That’s the ending you want and need. And memes are the way you far righties communicate but the ending is not good for you. The little time you have left, you will move to DeadSantis as the new hero. Trump will bluster and say things are “coming” all the way until people have finally tuned him out….after the indictment and when his insurrectionists drunks beat each other up. Prepare now….it’s all over. Be in the side of being right for once. Listen to the king. He’s telling you.
You know the DS playbook for Russiagate 2.0, that's it. "Obstruction" LOL
I know stuff you don't know which happened before and during the raid.
Use logic - Trump would not be truthing if he was in any kind of legal peril.
Use logic - FBI wouldn't be jumping off this Titanic with half the agency calling for Wray's resignation if Trump were the bad guy. The corrupt DOJ-FBI are the ones on trial, not Trump.
What all this DOES justify is President Trump's coming response...and you're not going to like it.
This is MAG's thread so I'm gonna post this in his honor.
You've often heard the phrase... "Patriots in FULL control"
What does it really mean? I'm about to show you...PROVE the white hats are in "full control" and that you are indeed watching a movie.
First off, it is an irrefutable fact President Trump had foreknowledge of this raid - nothing was "accidently" left in his desk drawers for the maid to discover.
They knew it was coming (3 days before the raid):
So, whatever agents discovered, Trump WANTED THEM FOUND!
Got that? Nothing "misplaced"
Now...take a look at the photo released by the DOJ-FBI:
What do you see?
A bunch of scattered "top secret" classified documents.
What else do you see? A staged Time magazine cover - from March 4, 2019.
Take a closer look:
"Knock, Knock" - more than 3 years before this raid.
So, not only did the white hats know this raid was coming (Dan Scavino's Truth), they are in "full control" of the narrative: the Time magazine cover AND what the FBI is releasing to the public.
Wild, right? Think about THAT..
But it goes deeper.
So what was Q talking about on March 4, 2019?
(I apologize for not having screenshots, however, anyone can verify these Q drops themselves)
Q says:
POST #2961:
Is there a benefit (think public optics) to allowing your enemy to open the front door?
'War-like' Posture Activated?
Thank you for playing.
Q
He says this raid justifies a "war-like posture" - exactly how we see it playing it out now. What's coming can now be justified in the eyes of the public. Grab your popcorn!
One day earlier (even BEFORE the Time mag cover came out ), Q posted this:
POST #2937:
Why have there been no arrests?
Why have 'specific' dates been mentioned only to see no action?
Define 'game theory'.
Why must disinformation be provided?
Define 'open source'.
Define 'public purview'.
Do we let our enemies walk through the front door?
Define 'plausible deniability'.
Why was it important to FIRST clean house within the FBI & DOJ (public info)?
Why was it important to FIRST clean house within other ABC agencies (non_public info)?
What are the duties of the FBI?
What are the duties of the DOJ?
When does MIL INTEL have jurisdiction?
What vested powers does POTUS have re: MIL INTEL vs. ABC agencies re: matters of NAT SEC (HOMELAND)?
Think 'umbrella surv'.
What agency does the FBI report to?
What is the role of the AG?
Does the AG oversee the firing of FBI & DOJ senior/mid/lower staff?
How many FBI & DOJ were FIRED/FORCED?
Does 'Russia' recusal prevent/block AG from this responsibility?
What time period did this occur?
Who appointed and tasked HUBER?
Who appointed and tasked the OIG?
Who was AG?
[zero leaks - none]
Transfer from AG1 to AG2?
Why might that be important?
How do you avoid 'politically motivated/attack - obstruction - attempt to block/obstruct Mueller'?
Optics are important.
When are optics not important?
Think Whitaker.
Define 'stage set'.
Who recently walked 'on stage' to take command?
What 'stage' experience did this person have?
Think Bill Clinton impeachment.
Has the 'stage' been cleaned & cleared for the next performance?
If the 'stage' is clean, can the performance begin?
How might 'transparency' [DECLAS] fit into the dialogue?
Define 'thesis' statement.
What benefit(s) does this provide BARR?
"This is not simply another four-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not we, the people, reclaim control over our government." - POTUS
Logical thinking.
Q
Again, Q is talking about the "front door" - Q goes on about the DOJ, FBI and their duties..
Do we let our enemies walk through the front door?
Define 'plausible deniability'.
Why was it important to FIRST clean house within the FBI & DOJ (public info)?
Why was it important to FIRST clean house within other ABC agencies (non_public info)?
What are the duties of the FBI?
What are the duties of the DOJ?
When does MIL INTEL have jurisdiction?
Remember, these Q posts are from 2019.
Now, take a look at this President Trump truth about the raid:
Trump posted this at 17:14, so if we go to Q post #1714 we get this:
How do you hide a message in plain sight?
Q
BOOM!
The Time magazine cover embedded in the DOJ-FBI pictures released to the public.
Our REAL shadow president giving us conformation everything is going to plan.
That's what "FULL CONTROL" looks like...before, during and after.
You are watching a scripted movie.
Mags, I know you're reading - come back soon! This party is just getting started!
You've often heard the phrase... "Patriots in FULL control"
What does it really mean? I'm about to show you...PROVE the white hats are in "full control" and that you are indeed watching a movie.
First off, it is an irrefutable fact President Trump had foreknowledge of this raid - nothing was "accidently" left in his desk drawers for the maid to discover.
They knew it was coming (3 days before the raid):
So, whatever agents discovered, Trump WANTED THEM FOUND!
Got that? Nothing "misplaced"
Now...take a look at the photo released by the DOJ-FBI:
What do you see?
A bunch of scattered "top secret" classified documents.
What else do you see? A staged Time magazine cover - from March 4, 2019.
Take a closer look:
"Knock, Knock" - more than 3 years before this raid.
So, not only did the white hats know this raid was coming (Dan Scavino's Truth), they are in "full control" of the narrative: the Time magazine cover AND what the FBI is releasing to the public.
Wild, right? Think about THAT..
But it goes deeper.
So what was Q talking about on March 4, 2019?
(I apologize for not having screenshots, however, anyone can verify these Q drops themselves)
Q says:
POST #2961:
Is there a benefit (think public optics) to allowing your enemy to open the front door?
'War-like' Posture Activated?
Thank you for playing.
Q
He says this raid justifies a "war-like posture" - exactly how we see it playing it out now. What's coming can now be justified in the eyes of the public. Grab your popcorn!
One day earlier (even BEFORE the Time mag cover came out ), Q posted this:
POST #2937:
Why have there been no arrests?
Why have 'specific' dates been mentioned only to see no action?
Define 'game theory'.
Why must disinformation be provided?
Define 'open source'.
Define 'public purview'.
Do we let our enemies walk through the front door?
Define 'plausible deniability'.
Why was it important to FIRST clean house within the FBI & DOJ (public info)?
Why was it important to FIRST clean house within other ABC agencies (non_public info)?
What are the duties of the FBI?
What are the duties of the DOJ?
When does MIL INTEL have jurisdiction?
What vested powers does POTUS have re: MIL INTEL vs. ABC agencies re: matters of NAT SEC (HOMELAND)?
Think 'umbrella surv'.
What agency does the FBI report to?
What is the role of the AG?
Does the AG oversee the firing of FBI & DOJ senior/mid/lower staff?
How many FBI & DOJ were FIRED/FORCED?
Does 'Russia' recusal prevent/block AG from this responsibility?
What time period did this occur?
Who appointed and tasked HUBER?
Who appointed and tasked the OIG?
Who was AG?
[zero leaks - none]
Transfer from AG1 to AG2?
Why might that be important?
How do you avoid 'politically motivated/attack - obstruction - attempt to block/obstruct Mueller'?
Optics are important.
When are optics not important?
Think Whitaker.
Define 'stage set'.
Who recently walked 'on stage' to take command?
What 'stage' experience did this person have?
Think Bill Clinton impeachment.
Has the 'stage' been cleaned & cleared for the next performance?
If the 'stage' is clean, can the performance begin?
How might 'transparency' [DECLAS] fit into the dialogue?
Define 'thesis' statement.
What benefit(s) does this provide BARR?
"This is not simply another four-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not we, the people, reclaim control over our government." - POTUS
Logical thinking.
Q
Again, Q is talking about the "front door" - Q goes on about the DOJ, FBI and their duties..
Do we let our enemies walk through the front door?
Define 'plausible deniability'.
Why was it important to FIRST clean house within the FBI & DOJ (public info)?
Why was it important to FIRST clean house within other ABC agencies (non_public info)?
What are the duties of the FBI?
What are the duties of the DOJ?
When does MIL INTEL have jurisdiction?
Remember, these Q posts are from 2019.
Now, take a look at this President Trump truth about the raid:
Trump posted this at 17:14, so if we go to Q post #1714 we get this:
How do you hide a message in plain sight?
Q
BOOM!
The Time magazine cover embedded in the DOJ-FBI pictures released to the public.
Our REAL shadow president giving us conformation everything is going to plan.
That's what "FULL CONTROL" looks like...before, during and after.
You are watching a scripted movie.
Mags, I know you're reading - come back soon! This party is just getting started!
Oh Joe. I actually feel bad for you. You’re spending so much time on pictures of a door. Trump had no idea of the raid. We know his reaction the moment he was told. If he knew it was coming. All those documents would have been in jersey and he’d be celebrating the raid was a failure. I seriously do feel bad for you. You have no idea it is all over for trump.
Trump was the first to announce the raid on Truth Social, not the DOJ-FBI or CNN. Nice try.
Our real president even put air quotes around the word "pictures" in that last post, specially for YOU vitterd...but of course you missed it.
"What storm Mister President?" - Fake News
"You'll find out" - Trump
Have you ever heard of game theory? It's where you map out every possible outcome on the board, so no matter what moves the enemy makes, the outcome is already predetermined - scripted.
This is the meaning of "you're watching a movie". And unlike you who just pretends with ridiculous comments like, "I've seen the unredacted version", I already know how this movie ends, and why things are happening the way they are happening.
Patriots in FULL control.
Lmao. He had no idea they were coming. He freaked out and started yelling at everyone. He’s a lunatic. That “storm” comment was him just being an idiot. There was no storm. You are sooooo stupid. It’s unreal that you can believe what you post. Trump just says dumb shit. No secret meaning. No codes. Just dumb because he’s stupid.Trump was the first person to announce the raid on Truth, not the DOJ-FBI. Nice try.
Our real president even put air quotes around the word "pictures" in that last post, specially for you vitterd...but of course you missed it.
"What storm Mister President?" - Fake News
"You'll find out" - Trump
Have you ever heard of game theory? It's where you map out every possible outcome on the board, so no matter what moves the enemy makes, the outcome is already predetermined - scripted.
This is the meaning of "you're watching a movie". And unlike you who just pretends with ridiculous comments like, "I've seen the unredacted version", I already know how this movie ends.
Patriots in FULL control.
Joe, it’s over. You’re talking to someone who knows. Not your buddies in mom’s basement that thinks Scavino is sending them codes. A real person that has information. I’m trying to help you. You’re embarrassing yourself.
Yeah, yeah, I know it's Yahoo, but c'mon...this is funny!
news.yahoo.com
They got NOTIN!
"I've seen the redacted version"
"You're talking to someone who knows"
"A real person that has information"
DOJ Is Likely to Wait Past Midterms to Reveal Any Trump Charges
(Bloomberg) -- Federal prosecutors are likely to wait until after the November election to announce any charges against Donald Trump, if they determine he broke laws, according to people familiar.Most Read from BloombergLukoil Chairman Ravil Maganov Dies After Falling From Hospital WindowJeremy...
They got NOTIN!
"I've seen the redacted version"
"You're talking to someone who knows"
"A real person that has information"
Of course. We know that trumptards are unstable and violent. We all saw Jan 6th. He won’t be indicted until after the midterms because of what could happen at the polls and all the Q loons and election deniers. These are crazy people. They are you but they go outside.Yeah, yeah, I know it's Yahoo, but c'mon...this is funny!
DOJ Is Likely to Wait Past Midterms to Reveal Any Trump Charges
(Bloomberg) -- Federal prosecutors are likely to wait until after the November election to announce any charges against Donald Trump, if they determine he broke laws, according to people familiar.Most Read from BloombergLukoil Chairman Ravil Maganov Dies After Falling From Hospital WindowJeremy...
They got NOTIN!
"I've seen the redacted version"
"You're talking to someone who knows"
"A real person that has information"
We actually know he has more stuff at his New Jersey home but there is enough for an indictment so another raid isn’t necessary. I’m giving you plenty of time to prepare. All this “it’s coming soon”. You were right about that….just weren’t right about what’s coming.
30+ whistleblowers with the DOJ-FBI credibility in the toilet.
4th Amendment violations left and right.
Your latest Garland desperate talking points of "obstruction" are cute but even the Fake News admits it's a big fat nothing burger...like J6.
This current corrupt DOJ edition will be lucky to survive the midterms and after that, the FBI will be fighting for its very survival. "war like posture activated"
No matter what subject matter, you can never just state your opinion like every other normal person. You always have to project his pseudo-authority we all know is complete BS, especially in the face of the facts. Whether it's poker ("I won millions playing poker"), sports betting ("a real betting pro"), politics ("I've been in the room with heads of state") or these forums ("I only deal with admins, not mods...and get all the views"). Even girls..."I get all the 10s!" LOL
I mean, let's be real here...by now people know "I ran several campaigns" REALLY means, "I dropped pamphlets into mailboxes for the DNC."
Nothing you ever claim pans out, and this will be no exception. But it does add to an already great quote collection.
There aren’t 30 whistleblowers. Totally made up.30+ whistleblowers with the DOJ-FBI credibility in the toilet.
4th Amendment violations left and right.
Your latest Garland desperate talking points of "obstruction" are cute but even the Fake News now admits nothing is coming.
This current corrupt DOJ edition will be lucky to survive the midterms.
No matter what the subject matter, you can never just state your opinion like every other normal person. You always have to project his pseudo-authority we all know is complete BS, especially in the face of the facts. Whether it's poker ("I won millions playing poker"), sports betting ("a real betting pro"), politics ("I've been in the room with heads of state") or these forums ("I only deal with admins, not mods...and get all the views")...
I mean, let's get real here...by now people know "I ran several campaigns" REALLY means, "I dropped pamphlets into mailboxes for the DNC."
Nothing you ever claim pans out, and this will be no exception. But it does add to an already great quote collection.
everything I said has happened. I even gave you 2 days notice on the desk classified material. You laughed at that. The evidence is collected. Trump is finished. It’s over. I’m telling you. I don’t give you opinion. I give you fact. I’ve run campaigns at the highest level. It’s been confirmed and verified by everyone. My records speak for themselves.
I called you out to be in the podcast face to face and you can’t do it. You can’t be a man and say these things to me. You know why and so do I. You are not man enough and you don’t want your old wrinkly face next to mine. You’re scared to death. Every time I call you out, you run. Why can’t you face me? I can’t hurt you over video calls. You are a beta pussy.
One year from now:
"I've read the redacted version"....No, no, no...I never said that! Joe, you're making up quotes again!!
DOJ-FBI is going to be under UNPREDENTED assault - "war-like posture activated"
So yeah... now might be a good time to stop reading those transcripts from DS eggheads within depts that won't even exist under MAGA leadership. Yes, you KNOW MAGA is THAT nuts and beyond FED UP with these people!
Lecturing elected presidents on classified docs?? Who the fuck do they think they are?!?!? Nobody voted for these corrupt scoundrels!
"I've read the redacted version"....No, no, no...I never said that! Joe, you're making up quotes again!!
DOJ-FBI is going to be under UNPREDENTED assault - "war-like posture activated"
So yeah... now might be a good time to stop reading those transcripts from DS eggheads within depts that won't even exist under MAGA leadership. Yes, you KNOW MAGA is THAT nuts and beyond FED UP with these people!
Lecturing elected presidents on classified docs?? Who the fuck do they think they are?!?!? Nobody voted for these corrupt scoundrels!
You’re all over the place. Now that you’re a member across the street. Why won’t you face me and shoot your mouth off. What are you scared of? Is it because of how you look?One year from now:
"I've read the redacted version"....No, no, no...I never said that! Joe, you're making up quotes again!!
DOJ-FBI is going to be under UNPREDENTED assault - "war-like posture activated"
So yeah... now might be a good time to stop reading those DS transcripts from eggheads within depts that won't even exist with MAGA leadership. Yes, you KNOW MAGA is THAT nuts and beyond FED UP with these people!
Lecturing presidents on classified docs? Who the fuck do they think they are? Nobody voted for these people!
Just the news..NYT.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Former President Donald J. Trump may have thought that he was playing offense when he asked a federal judge last week for an independent review of documents seized from his residence in Florida — a move that, at best, could delay but not derail an investigation into his handling of the records.
But on Tuesday night, the Justice Department used a routine court filing in the matter to initiate a blistering counteroffensive that disclosed new evidence that Mr. Trump and his legal team may have interfered with the inquiry.
In the filing, in Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, department officials revealed more details about the classified materials that Mr. Trump had taken from the White House, including a remarkable photograph of several of them arrayed on the floor of Mar-a-Lago, his home and private club in Florida. In what read at times like a road map for a potential prosecution down the road, the filing also laid out evidence that Mr. Trump and his lawyers may have obstructed justice.
It was as if Mr. Trump, seeming not to fully grasp the potential hazards of his modest legal move, cracked open a door, allowing the Justice Department to push past him and seize the initiative.
“The Trump team got more than they bargained for,” said Preet Bharara, a former U.S. attorney in Manhattan and a longtime critic of Mr. Trump. “In response to a thin and tardy special master motion, D.O.J. was given the opportunity to be expansive.”
Federal prosecutors do not appear to be close to a decision about whether to charge Mr. Trump or anyone else in the documents case. Nor is it yet clear what harm, if any, to national security was done by Mr. Trump’s decision to keep the classified documents at his beachfront club — or even what specific subjects they covered.
Mr. Trump escaped the Russia investigation led by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III without facing obstruction charges, covered at the time by a Justice Department legal memo that guides against indicting a sitting president. But bringing a new case focused on the documents found at Mar-a-Lago would also be politically fraught, given that Mr. Trump seems to be planning another run for the White House.
Still, the Justice Department’s objection to Mr. Trump’s request for a special master to review the retrieved material was nothing if not expansive. Unfolding over 36 pages, it combined complicated legal arguments with an easy-to-read narrative of how, in the course of more than a year, Mr. Trump and his lawyers repeatedly dodged the government’s attempts to get the documents back.
Covering its final page was what Mr. Bharara called “an extra proverbial thousand words”: an image of five yellow folders marked “Top Secret,” and a red one labeled “Secret,” lying on the ground beside a box of magazine covers.
The image, which seemed to be a standard evidence photo, was the sort of thing the government collects all the time for use at possible trials. But because Mr. Trump and his lawyers made disputed statements about their handling of the records, it gave the Justice Department an opportunity to publicize the photo, which has now appeared repeatedly on TV news.
On Wednesday, going back on the offensive, Mr. Trump attacked the image.
“Terrible the way the FBI, during the Raid on Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor,” he wrote on his social media platform. He went to say, in a just-asking sort of way: “(Perhaps pretending it was me that did it!)”
Later that same evening, Mr. Trump’s lawyers angrily renewed their call for a special master in the case, telling a federal judge that Mr. Trump had merely possessed “his own presidential records.” In an 18-page filing, the lawyers suggested that by undertaking what they called an “unprecedented, unnecessary and legally unsupported raid” on Mar-a-Lago, the Justice Department was “criminalizing a former president’s possession of personal and presidential records in a secure setting.”
Taken at face value, Mr. Trump’s request for a special master was an effort to claw back presidential records that he and his lawyers contended were protected by executive privilege. But if it is successful, it could also slow down the Justice Department’s inquiry into whether he had wrongfully kept the material in the first place and subsequently interfered with the investigation.
The Justice Department rebutted the first claim Tuesday night by pointing out that Mr. Trump, as a former president, did not have the power to assert executive privilege over the documents when federal prosecutors — current members of the executive branch — had a court-ordered warrant to obtain them. The brief also noted that a delay for a special master review would be unnecessary given prosecutors had already completed their own review.
As is frequently the case with Mr. Trump, the papers his legal team filed to the judge overseeing the matter, Aileen M. Cannon, did more than just make legal arguments. They often drifted into irrelevant subjects (the former president’s polling numbers) or made extraneous complaints (such as one about “farcical Russian collusion claims.”)
While Mr. Trump’s lawyers have sought to portray the former president as the harried victim of government persecution, they have also claimed that he cooperated fully with the government’s attempts to get the documents back.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers said that in May, the former president “voluntarily” accepted a grand jury subpoena seeking documents still in his possession that bore “classification markings.” One month later, according to the lawyers’ account, Mr. Trump met with a top federal prosecutor and three F.B.I. agents who had gone to Mar-a-Lago to pick up the materials demanded by the subpoena.
Greeting them in the dining room of his estate, Mr. Trump assured the men that he was there to help. “Whatever you need,” the papers quoted him as saying, “just let us know.”
In its filing on Tuesday, the Justice Department took issue with this obliging portrait of the former president, offering a cinematic picture of how Mr. Trump and his legal team had stymied efforts to retrieve the documents.
When the delegation from the Justice Department arrived at Mar-a-Lago on June 3, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers handed over a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape, explaining that the records inside had come from a storage room. Another lawyer — identified as Christina Bobb, according to people familiar with the matter — signed a certification letter, the filing said, swearing that “a diligent search” had been conducted and that all of the classified materials on the property had been turned over.
But when the delegation tried to visit the storage room, the filing said, one of the lawyers “explicitly prohibited” officials from opening or looking into any of the other boxes there. That, the filing said, stopped them from confirming that no materials with classification markings had been left behind.
Investigators soon discovered evidence — possibly from interviews with witnesses — that classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago. Eventually, the filing said, the Justice Department came to believe that government records had likely been “concealed and removed from the storage room” and that efforts may have been taken “to obstruct the government’s investigation.”
It was that belief, it seems, that led to the search of Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8. As the Justice Department bluntly pointed out, when the F.B.I. descended on the property, agents discovered over twice the number of classified documents that Mr. Trump’s lawyers had handed over after their “diligent search” in June — including three that were found not in the storage room, but in desks in the former president’s office.
It is not uncommon for prosecutors conducting investigations to reveal new details — even striking ones — in court filings. But the Justice Department’s filing Tuesday night was specifically intended to rebut what senior law enforcement officials described as a false narrative about the run-up to the search at Mar-a-Lago that was pushed by Mr. Trump and his associates in their court papers and in the news media.
John P. Fishwick Jr., an Obama appointee who served as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia and had been critical of the department’s previous, less expansive filings, said that the Justice Department had started to shift its tactics.
“They are starting to understand that you not only need to be speaking to the judge with these filings, you need to be speaking directly to the American people,” he said.
Over the past week, what was initially meant to be a tightly argued legal brief focused on objecting to the appointment of a special master expanded into something much broader, the officials said. The filing became a more pointed presentation of evidence of the Justice Department’s belief that it had no choice except to seek a warrant for the search at Mar-a-Lago.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Trump’s Legal Jab Left Him Open to Justice Dept. Strike
A legal back-and-forth produced a straightforward narrative of how Mr. Trump and his lawyers repeatedly dodged the government’s attempts to recover sensitive documents for more than a year.Former President Donald J. Trump may have thought that he was playing offense when he asked a federal judge last week for an independent review of documents seized from his residence in Florida — a move that, at best, could delay but not derail an investigation into his handling of the records.
But on Tuesday night, the Justice Department used a routine court filing in the matter to initiate a blistering counteroffensive that disclosed new evidence that Mr. Trump and his legal team may have interfered with the inquiry.
In the filing, in Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, department officials revealed more details about the classified materials that Mr. Trump had taken from the White House, including a remarkable photograph of several of them arrayed on the floor of Mar-a-Lago, his home and private club in Florida. In what read at times like a road map for a potential prosecution down the road, the filing also laid out evidence that Mr. Trump and his lawyers may have obstructed justice.
It was as if Mr. Trump, seeming not to fully grasp the potential hazards of his modest legal move, cracked open a door, allowing the Justice Department to push past him and seize the initiative.
“The Trump team got more than they bargained for,” said Preet Bharara, a former U.S. attorney in Manhattan and a longtime critic of Mr. Trump. “In response to a thin and tardy special master motion, D.O.J. was given the opportunity to be expansive.”
Federal prosecutors do not appear to be close to a decision about whether to charge Mr. Trump or anyone else in the documents case. Nor is it yet clear what harm, if any, to national security was done by Mr. Trump’s decision to keep the classified documents at his beachfront club — or even what specific subjects they covered.
Mr. Trump escaped the Russia investigation led by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III without facing obstruction charges, covered at the time by a Justice Department legal memo that guides against indicting a sitting president. But bringing a new case focused on the documents found at Mar-a-Lago would also be politically fraught, given that Mr. Trump seems to be planning another run for the White House.
Still, the Justice Department’s objection to Mr. Trump’s request for a special master to review the retrieved material was nothing if not expansive. Unfolding over 36 pages, it combined complicated legal arguments with an easy-to-read narrative of how, in the course of more than a year, Mr. Trump and his lawyers repeatedly dodged the government’s attempts to get the documents back.
Covering its final page was what Mr. Bharara called “an extra proverbial thousand words”: an image of five yellow folders marked “Top Secret,” and a red one labeled “Secret,” lying on the ground beside a box of magazine covers.
The image, which seemed to be a standard evidence photo, was the sort of thing the government collects all the time for use at possible trials. But because Mr. Trump and his lawyers made disputed statements about their handling of the records, it gave the Justice Department an opportunity to publicize the photo, which has now appeared repeatedly on TV news.
On Wednesday, going back on the offensive, Mr. Trump attacked the image.
“Terrible the way the FBI, during the Raid on Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor,” he wrote on his social media platform. He went to say, in a just-asking sort of way: “(Perhaps pretending it was me that did it!)”
Later that same evening, Mr. Trump’s lawyers angrily renewed their call for a special master in the case, telling a federal judge that Mr. Trump had merely possessed “his own presidential records.” In an 18-page filing, the lawyers suggested that by undertaking what they called an “unprecedented, unnecessary and legally unsupported raid” on Mar-a-Lago, the Justice Department was “criminalizing a former president’s possession of personal and presidential records in a secure setting.”
Taken at face value, Mr. Trump’s request for a special master was an effort to claw back presidential records that he and his lawyers contended were protected by executive privilege. But if it is successful, it could also slow down the Justice Department’s inquiry into whether he had wrongfully kept the material in the first place and subsequently interfered with the investigation.
The Justice Department rebutted the first claim Tuesday night by pointing out that Mr. Trump, as a former president, did not have the power to assert executive privilege over the documents when federal prosecutors — current members of the executive branch — had a court-ordered warrant to obtain them. The brief also noted that a delay for a special master review would be unnecessary given prosecutors had already completed their own review.
As is frequently the case with Mr. Trump, the papers his legal team filed to the judge overseeing the matter, Aileen M. Cannon, did more than just make legal arguments. They often drifted into irrelevant subjects (the former president’s polling numbers) or made extraneous complaints (such as one about “farcical Russian collusion claims.”)
While Mr. Trump’s lawyers have sought to portray the former president as the harried victim of government persecution, they have also claimed that he cooperated fully with the government’s attempts to get the documents back.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers said that in May, the former president “voluntarily” accepted a grand jury subpoena seeking documents still in his possession that bore “classification markings.” One month later, according to the lawyers’ account, Mr. Trump met with a top federal prosecutor and three F.B.I. agents who had gone to Mar-a-Lago to pick up the materials demanded by the subpoena.
Greeting them in the dining room of his estate, Mr. Trump assured the men that he was there to help. “Whatever you need,” the papers quoted him as saying, “just let us know.”
In its filing on Tuesday, the Justice Department took issue with this obliging portrait of the former president, offering a cinematic picture of how Mr. Trump and his legal team had stymied efforts to retrieve the documents.
When the delegation from the Justice Department arrived at Mar-a-Lago on June 3, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers handed over a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape, explaining that the records inside had come from a storage room. Another lawyer — identified as Christina Bobb, according to people familiar with the matter — signed a certification letter, the filing said, swearing that “a diligent search” had been conducted and that all of the classified materials on the property had been turned over.
But when the delegation tried to visit the storage room, the filing said, one of the lawyers “explicitly prohibited” officials from opening or looking into any of the other boxes there. That, the filing said, stopped them from confirming that no materials with classification markings had been left behind.
Investigators soon discovered evidence — possibly from interviews with witnesses — that classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago. Eventually, the filing said, the Justice Department came to believe that government records had likely been “concealed and removed from the storage room” and that efforts may have been taken “to obstruct the government’s investigation.”
It was that belief, it seems, that led to the search of Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8. As the Justice Department bluntly pointed out, when the F.B.I. descended on the property, agents discovered over twice the number of classified documents that Mr. Trump’s lawyers had handed over after their “diligent search” in June — including three that were found not in the storage room, but in desks in the former president’s office.
It is not uncommon for prosecutors conducting investigations to reveal new details — even striking ones — in court filings. But the Justice Department’s filing Tuesday night was specifically intended to rebut what senior law enforcement officials described as a false narrative about the run-up to the search at Mar-a-Lago that was pushed by Mr. Trump and his associates in their court papers and in the news media.
John P. Fishwick Jr., an Obama appointee who served as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia and had been critical of the department’s previous, less expansive filings, said that the Justice Department had started to shift its tactics.
“They are starting to understand that you not only need to be speaking to the judge with these filings, you need to be speaking directly to the American people,” he said.
Over the past week, what was initially meant to be a tightly argued legal brief focused on objecting to the appointment of a special master expanded into something much broader, the officials said. The filing became a more pointed presentation of evidence of the Justice Department’s belief that it had no choice except to seek a warrant for the search at Mar-a-Lago.
cont...
In compiling the brief, the officials said, one of the last — and most significant — steps the department’s leadership took was to submit a motion in Federal District Court in Washington to unseal two grand jury subpoenas. One of the subpoenas, which was included in the filing, was the request for Mr. Trump to turn over the documents at Mar-a-Lago. The other asked for footage from surveillance cameras at the property to confirm the movement of some of the materials.
Matthew Miller, a former spokesman for the Justice Department, said the final product was a perfect distillation of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s oft-repeated belief that if the department needs to say something, it should only speak through its filings.
“That has been the difference between Trump and D.O.J.,” Mr. Miller said. “Trump keeps saying things publicly he can’t back up in court while D.O.J. waits in the grass and then shows up with a knockout blow.”
“And because Garland has been so conservative in his approach to the job,” he added, “those punches land even harder.”
Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence. He joined The Times in 1999. @alanfeuer
Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice. He joined The Times in 2017 after working for Politico, Newsday, Bloomberg News, the New York Daily News, the Birmingham Post-Herald and City Limits. @GlennThrush
In compiling the brief, the officials said, one of the last — and most significant — steps the department’s leadership took was to submit a motion in Federal District Court in Washington to unseal two grand jury subpoenas. One of the subpoenas, which was included in the filing, was the request for Mr. Trump to turn over the documents at Mar-a-Lago. The other asked for footage from surveillance cameras at the property to confirm the movement of some of the materials.
Matthew Miller, a former spokesman for the Justice Department, said the final product was a perfect distillation of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s oft-repeated belief that if the department needs to say something, it should only speak through its filings.
“That has been the difference between Trump and D.O.J.,” Mr. Miller said. “Trump keeps saying things publicly he can’t back up in court while D.O.J. waits in the grass and then shows up with a knockout blow.”
“And because Garland has been so conservative in his approach to the job,” he added, “those punches land even harder.”
Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence. He joined The Times in 1999. @alanfeuer
Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice. He joined The Times in 2017 after working for Politico, Newsday, Bloomberg News, the New York Daily News, the Birmingham Post-Herald and City Limits. @GlennThrush
