continues to spent a fortune on it.”
John, that was not the point of my comments. My point was that Trump’s A+ foreign policy rested on a strong military. Trump rebuilt the military and provided the appearance of strength. That was necessary for the A+ foreign policy. He had to give up on the spending side, not just because of Democrats but also because of Republicans and those that wished to get back at him rather than protect America. He led with strength by example.
Presidential powers are not so strong on the domestic front where Congress has control of the spending. Carter, though nowhere near as good as you state (that is my opinion), did try to control spending, but that was in the 70s when Democrats were more reasonable. Under Trump, the Democrats were off the wall, and Republicans weren’t that much better. Blame Congress as Trump tried to change the dynamics, but people like Ryan lied. That led to tremendous spending, which should never have occurred.
Sorry the Left in the US is entirely responsible for all US division. This is a problem that SIGNIFICANTLY predates Trump.
Trump took advantage of the mistakes of the left in creating those divisions to get elected.
Regardless, the conflict were are in the midst of will not continue. It will end. Had the left not wigged out over Trump’s electon.
Had it not doubled down on stupid, had it not spent the past 4 years ranting frothing and screaming that Trump was the greatest threat to the entire world ever, we would have had the appropriate political re-alignment following Obama – a slight shift back to the right recentering the country and stabalizing our politics.
On the Issues Trump was the right person for that. But he was elected by using the Alynskyite tactics of the left very effectively against them. The result was increasing division and crazyness on the left.
But there is nothing close to an equal blame situation here. When arsonists are lighting the house on fire, we do not blame the fire fighters because the house burned down – even if they did not do their job as well as hoped.
The bat$hit craziness today comes from the left, not the right, not trump, not the far right.
If you want some understanding of how we got where we are and how dangerous it is – again I would recommend Honestly – Bari Weis’s podcast. Specifically the recent episodes with Prof. Johnathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff.
Let me be clear – whatever you might think of the past – and there are bad things in our past – it worked. Badly maybe, but still worked.
The US had a liberty driven revolution that left the world a better place. We have not had the bloody disaster that was the Franch revolution or the bloody messes of Communism or Fascism.
No matter how bad you think things are in terms of the issues the left thinks are critical – every single one of those issues was WORSE in the past.
Progess is not inherently bad. But progress is inherently hard.
Whatever you think of the messes of today or the past, it is incredibly difficult to do better.
This is one of the major reasons why individual liberty is so important. Republicans like to talk about the states as the laboratories of democracy. But successful societal changes starts with the individual – not government.
When individuals make changes and they do not work – they FAIL. No one props them up. We try over and over until eventually we get change right. If you want progress – that is the only way that actually works.
Why is the above important ? Because it establishes that the left is Dangerous. Even if the far far far right is wrong, gets power and returns us to Jim Crowe – that would be bad. It would be very bad for some, but it would not be catastrophic.
The left represents an enormous risk of catastrophe – they seek to impose massive amounts of change thoughtlessly and rapidly.
As we are seeing right now with the Biden admin – there is not a snowball’s chance in h311 that is not going to go incredibly badly. Worse there is a very real risk that even we do not stop this soon – it goes French Revolution badly.
There is absolutely nothing the most extreme on the right would do to the country that would result in anything worse than a step backwards. As undesirable as that might be – it pales compared to the killing fields or the Gulags, or the cultural revolution or Rwanda.
Next, this is a large and incredibly diverse country. That is only possible due to a extrodinarily large degree of tolerance that is even if grudgingly at the core of this country. You may not care about religious tolerance – but Europe spent hundreds of years murdering each other over often trivial religious differences. You can not have diversity, pluralism, not even just large scale countries without massive tolerance.
But again look at our history. We have had a bad records regarding racial tolerance – particularly with blacks,. Of course unlikely most of the world we have had racial diversity for several hundred years. We have fumbled our way through it often badly – but we managed. The nazi’s murdered millions over racial differences than many of us can not even perceive.
As badly as we have done – the US is the laboratory for diversity of all kinds, radically different from the rest of the world.
Regardless, we can go back to Jim Crow (something that has a zero percent chance of occuring) and the world will not collapse.
You can attack conservatives all you want – but the most righ wing, the ones that want to go back to leave it to beaver, are not seeking to try something that could fail disastrously. They are seeking to go back to something they beleived worked better.
No matter how wrong they might be they are NOT an existential threat to anything.
But the left is.
The best possible outcome for this country right now is for democrats to return to sanity. To quit trying to change the world – or at the very least quit trying to change everything yesterday.
At their core the left which owns the democratic party is disruptive. That is an incredible attribute in an entrepreneur. It is disasterous in government.
Hitler was disruptive. Mao was disruptive, Lennon and stalin were disruptive, Robespierre was disruptive.
Disruption in government ends badly.
I am in favor of the biggest possible red tsunami in November – not because I give a schiff about republicans.
But because democrats need the strongest possible wap upside the head to push then to return to the center .
If they do not – it is irrelevant whether they win and dominate or lose and are destoryed – the outcome for the rest of us will be bad.
We are approaching the condictions that resulted in Hilter, Mao, Stalin.
We have an economic mess, inflation, increasing anarchy, institutions we do not trust.
At some point things will be bad enough that someone – left or right will promise to fix it all if we give them power.
And if things are bad enough – we will buy in.
Republlicans are not trying to change the world overnight – the left is.
The only good end to all this requires the left to shift back towards the center – as fast as possible.
First, you totally lose credibility by saying this is far worse than Clinton.
That is completely insane BS.
In every single measurable way the Clinton issues is many orders of magnitude larger.
Far Far more classified documents, orders of magnitude more TS/SCI and Codeword only documents.
Actual illegal acts involving those documents – not mere posession.
The Trump documents got to MAL one of 3 ways. GSA moved them – most likely. They were brought while Trump was president. They were declassified while Trump was president and brought or by far the lest likely – Trump sole them AFTER he left office.
Only the last is serious – and that is not close to Clinton. Clinton and her staff through a variety of means removed classifed documents from the State department SCIF. Hillary had no independent declassification authority. Trump did.
Finally, Hillary stored all these documents electronically on an email server that was exposed to the world – and we know that atleast one hostile foreign power accessed it. The 11 allegedly classified documents at MAL were on paper, and they were locked up. There were no Russian or China’s agents accessing them from 12,000 miles away over the internet in real time.
You have absolutely none of that with what is alleged regarding Trump.
And that completely ignores the probability that the allegations regarding Trump are FALSE.
I continue to suspect that all these “classified” doccuments are the Collusion delusion documents that Trump mass declassified.
That this is about the DOJ/FBI trying to prevent the release of evidence of their bias and malfeasance.
The Collusion Delussion as well as XFH/XFR and Mueller documents were all declassified while Trump was president.
Many in 2018, more in 2019, and everything on Jan. 19th 2021. This is THOUSANDS of documents.
As of today – not a single one has seen the light of day.
Even if Every Trump classified document has nothing to do with this – we still KNOW there is a masssive political coverup going on within the Biden admin – because none of those documents have been made public – some as much as 4 years after they were ordered declassified.
That alone proves the DOJ/FBI are politically corrupt.
They were ORDERED by Trump to disclose EVERYTHING regarding a series of investigations that were highly unusual, stink of being political, and produced zero results.
And todate they have FAILED TO DO SO.
It would not surprise me even a tiny bit to beleive that Trump has his own copy of the documents he declassified, and that DOJ/FBI are desparate to get them back
So no, there is no chance this ever amounts to a tiny fraction of the Clinton scandal.
And it is highly likely this blows up in the face of DOJ/FBI.
Svelaz – most people are not stupid. They may not have considered every detail I noted above. But they know that Clinton and Trump are not the same thing.
They know that the FBI protected Clinton and has been hostile to Trump since Day one.
They know the president has the power to declassify whatever he wants, and the Sec. State does not.
They know that 11 paper documents locked in a SCIF are less consequential than thousands documents on hacked mail server.
The FBI and DOJ are being called corrupt – because they are.
The whitewashed Clinton – before Trump was elected. Trump had nothing to do with that.
But FBI and DOJ did.
They ran the illegal XFH and XFR investigations.
The conducted a SC investigation – that not only found nothing, but never had a constitutional predicate.
They still have note released a single one of the declassified documents regarding their politically corrupt conduct.
The same person running the Trump document investigation at the FBI was running the Whitmer Kidnapping entrapment fiasco – clearly someone who does not know the law.
AG Garland claimed he signed off on this – if True that would be very bad for him. But several have come forward to say that is highly unlikely, That he is trying to protect the DOJ/FBI from further damage.
There are lots of challenges to the DOJ/FBI story that may not prove true. But if ANY of them prove true – DOJ/FBI are in deep schiff. And even if none of them prove true – the DOJ/FBI are still undeniably politically biased and corrupt.
I would note Garland misrepresented the provenance of his own memo directing the FBI to threat tag parents angry with what schools were doing to their kids.
You may not like this – but it is true.
Merrit Garland has less credibility than Donald Trump.
The FBI lab has determined that the Baldwin gun wouldn’t fire unless the trigger was pulled.
It took them 10 months to figure out what several of us said, and explained here, shortly after the shooting.
So Clouseau is apparently in charge of their lab too.
Q: Is this the 9mm ammo that will blow a lung out?
– A shopper Jun 5, 2022
BEST ANSWER:
I sure hope so. If not, I’ll send a couple .45 rounds their way.
– BRIAN T. Jun 5, 2022
😀
https://palmettostatearmory.com/ammo-inc-full-metal-115gr-9mm-ammo-200rd-can-9115tmc-rb200.html
Never heard Merrick Garland chiming in when Obama took millions of pages and said “Screw you. I’m keeping them'” or when Hillary just bleached her hard drive of classifed material. Now he’s all Joan of Arc. My take: Garland’s the fall guy when this goes down and will just fade off into a millionaire’s retirement.
Featured
You Don’t Need a Warrant to Check Out These Epic Mar-a-Lago Raid Memes
Infowars.com
August 13th 2022, 2:44 pm
DOJ’s unprecedented targeting of Joe Biden’s political opponent backfiring harder and faster than the Russia collusion and impeachment hoaxes.
https://www.infowars.com/posts/you-dont-need-a-warrant-to-check-out-these-epic-mar-a-lago-raid-memes/
BTW: Rumor is that Trump’s vault wasn’t empty, that it was full of signed copies of Trump’s book, “Art of the Deal”. When the Raid was over the books were all gone. lol
That’s because Obama didn’t do what you claimed.
NARA, debunking your garbage: “The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) assumed exclusive legal and physical custody of Obama Presidential records when President Barack Obama left office in 2017, in accordance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA). NARA moved approximately 30 million pages of unclassified records to a NARA facility in the Chicago area where they are maintained exclusively by NARA. Additionally, NARA maintains the classified Obama Presidential records in a NARA facility in the Washington, DC, area. As required by the PRA, former President Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the Presidential records of his Administration.”
But don’t let little facts like this get in the way of your desire to believe falsehoods, right?
Merrick Garland was a federal judge at the time. What you say about Obama is a lie.
The communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs) throw Real President Trump in prison.
He wins ’24 by a landslide from his cell.
He pardons himself and moves into the White House.
Real President Donald J. Trump and the new Congress impeach and convict every last member of the Deep Deep State Swamp, including the 7th Floor, the Company, Kevin McCarthy, Lizzy, Hills et al.
Let’s get this party started!
TRANSLATION: HILLARY WAS GUILTY BE WE REFUSED TO INDICT HILLARY BECAUSE WE WOULD HAVE CONVICTED OBAMA.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”
– James Comey
“…extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information…” is/was a violation of law.
Hillary Clinton verdict: Guilty.
The Espionage Act Gets An Instant Makeover
A law reviled by liberalism ten minutes ago is now Savior to All
Matt Taibbi
Aug 13
Barack Obama was one of the most enthusiastic deployers of the Espionage Act, using it at least eight times to bring charges against people not for “espionage,” but for talking to the press. The list included Thomas Drake, Shamai Leibowitz, Stephen Kim, Chelsea Manning, Donald Sachtleben, and Jeffrey Sterling, plus Kiriakou and Snowden. The AP wrote how the Obama administration “obtained the records of 20 Associated Press office phone lines and reporters’ home and cell phones,” while they also:
Secretly dogged Fox News journalist James Rosen, getting his phone records, tracking his arrivals and departures at the State Department through his security-badge use, obtaining a search warrant to see his personal emails…
Establishment attitudes toward “whistleblowing” shifted with Trump’s election. Director Laura Poitras, won an Oscar in 2015 for her documentary about Snowden, CitizenFour. Glenn Greenwald, the reporter with whom Snowden collaborated, won the Pulitzer Prize. Yet when Trump got elected, a new type of “whistleblowing” became common. High-level leaks about issues like the Trump-Russia investigation, seemingly all coming from senior intelligence officials or congressional sources, were an almost weekly occurrence, and none were prosecuted.
https://azradale.substack.com/p/the-espionage-act-gets-an-instant
Hillary Clinton was exonerated by Comey of a violation of the Espionage Act despite gross negligence in the handling of classified information. He concluded that he could find no case of a conviction under the Act in the absence of intent to do harm to the national defence, and that “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring such a case in the absence of such an intent. So what is going on here?
The very public speech Trump gave on Jan 6th brazenly self-incriminates himself, Rudy and Eastman as plotting to overthrow the election. How do you interpret “if Mike Pence does the right thing….and I’ll be President”?
These public utterances lay bare the plot to interfere with the EC Count at the Joint Session on Jan 6th, which is planning to impede an official proceeding of Congress. There’s enough probable cause evidence in the speech alone to seek written evidence of the plot.
Also, Rudy and Eastman cannot join into a conspiracy to derail Congress, and expect to get away with attorney-client privilege to dodge the investigation. These bums think they operate above the law (just like the Clintons). If we don’t put our foot down and punish these elites for lawbreaking, it will be all over for “a nation of laws”. If attempting to overturn a Presidential election is just a game lawyers are allowed to play, what do you image will happen when they finally succeed?
RE:”There’s enough probable cause evidence in the speech alone to seek written evidence of the plot…” if they would rather prosecute, they’d better do it and decrease the speculation!
pbinca,
“The very public speech Trump gave on Jan 6th brazenly self-incriminates himself, Rudy and Eastman as plotting to overthrow the election.”
This is sooo last week, you need to do much better to be a good sealion, no fish for you.
There’s enough probable cause evidence in the speech alone to seek written evidence of the plot.
What do you think the DoJ and the Democrat party constitutied Jan6 committee has been doing for 18 months? What you claim exists, does not.
As if we needed to be reminded that the Democrats are at it again…by any means necessary
The 2024 Election Is Being Rigged Right Now In Plain Sight
https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/12/the-2024-election-is-being-rigged-right-now-in-plain-sight/
Much like the 2020 election, which wasn’t stolen so much as rigged months in advance to give Joe Biden an advantage that all but guaranteed his victory, the 2024 election is being rigged to ensure that Trump either cannot run or, if he does run, cannot win.
First, consider the FBI raid. No serious person believes that a documents dispute was the real purpose of the raid. The idea that the FBI would search the home of a former president and potential 2024 GOP candidate over an ongoing (and not uncommon) disagreement over presidential records with the National Archives is absurd on its face.
In his brief and self-congratulatory press conference Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said he personally authorized the search on Trump’s home, that the Justice Department “does not take such a decision lightly,” and that it always seeks to use a “less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken.”
Professor Turley fails to mention the widest category of documents that could be seized under the warrant, which is ANYTHING dating from the Trump presidency. It is questionable whether this wide a search warrant is consistent with the 4th amendment requirement of particularity. It is one of the things that has caused former AG Mukasey to believe that this is a fishing expedition for evidence of J6 activities.
A reminder that under the PRA, Trump should not be in possession of presidential records.
The PRA is not a criminal law and wax not referred to in the warrant. What is your point?
Daniel, The warrant cites 18 USC 2071 and it’s my understanding that part of the records covered by such setion include PRA records.
Concerned Communist, the warrant reflects Melania’s taste in Dolce and Gabana, and it is believed that Doctor Jill (TM) wanted to look better than Joe Biden’s first wife before he cheated on her with Jilly, according to anonymous sources in Red China News
It is true that 2071 covers all records.
Daniel,
My points are:
a) it shouldn’t be a surprise to you that there was a wide category in the warrant, and
b) if Trump had abided by the PRA, as the law requires, then he wouldn’t have faced a search warrant allowing “ANYTHING dating from the Trump presidency” to be seized. The fact is that it’s illegal for Trump to have Presidential Records still in his possession.
I also disagree that “The PRA … [was] not referred to in the warrant.” The warrant clearly states “Property to be seized: All physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 793 , 2 071 , or 1519, including … Any government and/or Presidential Records created between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021. …” I interpret that capitalized phrase as a reference to the PRA.
Hi Daniel,
Your point is well made. The Fourth Amendment requires that search warrants must “particularly describ[e]…the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment
If we look at portion of the warrant described by Turley; the items to be seized include “[a]ny physical documents with classification markings, along with any containers/boxes (including any other contents) in which such documents are located, as well as any other containers/boxes that are collectively stored or found together with the aforementioned documents and containers/boxes.”
The point to focus on is that the warrant allows the seizure of all items that were “collectively stored found together” with the items described in the warrant. For example, if a document falling under the PRA is found in a particular box of documents, the entire box will be seized. If this box is found in a particular storage room, the entire contents of that storage room will be seized.
I agree with you that this is overly broad. The suggestion that casting such a broad net would result in the seizure of items that fall under the 5th amendment as well as items that are covered under attorney client privilege it not unfounded. I believe that portions of this warrant are likely to be unconstitutional and will be overturned.
However, the damage has been done and I believe that this gets to the heart of the matter. The site that I linked describes “Unreasonable Search and Seizure” as follows.
“An unreasonable search and seizure is a search and seizure executed…extending the authorized scope of search and seizure.”
“The remedy to unreasonable search and seizure is the exclusionary rule, which prevents the evidence obtained via the unreasonable search or seizure from being introduced in court, as it is referred to as the fruit of the poisonous tree; see Mapp v. Ohio, 347 U.S. 643 (1961). ***This remedy only applies to criminal trials. For 1) other court proceedings [such as]…grand jury proceedings…this remedy does not apply.***”
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/unreasonable_search_and_seizure
My premise is this; the goal of the raid has been accomplished. The DOJ has seized another 20 or so boxes of Trump “memorabilia” under the guise of a grand jury subpoena with the hope, against all hope, that this “Hail Mary Pass” will be the one that finally takes Trump down.
Nothing stops Trump’s lawyers from arguing to the judge that the warrant was overly broad. So far, they haven’t.
So? Your statement is meaningless.
The very best way to jab a Thumb into the Democrat eye Is by voting Donald J. Trump to a second term in Office as President of the United States.
Trump can live in the private quarters of Mar-Lago and never leave the premises and get my vote!
This in the words of George Bush….”This shall not stand!” sounds appropriate!
The DOJ and FBI just handed the Election to Trump by their over-reach and blatant interfering in an Election…..yet again.
Yes, let’s fill the job of President based on poking the opposition in the eye — qualifications and policy-preferences be damned.
Who wants to have to debate policy?
I can say with certainty based on stated positions that Trump would have ceded Ukraine to Putin, and then backed down as Putin attacked Moldova and Lithuania. He would have broken up NATO, and left his successors with a nightmarish neo-imperialist Russia to deal with. He always has an excuse ready for any loss or setback.
You need to explain why Trump successfully demanded that NATO nations contribute MUCH MORE to their own defense, why he urged Merkel not to rely on Russia for its oil and gas, why he made much more aggressive air patrols of the Baltic Sea in defense of Estonia, and why he did NOT cede Ukraine to the Russkis when he was POTUS.
imports. Are you an amnesiac, or is it Alzheimer’s?
“. . . Trump would have ceded Ukraine to Putin . . .”
So why didn’t Putin invade Ukraine *while* Trump was president?
Could that reluctance have had anything to do with the 59 Tomahawk missiles he launched against the Putin-supported Syrian government?
That attack, by the way, that was supported by an additional some 50 missiles launched by the UK and France.
Pbinca: Statements of this nature should provide a bit of proof or commentary if one wants to appear serious to others. The proof to the contrary is already written in history. Putin only invaded Ukraine while Obama / Biden and Biden / Harris were in power. Putin left Ukraine alone during Trump’s administration. One can also look at the rest of Trump’s foreign policy achievements and those achievements will tell you why.
“Hillary is guilty but we can’t prosecute her because that prosecution would convict president Obama.”
Oops!
_____
Washington, D.C.
FBI National Press Office
July 5, 2016
Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use of a Personal E-Mail System
…
“That’s what we have done. Now let me tell you what we found:
“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”
“For example, seven e-mail chains concern matters that were classified at the Top Secret/Special Access Program level when they were sent and received. These chains involved Secretary Clinton both sending e-mails about those matters and receiving e-mails from others about the same matters. There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation. In addition to this highly sensitive information, we also found information that was properly classified as Secret by the U.S. Intelligence Community at the time it was discussed on e-mail (that is, excluding the later “up-classified” e-mails).
“None of these e-mails should have been on any kind of unclassified system, but their presence is especially concerning because all of these e-mails were housed on unclassified personal servers not even supported by full-time security staff, like those found at Departments and Agencies of the U.S. Government—or even with a commercial service like Gmail.
“Separately, it is important to say something about the marking of classified information. Only a very small number of the e-mails containing classified information bore markings indicating the presence of classified information. But even if information is not marked “classified” in an e-mail, participants who know or should know that the subject matter is classified are still obligated to protect it.”
…
– James Comey
IF COMEY HAD INDICTED HILLARY, COMEY WOULD HAVE CONVICTED OBAMA
________________________________________________________________
“Obama used a pseudonym in emails with Clinton, FBI documents reveal”
“The State Department has refused to make public that and other emails Hillary Clinton exchanged with Barack Obama. | Getty”
09/23/2016 06:27 PM EDT
“President Barack Obama used a pseudonym in email communications with Hillary Clinton and others, according to FBI records made public Friday.” The disclosure came as the FBI released its second batch of documents from its investigation into Clinton’s private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. The 189 pages the bureau released includes interviews with some of Clinton’s closest aides, such as Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills; senior State Department officials; and even Marcel Lazar, better known as the Romanian hacker “Guccifer.” In an April 5, 2016 interview with the FBI, Abedin was shown an email exchange between Clinton and Obama, but the longtime Clinton aide did not recognize the name of the sender. “Once informed that the sender’s name is believed to be a pseudonym used by the president, Abedin exclaimed: ‘How is this not classified?’” the report says. “Abedin then expressed her amazement at the president’s use of a pseudonym and asked if she could have a copy of the email.” The State Department has refused to make public that and other emails Clinton exchanged with Obama. Lawyers have cited the “presidential communications privilege,” a variation of executive privilege, in order to withhold the messages under the Freedom of Information Act. The report doesn’t provide more details on the contents of that particular email exchange, but says it took place on June 28, 2012, and had the subject line: “Re: Congratulations.” It may refer to the Supreme Court’s ruling that day upholding a key portion of the Obamacare law. It’s been known since last year that Obama and Clinton corresponded occasionally via her private account, but the White House has insisted Obama did not know she relied on it routinely and exclusively for official business. A report on the FBI’s June 7, 2016 interview with “Guccifer” confirms FBI Director James Comey’s claim that Lazar falsely asserted that he’d surreptitiously accessed Clinton’s server. “Lazar began by stating that he had never claimed to hack the Clinton server. [An FBI agent] then advised that Fox News had recently published an article which reported that Lazar had claimed to hack the Clinton server. Lazar then stated that he recalled the interview with Fox News, and that he had lied to them about hacking the Clinton server.” Additional FBI interviewees whose reports were made public Friday included Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s policy planning director; Bryan Pagliano, a former Clinton technology aide; Monica Hanley, a veteran Clinton aide who worked for her in the Senate and at State; and Sidney Blumenthal, Clinton’s longtime confidant. Hanley revealed in her FBI interview that she had no idea where a thumb drive she used to store an archive of Clinton’s emails had gone. Hanley searched for the thumb drive, which the FBI described as “something she happened to have laying around the house,” several times but was unable to find it. The interviews provide more insight into Clinton’s lack of technical acumen. According to the FBI’s Abedin writeup, she “could not use a computer”; Hanley said Clinton had no idea what her own email password was, and had to rely on aides. The so-called “302″ reports also detail FBI interviews with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former CIA acting director Mike Morell, State Department official Pat Kennedy, State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, Bill Clinton aide Justin Cooper, former diplomatic security chief Eric Boswell and longtime diplomat Lewis Lukens. Some of the interview reports had the subject’s name removed on privacy grounds before the records were released. Many of those people seem to be computer technicians or lower-level State Department officials. The FBI published 58 pages of documents earlier this month that revealed Clinton had relied on others’ judgment to not send her classified material during email correspondences. “Clinton did not recall receiving any emails she thought should not be on an unclassified system,” the FBI said in its Sept. 2 report. “She relied on State officials to use their judgment when emailing her and could not recall anyone raising concerns with her regarding the sensitivity of the information she received at her email address.”
– Politico
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fbi-faces-an-unprecedented-number-of-threats-following-mar-a-lago-search-1396939/
“The FBI is experiencing an “unprecedented” number of threats against its agents and personnel after the agency searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and removed a trove of sensitive documents, CNN reported.”
“The bulletin also mentioned people have doxxed agents by revealing their personal information online.”