“Il Duce” Sh*t Show

Last night the country and possibly the world was treated to a CNN town hall with the one and the only Donald Trump….(yes Irene I watched it and yes it was decision that I will regret)….

I’ll everyone is waiting with bated breath for my take on the town hall…..well here is what someone thought of the night.s clown show….

During a contentious CNN town hall Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump dug in on his lies about the 2020 election, downplayed the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, and repeatedly insulted the woman whom a civil jury this week found him liable of sexually abusing and defaming, the AP reports. (He at one point referred to E. Jean Carroll as a “wack job,” drawing laughter from the audience.) Trump, returning to the network after years of acrimony, also refused to say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russian aggression and said the US “might as well” default on its debt obligation, despite the potentially devastating economic consequences.

The live, televised event—held in early-voting New Hampshire—underscored the challenges of fact-checking Trump in real time. The former president was cheered on and applauded by an audience of Republican and unaffiliated voters who plan to vote in the GOP primary, as moderator Kaitlan Collins sometimes struggled to correct the record as Trump steamrolled with untrue statements. “You are a nasty person,” he snapped at her at one point. He repeatedly doubled down on his lies that the 2020 election had been “rigged,” even though state and federal election officials, his own campaign and White House aides, and dozens of courts, including Republican judges, have said there is no evidence to support his claims.

He also displayed no remorse for what happened on Jan. 6, when a mob of his supporters violently stormed the Capitol in a bid to halt the certification of Biden’s win. He excused his delayed response that day—he was silent for more than three hours as the carnage unfolded—pulling out a printout of his tweeted timeline as a form of defense. Instead, he lashed out at the Black police officer who shot and killed rioter Ashli Babbitt, calling him a “thug,” despite a Justice Department finding that the shooting was justified. And he said he is inclined to pardon “a large portion” of the rioters charged in the attack. More than 670 people have been convicted of crimes related to that day, including some found guilty of seditious conspiracy or assaulting police officers.

Trump also rejected a suggestion that he apologize to his former vice president, Mike Pence, who was targeted by the mob after Trump wrongly insisted that Pence had the power to overturn the election results. “I don’t feel he was in any danger,” he said. In fact, Trump said, Pence was the one who “did something wrong.” He would not commit to accepting the results of the next election, either, saying he would do so only if he feels “it’s an honest election”—as he said before the 2020 election. The difficulties of interviewing Trump live on air became immediately apparent, and as the evening wore on, Collins became more aggressive in trying to pin Trump down on specifics, trying half a dozen times to get him to say what he would do if a federal abortion ban were to reach his desk. He said that he would “negotiate” so “people are happy.”

Anyone that thought this would be anything other than what it was is so deluded that I could sell them my bridge in Brooklyn.

It is exactly what I thought it would be….a moronic clown show.

Yep–a typical Trump Sh*t Show!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Advertisement

Trends Favor Trump

I wrote yesterday that if Trump and Biden were to meet in the election of 2024 Trump could feasibly win…..I know that sends chills down many of our spines……

As it is today there are a couple of things that would break in favor of Trump if the election were today (thank god it is more than a year away)……

Election Day is still 546 days away, meaning you can take the current polls with an extra-large grain of salt. Still, political stories are taking note of two clear trends of late, both of them positive for former President Trump. First, he’s cementing his lead over Ron DeSantis and the rest of the GOP field. And second, President Biden looks increasingly vulnerable in a one-on-one rematch. Coverage:

  • Biden trouble: Much of the chatter stems from a Washington Post/ABC poll showing Trump ahead of Biden by 6 points. “No single poll means all that much, especially so early in an election cycle, and the president’s strategists as well as some independent analysts questioned its methodology,” writes Peter Baker in a New York Times analysis. But other polls suggest the race is at least extremely close. “Taken together, they suggest that the president opens the 2024 campaign facing enormous challenges with no guarantee of victory over Mr. Trump.”
  • Trump surge: “For the first time in a long time, top Republicans and Democrats are telling us the same thing, in the same words—Trump looks impossible to beat for the Republican nomination,” writes Mike Allen at Axios. The piece notes that Trump is surging, and picking up key House endorsements, despite a steady drumbeat of negative stories related to his legal fights.
  • surge, II: At Politico, an analysis suggests those negative stories are helping the former president, at least among rank-and-file Republicans. After he was indicted in the Stormy Daniels case, support for Trump among GOP county chairs across the country improved, writes Seth Masket, a professor of political science and director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver. “County chairs are figures who will play a key role in shaping the race,” he notes, adding that this uptick came largely at the expense of DeSantis.
  • Biden trouble, II: In breaking down the Post poll cited above, CNN’s Kate Bolduan makes the case that Biden’s approval rating of 36% is the lowest of any president at this point in the first term, per Mediaite. A post at FiveThirtyEight has a slightly different take on that. But Biden might take comfort in knowing that Ronald Reagan was only a smidge above him at this point in his presidency, and he went on to win reelection, per the Times.
  • Trump surge, II: At Politico, an analysis suggests those negative stories are helping the former president, at least among rank-and-file Republicans. After he was indicted in the Stormy Daniels case, support for Trump among GOP county chairs across the country improved, writes Seth Masket, a professor of political science and director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver. “County chairs are figures who will play a key role in shaping the race,” he notes, adding that this uptick came largely at the expense of DeSantis.
  • Biden trouble, II: In breaking down the Post poll cited above, CNN’s Kate Bolduan makes the case that Biden’s approval rating of 36% is the lowest of any president at this point in the first term, per Mediaite. A post at FiveThirtyEight has a slightly different take on that. But Biden might take comfort in knowing that Ronald Reagan was only a smidge above him at this point in his presidency, and he went on to win reelection, per the Times.

I am sorry that I post this far in advance…..put I feel that voters should be well aware of what could happen if they go into the polls unprepared…..that is what happened in 2016 and yet that 4 year disaster is coming to bite us in the ass if we are not careful and informed.

Me?  I think these two old farts should be in a home making wallets out of popscile sticks….I will vote for anyone but these two dried plums.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Here We Go Again

We really do not need a replay of the 2020 clown show….and yet it looks possible.

As the general election approaches it is looking like the two leaders for the parties are well worn faces….Trump and Biden…..at least for now.

What do the American voter think of this possible match-up?

A new poll, which means nothing bit makes good fodder, tells the tale.

Asked in a new poll to describe their feeling at having their choice in the next presidential election again be Joe Biden or Donald Trump, more respondents picked “exhaustion” than anything else. That option was chosen by 38% of respondents, according to a Yahoo News/YouGov poll. Fear made a strong showing, too, the Hill reports—by itself, at 29%, or combined with sadness, at 23%. The findings would seem to indicate voters are not looking forward to this.

Some respondents felt positive about such a campaign, just not as many. The prospect of a rerun filled 23% with hope, 8% with pride, and 7% with gratitude. The poll showed Biden with a 4-point lead over Trump and, should he be the Republican nominee, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. On the other hand, fewer than half of self-identified Democrats or those who lean Democratic said they want Biden to be the nominee. The poll reported a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.

Oh goody….two old farts butting heads….if this is the election line-up then the American people will see that nothing will change and healing is just a pipe dream.

If you were hoping for some sort of change and progress then you will be sadly disappointed no matter which of the two old farts is actually elected.

Looks like I will keep my record of not voting for a winner since 1976.

As always I weep for this country….and my granddaughter.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Under The Dome

How many movies have you seen where this city or that is protected by some magic dome from outside disasters?

How many people have predicted and seem to pray for World War 3?

Now to tie the two thoughts together.

Donald the Orange has offered up a defense for all those in-coming nuclear missile that will be launched at the US…

Former President Donald Trump recently announced that he would build an “impenetrable dome” over the U.S. if re-elected — to “protect our people” from the purported threat of nuclear attacks and World War III.

“World War III would be a catastrophe unlike any other,” he said in the video published on his Truth Social platform Friday. “This would make World War I and World War II like very small battles. The best way to ensure that such a conflict never happens is to be prepared with unmatched technology and unrivaled strength.”

“When I am commander in chief… I will work with Congress and our great military leaders — not the ones you see on television, I don’t consider them leaders,” he continued.” We’re gonna work with them to build a state-of-the-art, next-generation missile-defense shield.”

Trump then claimed “the world has become vastly more dangerous” under President Joe Biden and that any discussion of the “deadly menace” of nuclear war, as a purported result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, has been tabled by the current administration.

“The ‘nuclear’ word is being mentioned all the time,” said Trump. “This is a word you’re not allowed to use. It was never used during the Trump administration, but now other countries are using that word against us because they have no respect for our leadership.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-warns-of-wwiii-announces-impenetrable-dome_n_63d533c7e4b07c0c7e03d83f

There is an interesting video within the link….worth a look.

I always love to hear what the ex-president has to say these days…..some of his verbal crap is just too much….and this is one of those regurgitation.

Another is his idea about windmills and airplanes……

Donald Trump picked this weekend, while the country’s eyes were focused entirely elsewhere, to finally waddle out the gates of Mar-a-Lago and do something resembling campaigning for president. Had you forgotten he had, with much fanfare, announced he was running for president? Yeah, it seemed like he had too.

He had dinner with the deranged LibsOfTikTok woman last week, which could be considered a campaign event, we guess. Or is it more like when those Nazis came to dinner?

Oh well, anyway, Trump gave a campaign speech this weekend, his first of the 2024 campaign. It sounds like it was a real snoozer. It was in a high school auditorium, for the state GOP convention. Only Newsmax, OAN, and Real America’s Voice played it live. And bless his heart, but it sounds like he thinks windmills are making all the airplanes crash now.

That’s right, they don’t just create bird graveyards now. They “kill all the birds, destroy all the planes, and our beautiful oceans and seas and everything else.” The wind turbines are apparently escalating their murderous behavior.

https://www.wonkette.com/trump-windmills-new-hampshire

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“A Sucker Born Every Minute”

Those words uttered 100 years ago ring more accurate today than they did when first uttered.

Are you into trading cards…..football, baseball, basketball, etc?

If you are then there is a new scam for those with more money than brains.

Donald Trump teased an upcoming “major announcement” Wednesday on Truth Social, and on Thursday he unveiled it. His 2024 running mate, perhaps? Nope, Trump is selling what he calls “digital trading cards” featuring none other than himself, reports the Washington Examiner. “These limited edition cards feature amazing ART of my Life & Career! Collect all of your favorite Trump Digital Trading Cards, very much like a baseball card, but hopefully much more exciting,” reads his social media post. The NFT cards cost $99 each, and examples on the CollectTrumpCards.com website feature Trump as a superhero, an astronaut, a NASCAR driver, etc.

Those who buy one are entered into a sweepstakes with a prize of having dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and those who buy 45 cards (Trump was the 45th president) are guaranteed a dinner invitation. “Buy one and you will join a very exclusive community,” says Trump in an accompanying video, per Mediaite. “It’s my community and I think it’s something you’re going to like and you’re going to like it a lot.” One digital version of the president is adorned in a Superman-like costume that features the letter “T” instead of “S.” When he recovered from COVID as president, Trump reportedly pitched the idea of ripping off his dress shirt to reveal a Superman shirt underneath.

Being reported (not verified by me) that the mailing address for the company that is issuing these cards is Mar-a-Lago.

This endeavor will probably go down with the Trump steaks, water, wine, vodka as dismal failures.

Any thoughts on this endeavor?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Bad News For Trump

I wish I could say this is for his legal antics but sadly it is about electoral politics…..with a general election a mere 2 years away it is time to start looking to the future.

Some are calling for the GOP to move past Trump and his rabid MAGA sycophants….it is a pipe dream….

It looks like GOP voters do not want Trump on the ticket in 2024…..

Republican voters may be looking forward to the 2024 election, but most do not want former President Trump on the ballot. According to the latest USA Today/Suffolk University poll, 56% of Republican-leaning voters prefer Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, compared to 33% for Trump. Furthermore, 45% don’t want Trump to run at all, and his favorably ratings have slipped to 64% from 75% since October among Republicans. According to David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, the numbers show that “Republicans and conservative independents increasingly want Trumpism without Trump.”

As Forbesreports, Trump’s diminished standing comes amid a steady flow of legal woes, including ongoing investigations at city, state, and federal levels from New York to Georgia. Republicans also heaped blame on Trump for a relatively poor showing in November’s midterms, and many distanced themselves further after he hosted white supremacist Nick Fuentes and the antisemitic Kanye West at a Mar-a-Lago dinner, then later suggested the Constitution should be suspended. (Trump says that was misconstrued.) Many prominent Republicans and former allies are no longer holding back criticism, though Trump can still count on staunch support from staunch backers including Reps. Elise Stefanik and Madison Cawthorn, per Fox News.

The USA Today poll also found some mixed if not somewhat bad news for President Biden. His standing among Democrats sank 5 points since early fall, with just 40% now wishing for him to seek a second term. And while the poll shows Biden beating Trump by nearly 8 points in a theoretical 2024 matchup, it also shows Biden losing to DeSantis by 4 points, an indication of just how much some voters really don’t want another Trump presidency. The Hill points out that Trump’s numbers aren’t helped by the fact that his nascent 2024 campaign really hasn’t done much of anything in the past month. Nevertheless, as the Independentnotes, Trump still has a pretty good chance of winning the GOP nomination—especially in a crowded field—because of the way the party allocates delegates in winner-take-all primaries.

I do not see much change from Trump to DeSantis.  It is a new face to the program of hate, cruelty and deception.

The same lies, misinformation and BS….

Same song….different face.

You see any change in GOP voters thinking?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

But What Are His Chances?

GOP holds a razor thin majority in the House and not so lucky in the Senate…..and then the big announcement by his royal highness, Trump, that he will seek the GOP nomination for the 2024 election.

All is good, right?

But what are his chances of success?

“A former president hasn’t sought a nonconsecutive second term or faced criminal investigation in generations, and Trump is doing both,” writes Nathaniel Rakich at FiveThirtyEight. So what are The Donald’s chances of winning the Republican presidential primary? Pretty good, in Rakich’s view. Yes, it’s still very early but Trump currently leads in polling, registering “in the high 40s or low 50s, 20-30 points ahead of his closest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis” in most national surveys, Rakich writes. “Historically, from 1972 to 2016, candidates with high name recognition who polled in the 40s and 50s nationally won the nomination more than 75% of the time.”

Former Sen. Ted Kennedy is the only figure in that category to lose out. He “lost the 1980 Democratic primary despite polling at an average of 47% in the first half of 1979,” Rakich writes. Though Kennedy was up against sitting president Jimmy Carter, this “shows that Trump’s nomination isn’t inevitable.” The tide could easily turn against Trump. As Rakich notes, “DeSantis is polling higher than he did earlier in the year.” It’s also possible that an indictment of the former president “could affect Republican voters’ perceptions of Trump’s electability in a general election.” But for now, Republican voters are on his side. One poll shows 80% have a favorable view of Trump compared to 11% with an unfavorable view.

The midterms may have hurt Trump as his “endorsees did fail to win certain highly watched contests, like the primary for Georgia governor.” Overall, though, voters backed “82% of the nonincumbents he endorsed in contested Republican primaries for Senate, House and governor.” Sure, Trump occasionally “endorsed candidates who were already well on their way to winning,” but his endorsement did seem to benefit certain candidates, including JD Vance in the Ohio Senate race. All this suggests Republican voters are loyal to Trump “or at least his vision for the party,” Rakich writes. He adds a crowded Republican field “could divide the anti-Trump vote, making it easier for him to win.”

So his chances are good according to some….will this set a precedent for ex-presidents?

Donald Trump isn’t the first defeated ex-president to attempt another White House run, but he does join an exclusive club. Writing for Politico, Joshua Zeitz looks at previous comeback attempts, and though he finds no overarching pattern, he does find some perspective in the candidates’ motivations.

  • Four have tried, beginning with Martin van Buren, aka the “Little Magician,” a wily political operative who won in 1836 but was defeated in 1840 amid a recession. According to Zeitz, van Buren’s comeback was motivated by power, which he never regained. He lost the nomination to James Polk in 1844 and was resigned to running as a spoiler with the third-party Free Soil Party in 1848.
  • By contrast, Grover Cleveland ran again out of boredom, emerging from retirement to unseat an unpopular Benjamin Harrison in 1892. That election was decided by a few swing voters in a highly polarized electorate—one precedent Trump may take to heart.
  • Teddy Roosevelt served two terms from 1901–09 and declined a third, but he always regretted the decision. After being outmaneuvered by party bosses to lose the Republican nomination in 1912, Roosevelt created the Bull Moose Party, a third-party champion of progressive causes. Ultimately, he split the Republican vote and handed the presidency to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
  • Last comes Herbert Hoover, a one-termer who was trounced by FDR in 1932. Hoover ran again in 1940—largely out of spite, according to Zeitz—but lost the Republican nomination to Wendell Willkie. What motivates Trump? According to an opinion by George T. Conway III in the Washington Post, Trump seeks vengeance and a shield from prosecution.

Whatcha think?

Is this a good thing or just another ploy by the former dude?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Trumpian Threats

We all know the saga of the documents confiscated at the ex-president’s Florida residence….and of course all the other investigations swirling around our Orange Man from Florida…..

Trump has issued a warning…..

Donald Trump is predicting big, if unspecified, trouble in the US if he is indicted over his handling of classified documents. “I think if it happened, I think you’d have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before,” he said on conservative Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Thursday, per the Washington Post. “I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it.’ Hewitt pressed him on what he meant by “problems,” but Trump didn’t specify. “I think they’d have big problems, big problems,” he said, per the transcript. “I just don’t think they’d stand for it. They will not, they will not sit still and stand for this ultimate of hoaxes.”

When Hewitt told Trump the “legacy media” would accuse him of inciting violence, Trump responded: “That’s not inciting. I’m just saying what my opinion is. I don’t think the people of this country would stand for it.” Trump reiterated that he did nothing wrong, adding that an indictment would not bar him from running in the 2024 race, per the Hill. His comments on potential trouble echo those of ally Lindsey Graham, who recently warned of “riots in the streets” should the former president be indicted. The Trump interview came on the same day senators were briefed on the increase in threats to federal law enforcement officials since the Mar-a-Lago search, notes Politico.

Democratic judiciary panel chair Dick Durbin called the number of threats “stunning” afterward and criticized Trump for contributing to the problem. “Inviting a mob to return to the streets is exactly what happened here on Jan. 6, 2021,” said Durbin. “His careless, inflammatory rhetoric has its consequences.” But GOP Sen. Rick Scott said after the briefing that it demonstrated the need for more transparency about the reasons for the Mar-a-Lago search. “You have to give people good information so these rumors don’t continue,” he said. “I don’t know why they raided the former president’s house. … They know the conspiracy theories that are out there. So convince people that they’re not true.”

The big question these days is will he be indicted and will he be confined?

America’s democracy crisis will not end anytime soon. Donald Trump and his acolytes in the Republican-fascist party continue to incite acts of right-wing violence, including terrorism, on a nationwide scale as part of their plan to end American democracy and replace it with authoritarianism and one-party rule.

The Big Lie continues to spread across the United States. A majority of Republicans now subscribe to the repeatedly disproven theory that the 2020 Election was somehow illegitimate, that Trump is the “real” president and Joe Biden is a pretender and usurper. “MAGA” is American neofascism; it has fully conquered the Republican Party.

Will Donald Trump eventually be prosecuted, convicted and then imprisoned for his apparent high crimes, which may include violating the Espionage Act? Attorney and author Kenneth Foard McCallion believes that the answer is probably no.

https://www.salon.com/2022/09/19/former-prosecutor-a-day-of-reckoning-is-coming-for–but-hes-not-going-to-jail/

I believe this is correct….he will slip away from be held accountable in any form.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

If And When

There has been a bunch of speculation on whether Trump will throw his hat into the 2024 election trying once again move into the White house…..let us say that he actually wins the election (a thought that is not there far fetched)……

Former President Donald Trump has not officially announced his entry into the 2024 Presidential Election race. If Trump decides to run, he could be considered the favorite based on the results of the recent straw poll and odds from betting sites.

What Happened: The recent results of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) straw poll show Trump receiving 69% of the vote from around 1,000 attendees. This beat Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who received 24% of the vote. Texas Senator Ted Cruz also received 2% of the vote, with all other candidates receiving 1% or less of the vote.

Trump received an approval rating of 99% in the straw poll.

The straw poll shows Trump having the same support as he did in a similar poll from July 2021, when the former president got 70% of the vote. A February 2022 CPAC straw poll showed Trump with 59% of the vote.

Another poll that asked attendees who would be the candidate of choice without Trump running saw DeSantis get 65% of the vote, followed by Donald Trump Jr at 8%, Cruz at 6% and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo receiving 5% of the vote.

https://www.benzinga.com/news/22/08/28389948/can-donald-trump-win-2024-presidential-election-heres-what-latest-straw-poll-and-betting-odds-say

If and when he wins the night mare will begin…..

In an expansive piece for the Atlantic, Brookings Institute fellow Jonathan Rauch painted a nightmarish portrait of what a second Donald Trump presidential term would like when he would not be constrained to moderate his actions because he won’t be able to run for a third term.

According to the analyst, Trump and his closest supporters have been telegraphing how they would use the levers of power should he be returned to the Oval Office with vengeance on his mind and four years of experience in dealing with bureaucracy learned the hard way.

As Rauch notes, one need only look at the administration of Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán.

“Combining populist rhetoric with machine politics, he and his party, Fidesz, have rotted Hungarian democracy from within by politicizing media regulation, buying or bankrupting independent media outlets, appointing judges who toe the party line, creating obstacles for opposition parties, and more,” writes Rauch. “Hungary has not gone from democracy to dictatorship, but it has gone from democracy to democracy-ish.”

https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-2024-2657957760/

Who would Trump staff his cabinet with with a win?

Donald Trump came into office in 2017 already possessing many of the instincts and inclinations of a mob boss—and he left office having learned a basic mob boss’s lesson, after a handful of individuals more loyal to the country than to him hindered his willful rule. Now, as Trump and his acolytes plot a return to power, they intend to make sure that if he’s re-elected, he won’t have to put up with anything less than total loyalty.

In a speech this week to the America First Policy Institute, a new pro-Trump group in Washington, the former president outlined his vision for his second administration. As David Frum recounted in the Atlantic:

Who Would Staff a Second Trump Term?

Can you imagine just how the country will look with all those sycophants in control?

Good question right?

Republican officials in key states stood in the way of former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.

But this year, according to recent Washington Post reporting, 54 of 87 GOP candidates running for positions with power over the way elections are certified in presidential battlegrounds have falsely claimed that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and say they would have done things differently. The next time a presidential candidate seeks out help overturning an election, they could find willing accomplices in these candidates.

Though there are candidates who have peddled Trump’s election lies in every projected 2024 battleground, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona present three scenarios for how bad actors — as secretaries of state or state attorneys general, in governors’ mansions or in state legislatures — could abuse their power over certifying elections to subvert a result they personally disagree with. Here’s how they could do it:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/9/2/23331716/election-denier-2024-mastriano-lake-finchem

As much as I do not want Trump any where near the White House ever again….I worry about the Dems and their efforts to ‘get’ Trump……

Are the Dems playing a dangerous game?

Will the Democrats Manage to Help Re-Elect Trump?

The American voter should seriously consider the options and the outcome of their precious vote.

The ascension will begin with the 2022 mid-terms.

I am struggling with the possible candidates….none jump out at me.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Pesky Affidavit

Know it is Sunday and I try to avoid the ‘news’ for happier or informative things….in that light this post is an FYI post…..

Well the social media sights are burning up with opinions on whether this raid on Mar-a-Lago was valid or not.

This post is about the affidavit…..

The Justice Department released its blacked-out version of the Mar-a-Lago affidavit Friday afternoon, and news outlets were scrambling to make sense of what could be read. In the affidavit, the department argued that the FBI search had to be conducted because a batch of documents retrieved from the Florida residence in January contained an alarming amount of classified information—14 of 15 boxes had documents with classified markings, reports the AP—and they were sure more were still at the residence. Coverage:

  • Read the redacted affidavit yourself here.
  • The department said the material retrieved in January included top-secret information obtained by “clandestine human resources” who were monitoring “foreign communications signals,” per theHill. If such information got into the wrong hands, it could compromise spies and their intel-gathering operations, said the affidavit.
  • How did the department know that Trump had classified documents at Mar-a-Lago? Through “a significant number of civilian witnesses.”
  • The affidavit asserted that “there is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found” at the residence, per the Washington Post.
  • Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich declared in a statement that “this is a grave travesty, and what is unredacted only further supports President Trump’s position, there was NO reason for a raid—it is all politics!” Trump himself is using the familiar phrase “witch hunt,” per the New York Post.
  • In terms of specifics, the affidavit said the boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago in January by the National Archives contained 184 classified documents—”25 of which were marked ‘top secret,’ 92 of which were marked ‘secret,’ and 67 of which were marked ‘confidential’—the lowest level of national security classification,” per Politico. Some of the “highly classified records were unfoldered, intermixed with other records, and otherwise unproperly [sic] identified,” the affidavit said.
  • In assessing the January batch, FBI agents “were most alarmed to discover that many of the materials included the highest national security restrictions, requiring they be held in controlled government storage facilities, and barring them from ever being shared with foreign governments,” per the New York Times.
  • On the first page of the affidavit, an FBI agent summed things up: “The government is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized spaces, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records.”

Below is the affidavit for those that did not read the above part of this post…..

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/26/politics/mar-a-lago-search-warrant-affidavit-memo/index.html

Documents already made public show the FBI retrieved from the property 11 sets of classified documents, including information marked at the top secret level. They also show that federal agents are investigating potential violations of three federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation, or removal of records and the destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations. Trump and his backers have maintained that he had the authority as president to declassify any documents he removed from the White House.

Hopefully this will help clear any misunderstandings there has been around this document.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”