Trump appears to concede he illegally retained official documents

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Legally, TFG has in effect just confessed to violations of the espionage act. TFG's amusing filing for a special master is based on the sad claim that these documents are protected by executive privilege. That claim is wrong but if these documents were protected by executive privilege, then such documents are clearly government property and TFG has no right to possess these documents. TFG has in effect confessed to a crime in this brief

Link to tweet

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/23/trump-illegal-documents-fbi-mar-a-lago

Donald Trump appeared to concede in his court filing over the seizure of materials from his Florida resort that he unlawfully retained official government documents, as the former president argued that some of the documents collected by the FBI could be subject to executive privilege......

But the argument from Trump that the documents are subject to executive privilege protections suggests those documents are official records – which he is not authorized to keep and should have turned over to the National Archives at the end of the administration.

But the argument from Trump that the documents are subject to executive privilege protections suggests those documents are official records – which he is not authorized to keep and should have turned over to the National Archives at the end of the administration....

The reasoning, former US attorneys say, is that there could be communications seized by the FBI that are privileged, but not used in furtherance of a crime, and even if the justice department wanted to use them in its investigation, it should be precluded from doing so.

Still, if Trump successfully argues the materials are protected by executive privilege, then he also successfully argues that he was in unlawful possession of official records. If he is unsuccessful, then executive privilege would not be a valid basis to seek a special master.

The motion for a special master was truly a crappy piece of legal work. TFG has clearly confessed to breaking the law if one accepts the premise of this motion

[C_U_L8R]

1. When will a judge decide on the special master

and will we hear the laughter from here?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. TFG is supposed to file a motion on Friday answer the judge's questions

This filing was not a lawsuit but was more of a press release. The judge is being kind to TFG and his idiot lawyers

Link to tweet

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/23/politics/trump-special-master-deadline/index.html

A federal judge in Florida has given former President Donald Trump until Friday to refine the legal arguments in his request for a special master to oversee the review of evidence gathered in the Mar-a-Lago search.

District Court Judge Aileen Cannon in the Southern District of Florida ordered Trump's lawyers to elaborate on their arguments for why the court has the ability to step in at this time, explain what exactly Trump is asking for and whether the Justice Department has been served with Trump's special master motion.

Cannon also asked Trump's team to weigh in on any effect the request might have on a separate review conducted by a magistrate judge into whether any portions of the still-sealed FBI affidavit laying out probable cause for the search can be released.

The judge's order showcases many of the ways that the complaint filed by Trump fell short of what would have been expected of a court submission asking for the appointment of a special master-- particularly in a search as high-stakes as the one FBI executed at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month

"What's she saying is, 'What are you doing in front of me?'" Mark Schnapp, a criminal defense lawyer in Florida who spent seven years working for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, told CNN.

[unblock]

3. Just once I'd like to see a headline say something like:

"Trump says random shit in hopes suckers don't think it through"