David Corn: "With FBI Raid, Merrick Garland Has No Choice But to Go Big on the Trump Probe"

[kpete]

The Justice Department needs an indictment to justify the search at Mar-a-Lago.

With the surprise FBI raid on Donald Trump’s much-cherished Mar-a-Lago residence and club, the attorney general has set up a serious test for himself, the Justice Department, and the FBI: to prove this unprecedented act was fully justified. To do that, the feds will eventually have to produce an indictment. Consequently, Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray, who each presumably okayed the FBI search, have created a powerful incentive for a thorough investigation that will yield public evidence of Trump-related wrongdoing."

.............

....The stakes are high, and Garland has crossed a line. For him and the department to prove this was not an obscene abuse of power, the investigation must reach the point where indictments are released and information is presented to the public. If the probe fails to hit that stage, this raid will indeed create suspicion (for those not in the Trump cult) and tarnish the department. To prevent a massive blow to the DOJ, the department has to pursue this matter vigorously and eventually unveil a strong case. Garland will have to put the department’s cards on the table. There can be no bluffing here.

As of now, it is easy to speculate about the investigation. The boxes of documents Trump improperly took from the White House—which contained highly classified materials—had been returned. So a good guess is that this probe is focused on how that material was handled. Were all the records sent back? Were any documents destroyed, copied, or shared with another party? Does the possible crime involve someone other than Trump? (We do know that foreign intelligence services, including the Chinese intelligence service, have targeted Mar-a-Lago.)

The mystery might remain for a while, absent an official statement or leaks from the Justice Department and the FBI. Meanwhile, the political battle detonated by the raid will not fade. This move has increased the already excessive and unfounded paranoia on the Trump right and has placed the Justice Department in a tight spot. The only way out for Garland and the department is to show it had no choice but to send its agents to search the home of a former president and blow his safe. For that to happen, someone will likely have to be indicted.

https://www.motherjones.com...

[MarineCombatEngineer]

1. Go big or go home.

There is no doubt in my mind at this point that a GJ will indict Benedict Donald, the evidence, IMO, is overwhelming that he violated the Espionage Act, among his many other criminal acts.

AG Garland, the J6 Committee and the hard working men and women of the FBI are doing a marvelous job of piecing the puzzle together.

[Demsrule86]

2. What makes David Corn think Garland didn't alway intend this? He signed off on the search

after all. Also, the justice department is 'in a tight spot' because for some reason folks like Corn think they owe explanations. Trump used Justice as his own legal team to go after his enemies and to protect him...so I hope all of those including you David- will STFU. You have little to say when Trump absolutely looted this county and grifted millions. Now it turns out he stole sensitive documents in order to sell them no doubt...and you think Justice is in a tight spot? Really let me just add another STFU...doesn't Trump have enough defenders on the right?

[wishstar]

3. He already broke laws by holding the classified docs that were retrieved in January and June

We don't know the extent of classification of those earlier records that were recovered and could have also included high levels of classification so this is a massive illegal enterprise when added to the most recent retrieval.

Seems like a clear case of obstruction of justice by him not turning everything over in January causing subpoena to be issued in June when he was present during FBI visit and had his his lawyer sign affidavit that June records were everything he had.

Surely he and not just staffers must be charged since he was chief executive who viewed the records while in WH and would have overseen removal of all those boxes when leaving WH and then was the chief custodian of Mara Lago. Reports have said he took a very proprietary stance over the records during the June visit in particular and was not delegating to staffers during that FBI visit.

[Phoenix61]

4. Corn's wrong. The reason for the warrant was TFG ignored

a subpoena requesting the return of all documents. The next step was a search warrant so they could go and physically get the documents. There may or may not be indictments. Neither DOJ or the FBI own the public anything other than doing their job. As far as his base they will find something to be outraged about.

[Kablooie]

5. I don't think the crime of illegal possession of docs will be enough.

If that is all it is, Republicans will never accept the situation. It was a crime but there was no evidence of harm. Potential for harm, yes, but Republicans would argue that no harm occurred.

If the DOJ has undeniable evidence that Trump gave them to another country, that would be different. That would mean Trump actively harmed the nations security and could not be ignored.
I hate to say it but we have to hope he harmed our security or else this could propel him back into the presidency.

[Jarqui]

6. I also think Corn is wrong

Last edited Mon Aug 15, 2022, 11:19 AM - Edit history (1)

I suspect the DoJ knew they had Trump pretty much nailed when they went for the warrant.
They knew the repercussions.
And the judge isn't going to grant such a thing unless it is extraordinarily compelling and they've dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's.
The FBI Director, a Republican appointed by Trump, also blessed it.
I think the search warrant was closer to the last step.

There is a second warrant that came to the surface today.
If it is about Trump, as Trump didn't whine about that one, he probably didn't know about it.
I smell wiretap/surveillance.
There would be different laws associated with that so they could file a separate case and result in a separate indictment.
That probably means another grand jury approval and approval by the judge.

Trump is in deep trouble.