Americans see threat to democracy as No. 1 issue, support Trump probe, poll finds

[UpInArms]

Source: Marketwatch

The growing threat to democracy is the most important issue facing the country, according to a new poll that also found strong support for continued investigations into the actions of former President Donald Trump.

An NBC News poll conducted earlier this month and released Sunday found 57% of respondents agreed that investigations into potential wrongdoing by Trump should carry on. That included 92% of Democrats and 61% of independents, but only 21% of Republicans.

Half of those polled said Trump was solely or mainly responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, a five-percentage-point gain since a similar poll in May, before the House Jan. 6 committee began its series of public hearings.

Meanwhile, “threats to democracy” rose to the No. 1 issue facing America, topping “cost of living.” In a similar poll in May, “cost of living” was the No. 1 concern, while “threats to democracy” did not make the list.

Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-see-threat-to-democracy-as-no-1-issue-support-trump-probe-poll-finds-11661112511?mod=home-page

[Bayard]

1. Seeing the light

[Duppers]

3. Good one! 😁

🩰 - you're sure on your toes, g.f.

[Wingus Dingus]

2. Message getting through. I'm glad to see it.

[reACTIONary]

4. Here is the NBC News article...

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/first-read/nbc-news-poll-57-voters-say-investigations-trump-continue-rcna43989

[Novara]

5. We can thank the J6 public hearings in large part for this

Last edited Mon Aug 22, 2022, 08:52 AM - Edit history (1)

They have presented the facts so well. For a long time we've all "known" what happened, but to have a narrative knitted together so expertly means that it makes a LOT more sense to a LOT more people. They drew the lines connecting the dots for those who weren't seeing them.

And while the focus was on the orange motherfucker, the DOJ jumped, adding another whole layer of suspicion directly where it belongs. When a search warrant is executed and 20+ boxes of material are seized by the FBI, it tends to move public opinion. Just the fact of it does. It's public perception and it's finally seeing reality.

Also? People like Lindsay Fucking Graham fighting subpoenas to the death casts a lot of suspicion. What is he so desperately trying to hide? Right?

I can't wait for next month's hearings. The committee has been working this whole time and I'm guessing they have a whole 'nother set of facts to present to us. the closer to the midterms, the better. IMO.

[msfiddlestix]

7. ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ n/t

[machoneman]

6. Great! But we and the media need to keep the gas pedal floored. Don't let up now!

[BeyondGeography]

8. That will only happen if Dems keep the gas pedal floored

[turbinetree]

9. Hell he's whining about wanting a "Special Master" ......let me take the job.....his ass would be in

jail......passport revoked...... asset's frozen.....

[Novara]

10. There is already the equivalent of a "special master" going through the documents

https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/08/21/next-steps-in-the-trump-stolen-documents-investigation/

snip............

FILTER REVIEW

There are two kinds of reviews that the FBI will do of this material: A filter review and a scope review (though these words are getting muddled in the coverage, including in this piece, which is the only one that has reported on the process).

The filter review is done by agents who are not part of the investigative team. They make sure that nothing privileged gets to the investigative team.

According to reports — and Bratt’s email to Trump’s lawyers — at least some of the agents who did the search at Mar-a-Lago were a filter team (which makes sense, because they were sorting through the contents of boxes onsite). According to Fox News, the materials on one of two receipts — what I call the SSA receipt — included privileged material.

In other words, the FBI had cause to seize stuff that involves Trump’s communications with his lawyers. That’s not surprising. Among the crimes under investigation is the destruction, alteration, or concealment of materials to obstruct an or multiple investigations. I’ve previously pointed to a number of instances where Trump did that with the assistance of lawyers (I’ve taken out a paragraph of Trump Organization examples, because only government documents were permitted to be seized on the search warrant):

snip..............

SCOPE REVIEW

Then there’s a separate review, usually by agents who are part of the investigative team, to pull out only the documents that are relevant to the investigation.

In this case, however, and because the warrant permitted the seizure of materials stored with classified information but the crimes under investigation all pertain to Federal documents, there may be an initial review to pull out anything that is not a government record, so that can be returned to the Former.

Then a team will review the seized materials to see if it is evidence of a crime — either that Trump took documents that should have been sent to the Archives, he kept classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after being asked and subpoenaed for them, or that Trump attempted to destroy, alter, or conceal records relating to an or several investigations. The first category — government documents that would be evidence of 18 USC 2071 but not other crimes — might be copied and catalogued and sent to the Archives.

CLASSIFICATION REVIEW

As part of the process both of determining whether something is classified and assessing whether a viable prosecution could be pursued, the agencies whose classified information ended up in a poorly protected closet at a golf resort will need to conduct classification reviews to make sure the information really is classified.

There's a lot more good stuff in the link.