kentuck
kentuck's JournalThe "civil war" is real.
It is not a war with one side in a deep trench shooting at the other side in their muddy hole. At least, not yet.
The "civil war" is between competing propaganda outlets and media operations. The war is between facts and fictions. The war is between truths and lies.
As in all wars, one side or the other expects to reap financial rewards for their instigation and incitements. They lie because it is profitable.
Unfortunately, there are casualties. The lies are a real enemy. People suffer and die from them.
It is not easy to distinguish because each side believes it is in possession of the truth. They believe equally that the other side is wrong.
The only thing we, as Americans can do, is to put all the cards on the table and study them very closely.
The One-Man Crimewave Has Been Temporarily Deterred
Like a five-year old testing the boundaries, each of his crimes became progressively worse than the previous. His Party failed miserably in not noticing the pattern of his crimes.
After escaping all the charges of colluding with Russia and after trying to extort the President of Ukraine to spill dirt on his political opponent, and after he tried to steal an election, and after he incited an insurrection and attempted to overthrow the government, and after two impeachments, he decided to steal America's secrets so he could use them at a later date to profit himself.
But finally, the Attorney General could take no more. He sent him to his room. Predictably, he was kicking and screaming the entire time, refusing to take any responsibility, and blaming others for doing worse things than he.
Now that he faces a possible charge of espionage, obstruction of justice, and destruction of government documents, perhaps the DOJ can get on with their other investigation, in which the J6 Committee has been gathering information for several months.
Did he conspire to incite a mob and to halt the Electoral Votes being counted on January 6th? Did he try to bribe different state officials to change the vote totals to his favor? Did he plan a coup to keep himself in power?
Will his present difficulties keep him occupied enough so that the other investigation can continue without as much interference as might have been expected?
For many Americans, after six or seven years, they are able to breathe a sigh of relief, if only for a temporary moment.
Trump has declassified government documents before...
So, he knew the procedure.
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/southern-cone/2019-04-12/declassification-diplomacy-trump-administration-turns-over-massive-collection-intelligence-records
(snip)
THE UNITED STATES DECLASSIFICATION PROJECT FOR ARGENTINA
The revealing CIA “intelligence information cables” on Operation Condor are part of a major collection of records released on April 12 at a government event in Washington D.C., "Declassification Diplomacy: The United States Declassification Project for Argentina." During the diplomatic ceremony, hosted by U.S. Archivist David Ferriero at the National Archives, U.S. officials completed the turnover of some 7500 CIA, FBI, DOD, NSC and State Department records—47,000 pages in total—to Argentina’s Minister of Justice and Human Rights, German Garavano. Garavano graciously thanked the Trump administration for fulfilling a formal request for the records by the Argentine government, made on the fortieth anniversary of the military coup during a state visit to Argentina by then-President Barack Obama.
Before Obama left office, his administration released the first two tranches of Argentina records, drawn from documents on file at the Presidential libraries. During a summit meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri in April 2017, President Trump personally handed him a diskette containing another tranche of records. But, three years after Obama’s initial authorization, the most sensitive and revealing intelligence documents are only now being released, marking the completion of the Declassification Project for Argentina.
Neil Katyal made a very good point about "classifications" of document.
More or less, he said "classifications" were not all-relevant in this case. It is nothing more than a diversion.
He said obstruction of justice does not need to have "classified" documents to be a crime. The charges being made are crimes whether they are "classified" or not.
The Republicans, and Trump, are putting much of their emphasis on "classification" of documents and it's not that relevant to the crimes that have been committed.
Never admit nothing and never show any guilt.
Deny everything and blame someone else.
Start a narrative (lie) before the fact, to have an excuse.
Always have an antagonist. Demonize them. Make them an enemy.
Always make it between "us" and "them".
Never show any shame.
Always be ready to lie.
And then lie some more.
Trump has decided to try and make some lemonade out of his huge box of lemons.
He has weighed his options. What is best for him?
He knows he cannot stop the release of the documents. He might be able to stop them for a week or two, but they are coming out.
With that in mind, he decided to make the most out of it right now, rather than to wait for the sure eventuality. If he waited, it would make him look worse in the eyes of his supporters.
So, he could pretend that the FBI planted the evidence at his place and he could pretend that he is as innocent as the morning dew. In the meantime, he would lie his ass off to his people, because they will believe anything. Even if some do not believe him, he will still be able to recoup much of his losses if he can convince his people it was all a witch hunt and he was set up by the Democrats and the FBI.
I think that is probably what he is thinking during this crisis time for the Big Lie.
A lot of questions this morning.
For example, why did the DOJ (FBI) wait so long if they knew there were sensitive documents at Trump's compound?
At first, at the request of the National Archives, they gave Mr Trump a subpoena to turn over the documents. He turned over 15 boxes to them. But, that was not all of them. I suspect that may have been a crime?
Then they tried to negotiate with him to get the remaining documents. They knew then that he did have possession of the boxes of documents. After 60 days and nothing from Trump, they decided to go in discreetly and seize them. It was a question of national security.
It seems to have been a cat and mouse game between the Cult Leader and the FBI, with the FBI trying to preserve the evidence.
But another question that I have?
Has he already gotten rid of some of the documents? He certainly had the time and the opportunity as the FBI seemed to be frozen with indecision.
Did he sell the secrets to Saudi already? Is the FBI a day late and many secrets short?
Trump billionaire friend aimed to profit from Mideast nuclear deal: Democrats
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-saudi-nuclearscheme/trump-billionaire-friend-aimed-to-profit-from-mideast-nuclear-deal-democrats-idUSKCN1UO28G(snio)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tom Barrack, a billionaire friend of U.S. President Donald Trump, pursued a plan to buy Westinghouse Electric Corp even as he lobbied Trump to become a special envoy to promote the building by the firm of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia, said a congressional report released on Monday.
While Barrack failed in both efforts, the report provides fresh evidence of the ease with which some corporate and foreign interests have gained access to Trump and other senior members of his administration.
Documents obtained by the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee raise “serious questions about whether the White House is willing to place the potential profits of the President’s friends above the national security of the American people and the universal objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons,” the report said.
The report is the second from the panel’s investigation into the plan to construct 40 nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. The plan was supported by Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn, Barrack, Trump’s inaugural committee chairman, and a consortium of firms led by retired U.S. military commanders and former White House officials called IP3.
(Is this why Jared got his $2 billion dollar deal from the Saudis?)
Also, weren't Trump and the Saudis at the big Golf Tournament a couple or three weeks ago?
On June 19th, 1953
On June 19, 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, are executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. Both refused to admit any wrongdoing and proclaimed their innocence right up to the time of their deaths, by the electric chair.
(Must have thought it was a serious offense?)
What was Trump thinking by smuggling so many classified documents to his basement?
The brazenness of the act is mind-boggling.
There are reports that he had White House aides bring boxes of documents to him in the Oval Office and he would go thru them individually and send them back for another.
During the hectic and rushed time of moving out of the White House, those boxes of classified documents were mixed with the other boxes and all moved together to Mar-A-Lago.
He knew what was in the boxes.
When the NARA contacted the DOJ about the missing documents, a subpoena was sent for retrieval of the documents and Trump gave them 15 boxes. But he kept 12 boxes in his basement. Reportedly, someone informed the DOJ that there were more boxes in Trump's basement.
The DOJ attempted to negotiate with Trump for the retrieval of the remaining boxes. They sent a couple of their people to verify that they were still there. They were there.
The DOJ sent a notice to Trump that the documents were not secure and requested that a padlock be put on the door to the basement.
Two months later, the DOJ had received nothing. A magistrate judge approved a search warrant for the FBI to go into the compound and seize all the documents. They believed it was a continuing threat to national security.
What was Trump going to do with the classified documents? Was there some nefarious plan? Did the DOJ get all of the documents?
Trump must have thought that when he gave them the 15 boxes, that would be the end of the story? He would keep the remaining 12 boxes and do with them what he wanted?
It was a well-thought out crime but it did not work out the way Trump planned.
What does he do now?
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