Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Marsha Blackburn is compromised.

Marsha Blackburn blocks bills that would ensure foreign countries can't interfere with American elections



Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is behind an effort to block bills that could ensure US elections are more secure, Axios reported Monday.

The bills were Sen. Mark Warner's (D-VA) plan to ensure that after the Russian interference in the 2016 election, a foreign country could never do it again. According to Blackburn, however, they're a "federal power grab."

One of the bills would make campaigns call the FBI if they were ever approached by a foreign power and offered election assistance. During the 2016 election, Trump's campaign was offered "dirt" on opponent Hillary Clinton, and operatives met with the person offering the information in Trump Tower.

A different bill would fund the Election Assistance Commission, which would ensure that voting machines weren't connected to the internet. Republicans claimed after the 2020 election that the machines were being hacked and that was how foreign countries were able to decide U.S. elections.

The Senate Intelligence Committee released the third section of their report on the security of the election in 2016 and noted that it was "not well-postured" to counter it again. At the same time, the intelligence community has been warning that there aren't the necessary protections in place to ensure American elections are as secure as they could be. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress that Russia continues its "informational warfare" campaign as the midterm elections approach.

Most state and local election offices don't have the staff or resources available to protect against international hackers or foreign spies.

Read More Here: https://www.axios.com/2020/02/11/gop-senator-election-security-blocks


Details in latest DOJ filing could 'drive Trump to be even more worried’: legal expert

On Monday, former solicitor general Neal Katyal took to Twitter to analyze the significance of the Justice Department's unwillingness to release the unredacted affidavit that helped them secure the search warrant for President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

One of the key points in the document, Katyal argued, will give Trump further cause for alarm.

"DOJ is appropriately resisting disclosure of the Mar-a-Lago search affidavit because it will compromise their ongoing investigation. This is very standard and right," wrote Katyal. "That said, what they said — especially about witnesses — will invariably drive Trump to be even more worried."

In the DOJ's filing, officials stated that the affidavit would require so many redactions as to be of little practical use to the public.

"Disclosure at this juncture of the affidavit supporting probable cause would ... cause significant and irreparable damage to this ongoing criminal investigation," said the filing. "As the Court is aware from its review of the affidavit, it contains, among other critically important and detailed investigative facts: highly sensitive information about witnesses, including witnesses interviewed by the government; specific investigative techniques; and information required by law to be kept under seal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e)."

This also comes as Trump and his allies reportedly are searching for a "mole" within Mar-a-Lago who may have worked with the FBI to give them information about where and what classified information might have been stashed on the former president's property.

Read More Here: https://twitter.com/neal_katyal/status/1559280821424586755


John Brennan outlines just how damaging to national security Trump's classified documents scandal is

There were two Chinese people arrested at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago's club, raising questions about possible efforts of foreign countries attempting to spy on the then president. Speaking to MSNBC, John Brennan noted that it begs the question about the security of the documents that were at Mar-a-Lago and it could have been a reason that the DOJ wanted to act quickly to take the classified information back.

"It certainly seems as though the Department of Justice and Merrick Garland have been careful in terms of how they've gone about trying to retrieve these documents that should not be in the possession of Donald Trump," said Brennan. "As your chronology indicates there has been back and forth between the folks in the Trump orbit and the Department of Justice [and] National Archives, but it's clear that over the course of 20 months these very sensitive documents, seven sets of classified documents as well as other sets of documents or material that shouldn't be in his private possession down in Mar-a-Lago that these documents are something that I think were intentionally withheld from the government."

He said it isn't likely a bunch of classified information was mixed in with to-go menus or coupons.

"But there seems to be some type of effort and not just for Donald Trump and others to try to conceal the fact that he was retaining these documents," said Brennan. "And so when I look at the labels that the Department of Justice said were on these documents, top secret, SCI, secret documents and others, it's really quite concerning because who knows who might have had access to these documents over the course of these last 20 months?"

He explained that's why the DOJ would have rushed in after only two months of negotiation with Trump, because the first objective was to regain possession of them so there would not be any further damage caused. And now since there were calls for damage assessment Avril Haines and others will have to look carefully at how damaging this information might be to our national security interest given that it was unsecured and it was illegally retained for this length of time."

He went on to say that whether or not there was nuclear information in the documents and what could have happened over the past 20 months.

"I do think foreign intelligence services, the Russians and the Chinese, could have easily tried to get people into Mar-a-Lago to gain access to what was an unsecured facility, and the availability of these documents that were kept in the files there," said Brennan.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

'Once Weisselberg pleads guilty it’s over for the Trump Org': Ex-prosecutor Andrew Weissmann



Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg cut a deal to do five months in jail while not cooperating with investigators. While the deal might be great for Weisselberg, former Justice Department prosecutor for Robert Mueller's investigation, Andrew Weissmann, said it isn't for the Trump Org.

Speaking to MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on Monday evening, Weissmann said that in the next few days it could be that Weisselberg is actually pleading guilty as part of the deal.

"The reason that is important for Donald Trump is the Trump Organization is scheduled for trial in October," he explained. Once Allen Weisselberg pleads guilty, it is over for the Trump Organization. The crimes he committed, get imputed to the Trump Organization. So, the leverage in terms of the financial consequences to Donald Trump doesn't mean he's gonna go to jail, but the consequences for the Trump Organization are huge."

Weissmann described it as a "big deal" for the former president in part because what he did was all about making more money, but it was also about bribery.

"This is a big deal," he went on. "So, I think that would be number one, focus on the financial consequences of the Allen Weisselberg deal. And then, down the road, I mean, Lawrence, you laid out a litany of criminal and national security trouble, in Florida, in D.C., in Georgia. And this is a day where you saw a movement on all fronts. And to me, the thing that I thought was probably the most telling was the grand jury subpoena to Eric Hirschmann. There is a guy who can completely corroborate what we heard from Cassidy Hutchinson. I am sure he has information."

He also noted that Hirschmann isn't likely to corroborate the idea that Trump had some kind of magical order to declassify everything.

"So, that was a very bad fact, in terms of signaling that Merrick Garland is really I think, putting his foot on the gas," he closed.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Criminal Donald's and the GOP's violent rhetoric against law enforcement is inciting their deranged supporters to go after law enforcement officers.   

Mercer County man charged with threats to kill FBI agents after Mar-a-Lago search
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/08/15/threat-to-fbi-adam-bies-mercer-county-pa-trump-mar-a-lago-search-gab-threats/stories/202208150059


'It's mind-blowing': Trump-linked firm copied sensitive data from Georgia voting systems

Donald Trump's lawyers directed computer experts to copy sensitive data from Georgia election systems as part of a broad and well-organized effort to access voting equipment in multiple states.

Emails and other records obtained by the Washington Post show lawyers asked the forensic data firm Atlanta-based SullivanStrickler to access election systems in at least three key states, and attorneys for voting-security activists and Georgia voters said the documents confirmed the state's election system had been copied.

“The breach is way beyond what we thought,” said attorney David D. Cross, who is representing the plaintiffs. “The scope of it is mind-blowing.”

The documents show attorney Sidney Powell dispatched a team to Michigan to copy a rural county's election data and then helped arrange for them do that in the Detroit area, and a Trump campaign attorney sent the team to Nevada, and SullivanStrickler experts copied data from a Dominion voting system in Coffee County, Georgia, on Jan. 7, 2021.

A criminal investigation is underway in Michigan against several individuals whose names appear in the newly revealed documents, and Mesa County clerk Tina Peters is under indictment in Colorado on felony charges including conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and attempting to influence a public servant.

SullivanStrickler was permitted by courts to examine voting equipment in at least two counties, although details about those efforts have not yet been made public, and the new documents show Powell's group discussed and paid for elections-systems data -- and the plaintiffs intend to provide those records to the FBI and state and local elections officials.

Read More Here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/08/15/sidney-powell-coffee-county-sullivan-strickler/


White House staff tried to figure out how to get docs Trump had taken to the residence before he left office: report

As part of the report that the Justice Department would prefer not to release the methodology for the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, the New York Times revealed that former White House aides anticipated the documents problem.

In a tweet from Maggie Haberman, she explained that in the weeks leading up to Jan. 20, 2021, White House staff was trying to figure out how to get documents from Trump that he'd taken with him to the residence so that they could be properly stored. By then, however, the staff secretary, Derek Lyons, left and former chief of staff Mark Meadows said he'd handle it.

"...Meadows, the man who oversaw presidential records in the chaotic closing days of the administration, failed to organize an effort to collect, box and deliver materials to the National Archives — as prior presidents, and Mr. Trump’s own vice president, Mike Pence, did," two sources with knowledge of the events said.

According to the Times, the final days of the Trump administration "instead, often focused on settling political grievances and personal grudges."

The quote from the sources could also be an indication that Trump world intends to throw Meadows under the bus for the classified documents.

The Times went on to describe the contrast between Trump's office and Pence's, which was cataloging and indexing all of the information necessary to comply with the National Archives and records keeping laws.

Pence's counsel, Greg Jacob was described as trying to ensure Pence left office without a single piece of paper that didn't belong to him personally.

Read the full report at the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/us/politics/trump-search-affidavit.html

[Rick Plant]

Trump Organization's former CFO Allen Weisselberg expected to plead guilty in tax fraud case

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-organization-former-cfo-allen-weisselberg-expected-to-plead-guilty-in-tax-fraud-case/

[Rick Plant]

'We're under attack': Texas elections administrator details violent threats from pro-Trump election deniers

An elections administrator in Bexar County, Texas says that she and her colleagues feel constantly under siege from pro-Trump election deniers who are accusing them of rigging the 2020 race against the former president.

In an interview with local news station KSAT, Bexar County Elections Board Chairman Jacque Callanen detailed how suspicious Trump supporters have flooded her office with not only threats, but also unreasonable records requests that could force the office to hire more people just to handle them.

“We’re under attack,” Callanen said. “Threats, meanness, ugliness.”

Callanen also detailed the kind of records request that election deniers are making, and she pointed to one group asking for "every mail ballot, every mail ballot application, every mail ballot envelope from the 2020 election."

Another group cited by Callanen, meanwhile, has demanded that her office hand over the source code for the county's election equipment.

She explained that when her office tells these groups their requests "can't happen" then the violent rhetoric "ramps up again."

Jeff McManus, the new chair of the Republican Party of Bexar County, defended Callanen's integrity in an interview with KSAT.

“I’m looking forward to this full engagement with Jacque to see how this election is run, and work with her, and help her as best I can to assuage any concerns that the population has regarding the quality and the fairness and the respect that our election process deserves,” he said.

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2022/08/16/bexar-county-elections-official-says-she-and-her-staff-are-under-attack/

[Rick Plant]

Haberman reveals the message Trump tried sending to Garland

The New York Times' Maggie Haberman explains the message former President Donald Trump sent to the Department of Justice through an intermediary in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago search. #CNN

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Trump stuck with the D-list as experienced lawyers refuse to help him with FBI investigation



On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that former President Donald Trump is struggling to find reputable lawyers to assist him as the FBI investigates his unusual retention of highly classified information at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

"The struggle to find expert legal advice puts Trump in a bind as he faces potential criminal exposure from a records dispute with the National Archives that escalated into a federal investigation into possible violations of the Espionage Act and other statutes," reported Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey, Carol D. Leonnig, Jacqueline Alemany, and Rosalind S. Helderman. "'Everyone is saying no,' said a prominent Republican lawyer, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential conversations."

"Ordinarily, the prestige and publicity of representing a former president, as well as the new and complex legal issues at stake in this case, would attract high-powered attorneys. But Trump’s search is being hampered by his divisiveness, as well as his reputation for stiffing vendors and ignoring advice," said the report. "'In olden days, he would tell firms representing him was a benefit because they could advertise off it. Today it’s not the same,' said Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump who was convicted of tax evasion, false statements, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress in 2018. 'He’s also a very difficult client in that he’s always pushing the envelope, he rarely listens to sound legal advice, and he wants you to do things that are not appropriate, ethically or legally.'"

According to the report, the legal team Trump is stuck with is less than prepared to help him with such a high-profile legal battle.

"People familiar with the search for legal help said the effort includes Susie Wiles, a close adviser to Trump, and attorney Christina Bobb, who was present at Mar-a-Lago during the search and signed for the list of documents taken," said the report. "Former campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn is taking a prominent role, and former White House aide Kash Patel is advising informally. Patel is raising money for a 'legal offense' fund by selling merchandise such as tank tops and beanies emblazoned with the logo 'K$H.'"

"Trump’s other lawyer currently based in Florida is Lindsey Halligan, whose practice, according to a professional biography, focuses on insurance claims at residential and commercial properties," said the report. "She was admitted to the Florida bar in 2014. A search of federal court records found no filings under her name. She did not respond to requests for comment."

Read More Here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/16/trump-lawyers-fbi-raid/


Former Trump White House lawyers spoke with the FBI on classified docs taken to Mar-a-Lago: report



The New York Times is reporting that two former White House lawyers to President Donald Trump spoke with the FBI about the classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago post-presidency.

Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin both spoke to investigators about their experiences trying to get the government documents back to the National Archives, according to the new report.

A report on Monday night revealed Philbin, in particular, worked to get the documents. However, they quoted Trump ranting: "It's not theirs, it's mine," advisers told the Times.

Ultimately, Trump did allow 15 boxes to be turned over to the National Archives, with staff taking a truck to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the documents.

"At that point, at least one Trump lawyer signed a statement saying material with the classified markings had been returned, according to four people familiar with the document," the report continued. "But officials then used a subpoena to obtain surveillance footage of the hallway outside a storage room at Mar-a-Lago and saw something that alarmed them. They also received information from at least one witness who indicated that more material might remain at the residence, people familiar with the investigation said."

Speaking to MSNBC on Tuesday, Andrew Weissmann, former Justice Department prosecutor on special counsel Robert Mueller's team explained the significance of the new report.

"I think it is important for people to know that both those gentlemen were two of seven people who President Trump designated on Jan. 19, 2021, two days before his presidency was over, as his representatives in terms of dealing with presidential records," said Weissmann.

"I think this is part of the reason that you saw in the search warrant the reference to section 1519 of the criminal statute," he continued. "That is an obstruction statute. And that is the kind of thing that the department could have been very focused on false statements and false representations being made to them that everything had been returned. Only to find, in the search, that that was not true. And that kind of crime, I can tell you when I was in the department, that is the kind of crime that really gets people in the department up in arms. It goes to undermining the integrity of the criminal investigation. And that's the kind of thing that has to be deterred if you're in this case, in any case, if you're going to actually have a rule of law."


Andrew Weissmann @AWeissmann_

Legally, this is a confession, not a defense, even if Trump thinks this plays to his base.

The more Trump keeps talking, the more he keeps digging his legal grave.



https://twitter.com/AWeissmann_/status/1559637863276445696

Read More Here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/us/politics/trump-cipollone-philbin-interviews-fbi.html