FBI raids Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

[Rick Plant]

Judge Dearie just DESTROYED Trump’s previous defense that the documents were “declassified” saying the matter is over and he will consider them CLASSIFIED.

Judge Dearie makes clear he is taking government’s position that the classified Mar-a-Lago documents are in fact classified.

“What business is it of the court? … As far as I’m concerned that’s the end of it.”

[Joe Elliott]

Judge Dearie just DESTROYED Trump’s previous defense that the documents were “declassified” saying the matter is over and he will consider them CLASSIFIED.

Judge Dearie makes clear he is taking government’s position that the classified Mar-a-Lago documents are in fact classified.

“What business is it of the court? … As far as I’m concerned that’s the end of it.”

What's next for Team Trump? Demanding that a 'Very Special Master' must be appointed to supervise the decisions of the 'Special Master'?

[Rick Plant]

B]Trump paid key witness $7,500 only 11 days after Mar-a-Lago search: report[/b]



Donald Trump paid a key witness in the Mar-a-Lago and Jan. 6 cases only eleven days after the FBI conducted a search at Mar-a-Lago.

"Tonight, Trump handed a loss by the special master that he put forward for the job and it's a pretty significant loss because [Special Master Raymond Dearie] is calling Trump's bluff by questioning the very heart of his argument in the Mar-a-Lago documents case," CNN's Erin Burnett reported.

"Trump has, for weeks — again and again, any time he spoke publicly — said that he declassified the more than 100 documents seized in the FBI search," Burnett noted. "But there's never been any evidence or anyone who has come to verify that and the special master is now saying that unless he receives any evidence to back up that claim that Trump is publicly making, he will consider all of the information marked classified to be classified."

For analysis, Burnett interviewed former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

"If I know Donald Trump, he's going to tell them to lean into the fact that they were declassified," Grisham said. "I know he has said that he had told Kash Patel that they were declassified, but I think it's important for just your viewers, the country, to understand that that's not how it works. You don't just say the words, these are now declassified and it's done. There is a process. And more importantly, people, agencies would need to be told, right? The CIA, the DOJ, the FBI, the people who have sources and methods out there. they would need to know that, hey, these documents are suddenly declassified so that they can move those sources around."

Also on Tuesday, Trump's Save America PAC revealed a payment to Patel's consulting firm, Trishul LLC.

"Kash Patel makes his first appearance on Trump’s payroll — $7,500 on Aug. 19," Daily Beast correspondent Roger Sollenberger reported.

Grisham suggested Patel and others might publicly testify that Trump declassified the documents.

"We point back to the magic wand you and I talked about before," Grisham said. "He just looked at Kash and said, 'Hey, these are all declassified,' that's it? It doesn't work that way. Now if the president names names of people who actually witnessed it, then those people will have to come forward and say under oath the truth that that's the truth."

"Do I think there are people who would maybe do that for him, even if it wasn't true? Sadly, I do," Grisham added.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

What's next for Team Trump? Demanding that a 'Very Special Master' must be appointed to supervise the decisions of the 'Special Master'?

Pretty much. Donnie always needs his "yes men" to rule in his favor.   

[Rick Plant]

Trump faces threat that 11th circuit might 'shut down' motions that go nowhere: legal expert

As Donald Trump's attorneys face a grilling from the special master appointed by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday, a former assistant U.S. Attorney turned white collar crime lawyer said the former president may find his legal pleadings over documents the FBI had to confiscate cut off much sooner then he might hope.

On Tuesday, the attorneys for Trump are expected to explain to special master Raymond Dearie, which documents the president claimed he declassified -- something his lawyers are already balking at doing.

As attorney Asha Rangappa explained to CNN's Poppy Harlow this morning, Trump's lawyers "... know what has happened to the attorneys who have come before them in other contexts and that they are unwilling to make assertions in court for which they can be held professionally and even potentially criminally liable."

According to a report from Politico, David Weinstein, who served in the Southern District of Florida U.S. Attorney's office, the former president's appeals up the chain to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals may not only fall on deaf ears, but the court may serve notice to not waste its time.

As Weinstein explained, Cannon's ruling -- which has stalled the DOJ's investigation of obstruction and possible violations of the Espionage Act is an "early victory" for Trump, however, "When push comes to shove, I find it hard to believe that [Trump] will maintain his short term victory with a long term win."

He went on to add, "The bigger picture here is what precedent will the Eleventh Circuit set with their decision?” before continuing, "Will we see many more of these motions in the future, or will they shut down that avenue once and for all?”

Read More Here: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/19/trump-mar-a-lago-probe-00057621

[Rick Plant]

Special master slammed Trump's biggest defense for his Mar-a-Lago stash: columnist

On Tuesday, writing for Vanity Fair, columnist Bess Levin outlined how the first hearing held by special master Raymond Dearie in the review of highly classified documents the FBI seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club was a disaster for the former president.

Specifically, Levin wrote, Dearie — a widely-respected senior federal judge from Brooklyn — effectively eliminated one of the most prominent arguments Trump has been making in public: that he used his presidential authorities to secretly declassify the documents himself.

"The problem with that defense is that (1) more than a dozen ex–White House staffers told CNN that it’s not true and (2) when it comes to the laws Trump may have broken, it doesn’t necessarily matter if the documents were declassified or not," wrote Levin. "But just for yuks, let’s say it’s true that Trump declassified much of what the FBI agents uncovered at Mar-a-Lago and that having done so could serve as his get-out-of-jail-free card. If that were the case, the ex-president and his legal team would have no problem telling the special master assigned to the case exactly which documents it applied to, right? Apparently, not so much. Possibly because — and we know this might come as a shock given that it’s about famously honest person Donald Trump — it’s a total lie."

Not only did Trump's attorneys refuse to bring up that argument in court, but — according to CNN's Ana Cabrera — Dearie himself preemptively brought it up, to demand the former president's legal team give him a straight answer on whether or not they consider the documents classified.

“If the government gives me prima facia evidence that they are classified documents, and you don’t advance any claim of declassification, I’m left with a prima facia case of classified documents, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s the end of it,” Dearie told Trump's attorneys.

Dearie was named special master after a Trump-appointed judge, Aileen Cannon, put the entire investigation on hold pending such a review. According to Axios, Trump's legal team specifically fought for Dearie to be appointed because he worked on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court — and they assumed that because the FISA court oversaw the warrant against former Trump aide Carter Page, which was blasted as supposedly corrupt by Fox News for years, Dearie would be inclined to see things Trump's way.

Read More Here: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/09/donald-trump-special-master-classified-documents

[Rick Plant]

Trump's first day with the special master isn't going very well



After a conference call fiasco, Judge Raymond Dearie -- Donald Trump's hand-picked special master -- on Tuesday clashed with the president's lawyers over their refusal to answer questions from the court.

Dearie said that it isn't his role to determine whether or not the documents are classified, it belongs to the executive branch. He explained that when he looks at the case he sees "top secret" marked everywhere.

Dearie asked how he could dispute what the executive branch has indicated on the documents themselves and said that he isn't in a position to argue against it. So, he asked Trump's team what their proof was of declassification.

Trump's lawyers revealed Monday night that they didn't want to answer the judge's questions about classified information because they anticipate that the former president will be criminally indicted by the Justice Department. They have not indicated why they think an indictment is certain.

The Trump lawyers also claimed that they needed access to the top secret documents so that they could prepare a proper defense. Dearie didn't agree and ultimately moved on to question public claims that Trump declassified all of the documents in question. Trump's lawyers have been unwilling to say that publically, however, so Dearie pressed the issue.

"How am I going to verify the classification?" Dearie asked Trump's lawyers.

"We're not in a position nor should we be in a position at this juncture to fully disclose a substantive defense," said Trump lawyer Jim Trusty. "We should not be in a position to have to disclose declarations, witness statements."

"My view is you can't have your cake and eat it too," said Dearie.

"This is a civil action seeking extraordinary relief," former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said. "As Judge Dearie noted, Trump has the burden of proof. Asking the court to find that classified documents have been declassified without presenting any evidence of declassification is a non-starter."

Trusty explained he wanted the special master to push the Department of Justice to give them access to the documents for their trial preparation.

Dearie was concerned that were he to hand over classified documents they could make their way into the wrong hands.

“If you need to know, you will know," Dearie said on two occasions, according to law professor Jennifer Taub, who was in the court.

"Attention here seems to be Donald’s lawyers saying they can’t figure out whether something is classified or whether a presidential records act designation would override the classification markings unless they see it first," Taub said.

What was made clear in court is that Trump's own lawyers have no idea what the former president actually had. It's unknown if Trump simply hasn't told them or Trump doesn't himself know.

“What business is it of the court? … As far as I’m concerned that’s the end of it," Dearie explained, assuming the Trump side doesn't have any evidence of declassification.

Dearie seemed insulted by the Trump lawyers' claim at one point that he was going beyond the scope of Judge Aileen Cannon's orders.

The trial lasted about 35 minutes in total.

Read More Here: https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/1572295535167705090