Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Bill Pascrell, Jr. @BillPascrell

The speech Pres Biden just gave is one of the most extraordinary orations ever by a US President. Every word. The republican party today is an unprecedented threat to our democracy and all of us need to see it, say it, and fight it.

https://twitter.com/BillPascrell/status/1565496864987922433


Congressman Pascrell is 100% correct.

The Republican Party has been hijacked by a bunch of violent far right wing radical extremists.

Hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, neo Nazis, and white supremacist hate groups have become the base of MAGA Republicans.

Far right wing violent militia groups are praised by Trump and his MAGA's in Congress.

QAnon conspiracy theorists are running for political office as Republicans. Some currently hold seats as Republicans.   

MAGA Trump supporters violently beat Capitol Police officers with dangerous objects used as weapons. Some even brought guns to the Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the government and end democracy.         

This is who the Republican party is today and any decent Republican who objects to what is happening to the party is viciously attacked and banished from the party at the behest of Donald Trump.

This isn't a political party, it's a far right wing extremist religious conspiracy cult that's taking away freedoms and rights from the American people.     

MAGA Republicans lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Donald Trump became angry that he lost in a blowout so he refused to leave office and made up election lies and conspiracies in order to illegally stay in office. Republicans in government peddled those same election fraud lies including the right wing media like Faux News trying to illegally keep Trump in power.

When that didn't work, they attempted a coup by violent force to overthrow the government to illegally keep Trump in power.

And these same election fraud lies still continues today by the radical right. When they win an election everything is ok, but when they lose, they scream "voter fraud" trying to steal an election they lost.

This is what you see happening in fascist countries, so it's appropriate to call MAGA fascists because they are indeed promoting fascism.

Their attempt to undermine our free and fair elections is being done on purpose because they only want to have elections that they win.

QAnon conspiracy theorists like Doug Mastriano, who is running for the Governor of Pennsylvania, has already stated that he will seek to overturn elections that Republicans lose if he wins. He is not the only radical right winger who has said that. There's several MAGA Republicans who are running for Secretary of State in several states who have said the same thing. They said "if Republicans lose they will seek to overturn elections they lost".

That is not a democracy, that is fascism. Their goal is to put their own people in power even when they lose and that is exactly what happens in authoritarian countries.                       

President Biden spoke clearly about the danger and threat MAGA represents to our democracy. We already witnessed it first hand on January 6th when they tried to end our democracy. These are the same people who want to control our government so they can shove their conspiracy theories and radical religious fanaticism down our throats.           

Look at what MAGA has done to women by taking away their right to control their own bodies. And these are the same MAGA's that refused to wear a mask during the worst part of the pandemic to keep a virus from spreading. These MAGA's are forcing women to give birth even when their life is in danger all because they claim that's what their evangelical religion dictates.

MAGA is the minority of the country but they are forcing their radical extremism on to the majority of Americans who reject it.

MAGA QAnon freak Lauren Boebert said she "is tired of this separation of church and state junk".       

And that quote from her represents the danger to our democracy that President Biden spoke about last night.

These MAGA's don't respect our Constitution, freedoms, or our democracy. Our nation is founded on the separation of church and state. MAGA's like her want to end democracy and force us to live how they want us to live based on their extreme ideology. That is fascism folks, and MAGA Republicans are very open about it.

That's why MAGA promotes and invited the fascist leader of Hungary Viktor Orban to speak at their right wing political conferences. Tucker Carlson can't get enough of the fascist leader Orban as he slobbers over him on television. MAGA Republicans want to turn America into a fascist country like Hungary where only they have the power to rule.

When you see a political party like the MAGA Republicans using violent force to overthrow the government to steal an election, that is fascism.

When you hear MAGA Republicans saying they will overturn election results they don't like to keep their own people in power, that is fascism.

When you hear MAGA Republicans saying they are "tired of separation of church and state junk" and want to force their own beliefs on you saying "that's how you have to live your life", that is fascism.

So, MAGA Republicans have no business getting angry when they are called "fascists" because that is exactly what they are.

In order to save our democracy, this fascism must be defeated at the ballot box.                         

[Rick Plant]

Trump may threaten to reveal state secrets to manipulate legal proceedings if he’s indicted: reporter



Former President Donald Trump appears to have a weak defense if he's prosecuted for taking classified documents to Mar-A-Lago, but he may be able to hold the court hostage by threatening to reveal some of that top-secret information.

The FBI found boxes of highly sensitive materials in Trump's office and other areas of his private resort, and his attorneys have asked for them back, or at least an inventory of what was taken -- which NBC News reporter Marc Caputo told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" signaled his possible strategy.

"I'm being led to believe it's not detailed, it's not the stuff we'll want to see," Caputo said. "We'll want to see, like, okay, which foreign leaders potentially were in these classified documents he allegedly had or whatever. However, it's going to be more detailed. How much? We have no clue. The judge yesterday said she would start to unseal it after the court hearing, today is technically after the court hearing -- we'll see."

"I think a broader issue here is what you're also going to see in cases, again, if there's a prosecution, of something called graymail, which is where a defendant in a case where there's classified information tries to push the release of that classified information, knowing the government doesn't want it released," Caputo continued, "and that can sort of psych the government out of wanting to release that highly classified or sensitive information. Now there is a Classified Information Procedures Act, which allows for the courts to kind of go through and handle these issues and release redacted information. But the fact of the matter is we've never had a former president and future presidential candidate, likely future presidential candidate, on trial, especially over stuff like this regarding issues related to his presidency or his past presidency, so, we're, as I said, we're in uncharted waters."

"We should just expect a lot more of this," he added. "Whether it's in motions or in appeals or, again, sending things all the way up to the Supreme Court if it starts to really steamroll in that direction."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

MAGA Republicans have no problem with this and instead are defending Trump's treason.

Trump Having 48 Empty 'Classified' Folders at Mar-a-Lago Raises Suspicion



Some legal experts have expressed suspicion over the empty folders with classified markings in the newly-unsealed inventory list showing what FBI agents seized during their search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home last month.

The list of items showed that dozens of empty folders described as having "classified" banners were recovered in the raid. A Newsweek count found that the list included 48 empty folders in total with this banner. Dozens of empty folders labeled "Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide" were also listed in the inventory.

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner tweeted about the inventory list on Friday, writing that the former president "didn't pack up EMPTY folders to take with him to FLA [Florida]."

"Things just went from bad to worse to unfathomably dangerous," he added.



Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman said that the empty folders were a sign that Trump may have "riffled (sic) through the classified docs to see what he had."

"This undoes the image of just scooping them up along w/ shirts and M&Ms and keeping them in boxes," he added.

Friday's unsealed inventory list provided the closest look yet at what the FBI seized when it went through Mar-a-Lago, a search that the former president and his allies have condemned as politically motivated. In addition to the various empty folders, the list also shows that various government documents with and without classification markings, articles, clothing items, and books were also taken. The judge, who unsealed the list, is considering Trump's request to have a special master appointed to oversee the review of the records seized during the raid.

Responding to a breakdown of what was on the list, former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann tweeted that the empty classified folders "are of most concern."

"Where are the contents?" he asked. "Trump has not addressed that at all in all his bluster and obfuscation. What were you doing with these?"

Hugo Lowell @hugolowell

NEW: Unsealed detailed inventory of what FBI seized from Trump’s office includes:
— 7 TOP SECRET marked docs
— 43 Empty CLASSIFIED folders
— 28 Empty Return to Staff Sec/Mil. Aid folders
— 26 Magazines/Press Articles 1/2020-11/2020
— 99 Magazines/Press Articles 1/2017-10/2018

https://twitter.com/hugolowell/status/1565709167964340227

The inventory list also prompted Mike Sington, a former senior executive at NBCUniversal, to ask what had happened to any materials that may have been inside the folders.

"What did Trump do with the contents of the folders?" he tweeted. "Did he sell them? Are they hidden at his other properties?"

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in regard to the documents, including by saying that any classified documents that he took had been declassified. However, some have cast doubt on this explanation.

Mick Mulvaney, who was Trump's acting chief of staff from January 2019 to March 2020, told Newsmax last month that while a president has broad authority to declassify documents, "there's a formal structure to doing that." Mulvaney said that there was not a standing order to declassify documents when he was chief of staff, but said that one could have been implemented later.

Even if the documents Trump allegedly took were all declassified, that may not matter if he was charged with any crimes, according to a former U.S. attorney. Barbara McQuade said on MSNBC's The Katie Phang Show last month that the laws listed as potentially being violated on the search warrant don't require the documents to be classified.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-having-48-empty-classified-folders-mar-lago-raises-suspicion-1739520

[Rick Plant]

MAGA Republican elected officials refuse to accept the results of free and fair elections.

147 Congressional Republicans voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

That is fascism folks and it's what MAGA Republicans represent.

[Rick Plant]

‘Unfathomably dangerous’: Former federal prosecutor on Trump’s empty folders warns ‘things just went from bad to worse’



Immediately after a federal judge released the Dept. of Justice's detailed list of items the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago experts agreed among the most concerning details was that there were a large number of empty folders marked "Classified."

NCRM reported the DOJ's inventory list included over 13,000 items, including over 100 documents marked with various classification headers.

Also listed were “43 Empty Folders with ‘CLASSIFIED’ Banners,” and “28 Empty Folders Labeled ‘Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide."

Glenn Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor of 30 years, tweeted out his surprise and concern.

"OMG!" exclaimed Kirschner ,who is also an MSNBC/NBC News legal analyst. "Court just released an inventory of evidence of crime seized at Mar-a-Lago."

"Dozens of EMPTY folders labeled 'Classified' or 'Return to Military Aide.' Trump didn’t pack up EMPTY folders to take with him to FLA. Things just went from bad to worse to unfathomably dangerous."

Others also expressed concern over the empty folders.

Andrew Weissmann, a former General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who has also worked as chief of the criminal fraud section of DOJ observed: "It’s the empty classified folders that are of most concern."

"Where are the contents? Trump has not addressed that at all in all his bluster and obfuscation. What were you doing with these?" asked Weissmann, who also worked for Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Former Dept. of Defense Special Counsel Ryan Goodman wrote: "This is going to get a lot of attention too: 👉43 Empty Folders with "CLASSIFIED" Banners👈"

"Empty," he emphasized. "Must be fairly alarming to U.S. intelligence community conducting the damage assessment. Now think about how Trump's legal team is trying to keep this info from the FBI/ODNI."

National security attorney Brad Moss wrote, "Very first question the FBI would ask the person who had in their home office 43 empty folders with classified banners is 'where did the documents from those folders go??'"

And later he added: "Why. Are. There. Empty. Folders?"

Read More Here: https://twitter.com/glennkirschner2/status/1565722376767250434

[Rick Plant]

'No less damning': Law professor blows up Trump's 'Twinkie Defense' in Washington Post op-ed

Former President Donald Trump has tried to deflect from the scandal surrounding his handling of top-secret government documents by arguing that he declassified them before he left office and stashed them away at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

But Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, writes in the Washington Post that this excuse is "no less damning" for the former president given all of the other evidence stacked against him.

Vladeck first shows that, despite his claims, there is no paper trail showing that Trump took any official action to declassify such a broad array of national security documents.

Additionally, he argues that even if Trump were to have issued such a stunningly broad declassification order and then kept boxes of highly sensitive secrets lying around his private club that is a frequent target for spies, it would constitute a gross dereliction of duty.

"Trump’s 'defense' would mean that he committed what would have to be the most stunning and indefensible systematic breach of our national security not just by any president in American history, but perhaps by any person," he argues. "In Trump’s version of events, breaching our national security and potentially exposing secrets happened simply because he couldn’t be bothered to handle classified information correctly. It’s not quite the 'Twinkie defense,' the standard for wildly improbable justifications for improper behavior, but it’s not far off."

Read the whole editorial here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/09/02/declassified-mar-a-lago-national-security/

[Rick Plant]

Aaron Rupar @atrupar

"People say this was unprecedented. Well, it's also unprecedented for a POTUS to take all this classified information & put 'em in a country club, ok? And how long is the govt going to try to get that back?" -- Bill Barr bodies Trump on Fox News even as anchors try to defend him

Watch: https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1565756415209361409