Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Donald Trump preparing for federal arraignment Tuesday

Donald Trump is preparing for federal arraignment Tuesday on 37 criminal charges in the classified documents case. CNN's Rosemary Church interviews former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

Watch: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/06/13/exp-trump-arraignment-renato-mariotti-intv-061302aseg2-cnni-politics.cnn

Trump documents case is a test for the justice system he wants to dismantle
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/12/politics/trump-documents-case-justice-system/index.html

Trump will face judge in historic court appearance over charges he mishandled secret documents
https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-indictment-miami-court-e9412bb71b63ab1b7cfb8e8b122e9809


Trump indictment details plot to hide sensitive documents

Trump has been charged with 37 felony counts for keeping and hiding documents with sensitive national security content



Federal prosecutors in the United States have unsealed a sweeping indictment against former President Donald Trump that alleges he hoarded and concealed classified documents containing sensitive national security information.

The 49-page document laid out 37 federal charges against Trump. Thirty-one of the charges relate to violations under the Espionage Act, which criminalises unauthorised possession of national defence information. Each charge under the act carries a ten-year maximum sentence.

Five other charges pertain to Trump’s alleged scheme to hide the documents as federal authorities launched an investigation. One more accuses the ex-president of making false statements to investigators.

Trump’s aide, Waltine “Walt” Nauta, was also charged with six felonies related to hiding documents and making false statements.

“Our laws that protect National Defense Information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced,” said Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom the US justice department appointed to oversee the investigation in November.


This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records in a storage room at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida [US Department of Justice via AP]

"Violations of those laws put our country at risk,” he continued, issuing remarks at a brief, three-minute news conference on Friday. “We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”

For his part, Trump maintained that he had done nothing wrong. He also attacked prosecutor Smith as a “deranged lunatic”, saying he provided investigators with the materials they asked for.

“I supplied them openly, and without question, security tape from Mar-a-Lago. I had nothing to hide, nor do I now,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social site.

Indictment sets high stakes

But the indictment unsealed by Department of Justice prosecutors told a very different story.

It alleged that Trump kept boxes that “included information regarding defence and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programmes; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attack”.

The indictment also indicated that the contents of those boxes, if released, could have had devastating consequences.

“The unauthorised disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods,” it said.

The prosecutors explained that the documents were haphazardly stored across Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, including in unsecured locations like a bathroom, ballroom and a shower.

One photo released by prosecutors showed documents spilled onto the floor of a storage room that could be “reached from multiple outside entrances, including one accessible from The Mar-a-Lago Club pool patio through a doorway that was often kept open”.

The documents include some with classified markings signalling that they were only to be released to the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which consists of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US.

Alleged attempts to conceal

As federal investigators ratcheted up their probe into the classified documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago, the former president weighed not complying with the order or outright lying, according to the indictment.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” Trump allegedly said, as recounted to federal investigators by one of his lawyers. “Well look, isn’t it better if there are no documents?”

That exchange came in the wake of a May 2022 subpoena, requiring that Trump turn over any classified documents in his possession.

The indictment further accuses Trump of “causing” his lawyers to falsely certify that Mar-a-Lago had been thoroughly searched and all documents had been located, in accordance with the subpoena.

Furthermore, prosecutors allege, Trump instructed his aide Nauta to move 64 boxes to “conceal them from Trump’s attorney, the FBI and the grand jury”. On Friday, Trump defended Nauta, calling him “strong, brave, and a great patriot.

Documents revealed to visitors

Prosecutors have also said that Trump took a flippant approach to the classified documents when they were in his possession.

In one instance, Trump allegedly moved some records to his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. There, he showed “a classified map related to a military operation” to a person who worked for his political action committee, according to the indictment.

He told the visitor that “he should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close”, the indictment said.

In another instance, an audio recording revealed Trump displayed a “highly confidential” military document to a visiting writer and publisher, the indictment said.

"As president, I could have declassified it, and now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” Trump allegedly said. US media has previously reported on the interaction.

Trump’s statement in that instance, however, could prove particularly damning, as the ex-president has maintained he declassified all the documents before leaving office. He has not provided proof, however, that he took action to lower their classification status.

A years long saga

The unsealed indictment represents the culmination of a years-long saga that began in May 2021, when the National Archives — which maintains presidential documents — demanded that missing records be returned.

Trump’s team turned in 15 boxes by January 2022, with 14 containing classified documents. The National Archives later reported that some of those had been returned ripped apart.

By May 2022, the justice department had issued its subpoena requiring any remaining documents to be surrendered. Ultimately, suspecting further documents remained at Mar-a-Lago, the FBI raided the resort in August, recovering 102 classified records.

Now, the case heads to federal court, where a Trump appointee, Judge Aileen Cannon, has reportedly been tapped to initially oversee the proceedings. She was thrust into the spotlight last year when she issued a decision to appoint a “special master” in the classified documents probe.

Cannon also briefly barred federal agents and prosecutors from reviewing a batch of seized documents, an order that was ultimately thrown out in a scathing opinion by a federal appeals court.

Trump is set to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, where the secret service was already planning logistics.

On Friday, Trump abruptly parted ways with his lawyers, James Trusty and John Rowley, and appointed Todd Blanche — a former federal prosecutor — to lead his defence.

AFP



'It would almost be malpractice': Trump lawyer Alina Habba's defense gutted by legal analyst



According to former prosecutor Paul Butler, one of Donald Trump's many lawyers is barking up the wrong tree if she thinks provisions found within the Presidential Records Act will come into play as her client faces a 37-count indictment in federal court.

Appearing with MSNBC host Chris Jansing, Georgetown Law Professor Paul Butler dismissed out of hand a defense offered by Trump attorney Alina Habba during an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, explaining she seems to not be aware of what is contained within special counsel Jack Smith's indictment.

Habba told Fox host Shannon Bream, "What I can tell you is he has every right to have classified documents that he declassifies under the Presidential Records Act. They're making it sound like a five-alarm fire and it's not."

She continued, "Frankly, he was the only one that could take classified documents that he declassified under the Presidential Records Act -- people forget that."

"Is that something, Paul, you could expect to hear at trial?" host Jansing asked.

"I hope not because it would almost be malpractice," Butler shot back. "The Presidential Records Act is not anything that Donald Trump is charged with -- he's charged with very serious federal felonies."

"For all those scandalous charges in the indictment, the problem for Donald Trump is that Jack Smith has receipts," he elaborated. "He's got dozens of those documents pertaining to national security, he's got photos, he's got audio and video tape, he's got text messages."

"Chris, what's probably most worrisome for Donald Trump is that the special counsel also has a lot of evidence that we don't yet know about," he added. "You can be sure he's saving some of the most incriminating evidence against Donald Trump for the trial."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

'Espionage': New Lincoln Project video slams Trump’s enablers



The Lincoln Project in a newly released video slams those who have enabled Donald Trump after the former president was indicted over allegations that he mishandled classified documents in violation of the Espionage Act.

“Donald Trump indicted again, this time, for violating the Espionage Act,” the video’s narrator says, calling it “one of the worst crimes imaginable.”

The pro-democracy group in the video compares the allegations against the former president to the actions of others convicted under the Espionage Act, including Robert HanssenAldrich Ames, Ana Montes, John Walker, Ronald W. Pelton.

“All indicted for violating the Espionage Act with the prison terms that traitors and spies against America deserve,” the narrator says.

The narrator then posits the question, “And what will Trump get?”

“The men and women running against him for president will defend him, praise him, make excuses. They'll lie about the prosecution and make up stories about the deep state to rile up the MAGA base. There is no excuse for espionage. No defense for stealing America's secrets or sharing them with anyone, ever,” the video’s narrator says.

“Trump did this to himself. He took the documents he shared them and conspired to cover it up. Patriots know people who commit this crime belong in prison, not the White House.”

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Donald Trump has been arrested! And many people say he brought the fake Melania Trump with him.


Trump under arrest in federal documents probe
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/donald-trump-indictment-court-appearance-06-13-23/index.html

[Rick Plant]

Trump indictment updates: Former president arrested in Florida on criminal charges
https://www.axios.com/2023/06/13/trump-indictment-news-live-updates

[Rick Plant]

Trump Indictment: Trump to be arraigned in federal court in classified documents case

Donald Trump heads to Florida to be arraigned on 37 counts in a scheme to hide classified documents. Live coverage.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

"He was hunched over at the defense table, his arms crossed, sour expression on his face. What we saw from Trump in court." - Scott MacFarlane CBS News


Reporters reveal the bizarre scene inside the Miami courtroom with Donald Trump



MSNBC's Lisa Rubin was among those reporters that made it into the courtroom ahead of Donald Trump's plea, which means she had a lot of colorful details about the quick arraignment.

She posted a thread online before appearing on air, saying that his close aide Walt Nauta went from being a co-conspirator to a body man, to a defendant and then back to being a body man again.

"If Walt is the new [Allen] Weisselberg, as I have posited before, Molly Michael, who was Trump’s Oval Office executive assistant before moving down to FL with him, just might be the new Cassidy Hutchinson," she tweeted. "The indictment is doused with her texts with Nauta about the location and movement of boxes containing classified documents; she is the one who deemed them the 'beautiful mind boxes,' reflecting how well she understood his intermingling of the mundane and highly sensitive."

Appearing on "Deadline White House," Rubin said that she watched as Trump stared down the audience.

"Trump stood up. All the secret service agents in his protective detail also stood up and flanked him, and they sort of made a formation as they headed to the exit of the courtroom where criminal defendants who are in detention usually enter and exit," she recalled. "I definitely saw Trump. He could have made a beeline for the exit and not looked at anybody in the gallery. Instead, what he did was turn around and stare down all of the reporters on my side of the courtroom as if to scan for a familiar face and maybe some comfort there. But turned toward us with a scowl and very slowly walked along that line of the benches in the courtroom before finally, at the end, turning around, Walt Nauta right behind him, and heading for that defense exit. It was really chilling, you know, from my point of view, never having been in a room with Donald Trump before, to have him sort of stare us all down."

While Rubin was watching that, CBS News reporter Graham Kates told Scott MacFarlane that, from his vantage point, he was watching special counsel Jack Smith.

Smith wasn't behind the bench with the prosecutors. Instead, he was in the audience with the reporters.

Kates also noted that the Justice Department didn't ask for any restrictions for travel either nationally or internationally. Trump was also forced to sign a bond document that says he won't commit any other crimes and that he won't talk to any other witnesses about the case. The bond could be revoked if he breaches the agreement.

Kates said that special counsel Jack Smith "closely watched Trump as Trump exited slowly at the end. He watched Trump glance at reporters sitting in the back. Smith never broke his stare at Trump."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

The more surefire sign that Donald Trump’s downfall is assured: how frantically and cartoonishly out of their minds his remaining allies are going in the name of trying to defend him.

Take for instance this apparently very real Fox News chyron from tonight, which multiple news outlets are saying is indeed real.

And this coming from a Republican party and cable "news" channel that tried to steal the presidency from Joe Biden and the majority of Americans.

Faux is basically like Russian state media.


Alex Thompson @AlexThomp

Fox News ends its 8pm hour w/ the chyron: “wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested”

Chyron went away when Hannity took over at 9.



This video: https://twitter.com/i/status/1668790432988377096

https://twitter.com/AlexThomp/status/1668787633361698816