Investigators see ego, not money, as Trump's motive on classified papers

[applegrove]

Investigators see ego, not money, as Trump’s motive on classified papers

A review by agents and prosecutors found no discernible business interest in the Mar-a-Lago documents, people familiar with the matter said

By Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey
November 14, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. EST

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/14/trump-motive-mar-a-lago-documents/?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wp_news_alert_revere&location=alert&noredirect=1

"SNIP......

Federal agents and prosecutors have come to believe former president Donald Trump’s motive for allegedly taking and keeping classified documents was largely his ego and a desire to hold on to the materials as trophies or mementos, according to people familiar with the matter.

As part of the investigation, federal authorities reviewed the classified documents that were recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and private club, looking to see if the types of information contained in them pointed to any kind of pattern or similarities, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

That review has not found any apparent business advantage to the types of classified information in Trump’s possession, these people said. FBI interviews with witnesses so far, they said, also do not point to any nefarious effort by Trump to leverage, sell, or use the government secrets. Instead, the former president seemed motivated by a more basic desire not to give up what he believed was his property, these people said.

Several Trump advisers said that each time he was asked to give documents or materials back, his stance hardened, and that he gravitated toward lawyers and advisers who indulged his more pugilistic desires. Trump repeatedly said the materials were his, not the government’s — often in profane terms, two of these people said.

.......SNIP"

[Kennah]

1. So he's not only a thief, he's a dumb thief

[republianmushroom]

2. So what, where is the indictment DoJ

[RockRaven]

3. So what? It's illegal either way. Stop dragging your fucking feet -- arrest and prosecute him.

"The rule of law" is a fucking joke in this country.

Old, rich, white, politically powerful? Oh, well, he didn't mean anything bad by it, better let him skate.
Everyone else? Rules are rules, die in a dark hole.

[chriscan64]

4. There must be something in them that he does not want disclosed.

Like internal government communications about what a know-nothing fuck-up he was, or something he did that went sideways. They may include what he would call mementos like somebody stroking his ego, but I suspect more of the former than the latter.

[agingdem]

5. does that make him less guilty of stealing classified documents??

Last edited Tue Nov 15, 2022, 10:17 AM - Edit history (3)

so if I pilfer top security documents but I only want to frame them and hang them on my living room wall, does that mean I didn't steal the documents?..who gives a shit what his intentions were..he stole the fucking documents, hid them, lied about it, and refused to give them back...

the article is crap..their sources with "knowledge of/close to" are obviously Trump cronies attempting to soften Trump's objective...stealing government documents is a federal crime..Trump playing a game of cat-and-mouse with NARA, insisting the documents are his and his alone, and demanding they're return is a federal crime..

if anyone of us walked out of the White House with so much as a napkin we would be arrested/fined/jailed

[chowder66]

6. Everything he does is about scamming money any way he can. Those docs are no exception.

Once he's in a bind he will sell to the highest bidder and EVERYONE knows that.

[Trenzalore]

7. Serial Killers often keep trophies.

[onecaliberal]

8. Fucking indict. Do what you do to everyone who steals classified papers.

I don’t give a fuck who it is.

[marble falls]

9. So what? Get him in orange!

[Iwasthere]

10. BULLSHIT! He would sell his daughters soul for $

How can they confidently say he had no interest in profiting from them? INDICT NOW!!

[Corgigal]

11. Yeah,

tell it to the judge, or jury. Criminal behavior is criminal behavior.

[UCmeNdc]

12. So what? His ego led him to steal classified Top Secret documents

They were still illegally obtained.

[2naSalit]

13. I, personally...

Am tired of this fucking soap opera bullshit myself but I haven't given up on the idea that things will start to happen and the criminal empire goes through some things.

[bigtree]

14. this is little but an attempt by "people familiar" to get Trump's side of the story out

...and interestingly don't have a word about the state of other evidence.

If they did have that level of access, they wouldn't be blabbing details to WaPo.

[ProfessorGAC]

15. I Tend To Agree

After all, what does he really know about making money?
Given what he inherited, he should be a billionaire 8 times over. Doing nothing but living like a Roman emperor.
But, he ain't.

[moonscape]

16. Right. His ego in showing any foxy

spy ‘look at this!’ They were crawling around the tacky place and not having the worst nefarious motive is irrelevant to NS implications.

Such a dangerous moron.

[LuckyCharms]

17. I don't buy this. At all.

"That review has not found any apparent business advantage to the types of classified information in Trump’s possession, these people said. FBI interviews with witnesses so far, they said, also do not point to any nefarious effort by Trump to leverage, sell, or use the government secrets. Instead, the former president seemed motivated by a more basic desire not to give up what he believed was his property, these people said".

That sentence implies that the sources who fed this information to the author of the article have made a determination of Trump's mindset based on the content of the information.

How are they to know that Trump has/had no intent to "leverage" this information for his own benefit? They are jumping inside of Trump's head, apparently based strongly on the mere content of the information.

Top secret information is classified as Top Secret because its release to our enemies could gravely injure our country. How does a federal agent read Trump's mind and determine that he does not know he can use this information as leverage? A get out of jail free card?

I call bullshit.