Jack Birle - Yesterday - Washington Examiner
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham reacted to the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago on Monday by saying that former President Donald Trump mishandled classified documents while in office.
TRUMP SAYS FBI 'RAIDED' MAR-A-LAGO
"The former president of the United States did not handle classified documents properly. I watched him do it. I sat in an airplane with him, watched him go through documents — throw some away, rip some up, and put some in his pocket," Grisham said in an appearance on CNN Monday evening. "Because I remember specifically thinking, 'I wonder why those go in his pocket.' So I think this is going to be really interesting."
The former White House press secretary also said she believes the documents the FBI is searching for will be substantial because of the nature of document preservation in the Trump administration.
"I think that something big is there. I don’t think it’s going to be just letters. I think it could be about military operations. This is me speculating — I want to be clear. But I can see the former president thinking those were cool or fun, and we were not a White House that followed the rules. And I will tell you that handling classified information was not something that was really pressed upon us on a daily basis or weekly or monthly," Grisham said.
The Monday evening FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago, which was announced by Trump, is reportedly related to presidential materials requested by the National Archives, including the handling of classified documents.
Grisham was the White House press secretary from 2019 to 2020 and then became the chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump. She resigned in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Later, she published a tell-all book about her time in the White House, I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House.
The Mar-A-Lago Raid Proves the U.S. Isn’t a Banana Republic
David A. Graham - Yesterday -The Atlantic
Donald Trump would have you believe that Monday’s surprise FBI raid on his Florida estate was, like so many things he disdains, un-American.
© John Roca / NY Daily News Archive / Getty
Trump was always more banana republican than Reagan or Lincoln Republican. Unlike his presidential predecessors, and despite his open disdain for Latin America and Latin Americans, he often styled himself as a sort of caudillo, trying to rule with an iron fist, circumvent the Constitution and legislature, enlist the military into his schemes, and use the power of the state to further his own electoral and personal fortunes. Just today, Susan Glasser and Peter Baker reported on how Trump pushed the military to conduct the sort of garish parades that, as one general put it, characterize foreign dictatorships, and complained that U.S. generals were not as loyal to him as Hitler's top brass was to the führer. And at the end of his term, Trump retired to a palatial estate fringed by palm trees to plot his next moves.
In a real banana republic, he might have hoped to live with impunity—as long as he could outwit his political opponents’ schemes. Instead, Trump has found himself beset on many sides. He was impeached, a second time, after leaving office; a district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, continues to investigate his meddling in vote-counting after the election; the New York attorney general is investigating his company, and will soon depose him; and a House committee is probing his attempt to overturn the election and pressuring the Justice Department to bring charges against him related to that. (DOJ has refused to comment on any related investigations.)
Trump is not the victim of political persecution. A bedrock principle of American law is that no one—not even the president, much less the former president—is above the law, and if they commit crimes they must answer for them. “What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee?” Trump asked in his statement. But this question is simple enough that any AP U.S. History student could easily manage it: Watergate was an illegal break-in conducted by a team of political operatives, not law-enforcement agents with judicially approved warrants, working for an FBI director appointed by Trump.
For all Trump’s bluster, he hasn’t been charged with any crimes. If he is, he will have every opportunity to defend himself in court. (Contrast that with his own disdain for due process for other people accused of crimes.) Some legal scholars are nervous about the precedent set by potentially prosecuting a former president. But the precedent set by giving him a free pass by virtue of his electoral history would be even more troubling.
The raid seemed to come out of nowhere, a sign that the federal government is handling this investigation—whatever it is—with great secrecy and delicacy. In the coming days, the public is likely to learn more, including whether White House documents are really the sole or main factor behind the “siege” of Mar-a-Lago.
Even though Trump’s rise to the White House in 2016 owed much to “her emails”—Hillary Clinton’s sloppy handling of classified records—his administration was particularly brazen about not maintaining records from the start. Trump ripped up documents at will, leaving teams to comb through the scraps and literally tape them together. On Monday, Axios published photos that appeared to show notes in a toilet. In recent weeks, news reports have brought attention to the destruction of records by the Secret Service, Pentagon, and Department of Homeland Security relating to the January 6 insurrection.
Over four years in office, Trump’s behavior was often egregious. He courted Russia in 2016, was impeached for extorting Ukraine, and topped things off by trying to steal the election. But he largely escaped consequences for these offenses, other than losing in 2020. Could his downfall really be about something as mundane as proper handling of sensitive documents? Justice in the U.S. is still blind, despite his protestation, but that doesn’t mean it lacks a sense of humor.
"The FBI and the DOJ have ruthlessly violated the Constitution and law in America," conservative political commentator Lou Dobbs said in a tweet. "Joe Biden and Merrick Garland are no more than Marxist thugs, not public servants. They're an outrage against decency, judgment, a former President, and the American people."
In a statement posted to his Truth Social network, Trump said the raid was part of a long history of being politically targeted by federal law enforcement. Trump described his home as "under siege, raided, and occupied" despite what he said was his cooperation with "Government agencies." Trump said FBI agents even "broke into my safe!"
A judge would need to sign off on a search warrant for Trump's home after the FBI presented evidence that a crime had been committed. The DOJ has not issued a public statement on the raid and the FBI declined comment to Newsweek.
But Trump's defenders were already deeply skeptical of any evidence the FBI might have used to justify the search.
Republican Representative Don Bishop of North Carolina said in a tweet that the FBI and DOJ are "acting as the political enforcers of the Democrat Party." Bishop demanded that the FBI hand over the information used to obtain the search warrant to the House Judiciary Committee, of which he is a member, and that Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray testify.
"Republicans must smash the FBl into a million pieces," he said.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said in a tweet that "using government power to persecute political opponents is something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships. But never before in America."
"The FBI raid on President Trump's home is an unprecedented political weaponization of the Justice Department," South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said in a tweet. "They've been after President Trump as a candidate, as President, and now as a former President. Using the criminal justice system in this manner is un-American."
The raid comes after months of pressure on Garland to prosecute Trump for his actions regarding the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. But the reason for the raid may be for a lower-profile issue.
The National Archives and Records Administration earlier this year requested assistance from the FBI in recovering boxes of classified documents that Trump allegedly took to his resort in violation of the Presidential Records Act, according to a report from The Washington Post.
Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade said in a tweet that Eric Trump, son of the former president, said FBI agents were acting on behalf of the National Archives.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy issued an ominous warning to Garland in a tweet, repeating Trump's accusations that the DOJ had become politicized.
"When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned," he said. "Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar."
Other allies of Trump, such as Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, suggested the raid was intended distract from an investigation concerning Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden. Specifically, the probe is looking into alleged foreign influence peddling, tax evasion and other charges.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a tweet that the raid is "another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime's political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves."
Newsweek has reached out to Trump for comment.
David A. Graham - Yesterday -The Atlantic
Donald Trump would have you believe that Monday’s surprise FBI raid on his Florida estate was, like so many things he disdains, un-American.
© John Roca / NY Daily News Archive / Getty
Not much is known about the operation as of this writing. The FBI has not commented, and much of what is public comes from a statement by Trump, a notoriously unreliable source of information. Trump wrote, “My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” who he said arrived unannounced and broke into a safe.
Reporting from The Washington Post and The New York Times indicate that the raid appears to be connected to Trump’s removal of records from the White House at the end of his administration, in what critics have said was a clear violation of federal public-records law.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before,” Trump wrote. “Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before.”
Trump is right that nothing like this has ever happened to a former president of the United States before—he always omits the former, a way of refusing to acknowledge that he lost the 2020 election—but he’s wrong about what it means about the rule of law in the United States.
Reporting from The Washington Post and The New York Times indicate that the raid appears to be connected to Trump’s removal of records from the White House at the end of his administration, in what critics have said was a clear violation of federal public-records law.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before,” Trump wrote. “Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before.”
Trump is right that nothing like this has ever happened to a former president of the United States before—he always omits the former, a way of refusing to acknowledge that he lost the 2020 election—but he’s wrong about what it means about the rule of law in the United States.
Related video: Watch: Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Surrounded As FBI Raid Property
Trump was always more banana republican than Reagan or Lincoln Republican. Unlike his presidential predecessors, and despite his open disdain for Latin America and Latin Americans, he often styled himself as a sort of caudillo, trying to rule with an iron fist, circumvent the Constitution and legislature, enlist the military into his schemes, and use the power of the state to further his own electoral and personal fortunes. Just today, Susan Glasser and Peter Baker reported on how Trump pushed the military to conduct the sort of garish parades that, as one general put it, characterize foreign dictatorships, and complained that U.S. generals were not as loyal to him as Hitler's top brass was to the führer. And at the end of his term, Trump retired to a palatial estate fringed by palm trees to plot his next moves.
In a real banana republic, he might have hoped to live with impunity—as long as he could outwit his political opponents’ schemes. Instead, Trump has found himself beset on many sides. He was impeached, a second time, after leaving office; a district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, continues to investigate his meddling in vote-counting after the election; the New York attorney general is investigating his company, and will soon depose him; and a House committee is probing his attempt to overturn the election and pressuring the Justice Department to bring charges against him related to that. (DOJ has refused to comment on any related investigations.)
Trump is not the victim of political persecution. A bedrock principle of American law is that no one—not even the president, much less the former president—is above the law, and if they commit crimes they must answer for them. “What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee?” Trump asked in his statement. But this question is simple enough that any AP U.S. History student could easily manage it: Watergate was an illegal break-in conducted by a team of political operatives, not law-enforcement agents with judicially approved warrants, working for an FBI director appointed by Trump.
For all Trump’s bluster, he hasn’t been charged with any crimes. If he is, he will have every opportunity to defend himself in court. (Contrast that with his own disdain for due process for other people accused of crimes.) Some legal scholars are nervous about the precedent set by potentially prosecuting a former president. But the precedent set by giving him a free pass by virtue of his electoral history would be even more troubling.
The raid seemed to come out of nowhere, a sign that the federal government is handling this investigation—whatever it is—with great secrecy and delicacy. In the coming days, the public is likely to learn more, including whether White House documents are really the sole or main factor behind the “siege” of Mar-a-Lago.
Even though Trump’s rise to the White House in 2016 owed much to “her emails”—Hillary Clinton’s sloppy handling of classified records—his administration was particularly brazen about not maintaining records from the start. Trump ripped up documents at will, leaving teams to comb through the scraps and literally tape them together. On Monday, Axios published photos that appeared to show notes in a toilet. In recent weeks, news reports have brought attention to the destruction of records by the Secret Service, Pentagon, and Department of Homeland Security relating to the January 6 insurrection.
Over four years in office, Trump’s behavior was often egregious. He courted Russia in 2016, was impeached for extorting Ukraine, and topped things off by trying to steal the election. But he largely escaped consequences for these offenses, other than losing in 2020. Could his downfall really be about something as mundane as proper handling of sensitive documents? Justice in the U.S. is still blind, despite his protestation, but that doesn’t mean it lacks a sense of humor.
Trump House Raid Rocks MAGA World: 'Smash the FBl Into a Million Pieces'
Jake Thomas - Yesterday
Allies of Donald Trump are likening the U.S. to a "third-world country" and calling for the FBI and Justice Department to be dismantled in response to a raid on the former president's home.
© Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images
Allies of Donald Trump are likening the U.S. to a "third-world country" and calling for the FBI and Justice Department to be dismantled in response to a raid on the former president's home.
© Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images
Allies of former President Donald Trump denounced the FBI and Justice Department after his home was searched. Supporters of former President Donald Trump hold flags in front of his home at Mar-A-Lago on August 8, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. The FBI raided the home to retrieve classified White House documents.
Trump on Monday evening confirmed that FBI agents had searched his residence on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. While the reason for the raid remains unclear, Trump denounced it as politically motivated in a lengthy statement. Trump's defenders swiftly took to social media to echo the former his claims while attacking Attorney General Merrick Garland and federal law enforcement agencies.
Trump on Monday evening confirmed that FBI agents had searched his residence on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. While the reason for the raid remains unclear, Trump denounced it as politically motivated in a lengthy statement. Trump's defenders swiftly took to social media to echo the former his claims while attacking Attorney General Merrick Garland and federal law enforcement agencies.
Video Shows Law Enforcement Vehicles Outside Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club
"The FBI and the DOJ have ruthlessly violated the Constitution and law in America," conservative political commentator Lou Dobbs said in a tweet. "Joe Biden and Merrick Garland are no more than Marxist thugs, not public servants. They're an outrage against decency, judgment, a former President, and the American people."
In a statement posted to his Truth Social network, Trump said the raid was part of a long history of being politically targeted by federal law enforcement. Trump described his home as "under siege, raided, and occupied" despite what he said was his cooperation with "Government agencies." Trump said FBI agents even "broke into my safe!"
A judge would need to sign off on a search warrant for Trump's home after the FBI presented evidence that a crime had been committed. The DOJ has not issued a public statement on the raid and the FBI declined comment to Newsweek.
But Trump's defenders were already deeply skeptical of any evidence the FBI might have used to justify the search.
Republican Representative Don Bishop of North Carolina said in a tweet that the FBI and DOJ are "acting as the political enforcers of the Democrat Party." Bishop demanded that the FBI hand over the information used to obtain the search warrant to the House Judiciary Committee, of which he is a member, and that Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray testify.
"Republicans must smash the FBl into a million pieces," he said.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said in a tweet that "using government power to persecute political opponents is something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships. But never before in America."
Related video: FBI search warrant executed at Trump's Mar-a-Lago homeDuration 2:36 View on Watch
"The FBI raid on President Trump's home is an unprecedented political weaponization of the Justice Department," South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said in a tweet. "They've been after President Trump as a candidate, as President, and now as a former President. Using the criminal justice system in this manner is un-American."
The raid comes after months of pressure on Garland to prosecute Trump for his actions regarding the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. But the reason for the raid may be for a lower-profile issue.
The National Archives and Records Administration earlier this year requested assistance from the FBI in recovering boxes of classified documents that Trump allegedly took to his resort in violation of the Presidential Records Act, according to a report from The Washington Post.
Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade said in a tweet that Eric Trump, son of the former president, said FBI agents were acting on behalf of the National Archives.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy issued an ominous warning to Garland in a tweet, repeating Trump's accusations that the DOJ had become politicized.
"When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned," he said. "Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar."
Other allies of Trump, such as Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, suggested the raid was intended distract from an investigation concerning Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden. Specifically, the probe is looking into alleged foreign influence peddling, tax evasion and other charges.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a tweet that the raid is "another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime's political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves."
Newsweek has reached out to Trump for comment.
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