The circus over the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago on August 8 continues with this latest development: our intelligence czar told Congress her office would review the seized documents. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines announced yesterday that the records taken from the home of the former president would undergo a thorough classification process (via CBS News):
The director of national intelligence is preparing to review the items recovered during the FBI search of at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this month, CBS News has learned.
In a letter sent to congressional leaders Friday, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said her office would conduct a "classification review of relevant materials."
"The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) are working together to facilitate a classification review of relevant materials, including those recovered during the search," Haines wrote. "ONDI will also lead an Intelligence Community assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents.
This raid has become an ever-degrading hurricane in the news cycle.
Federal agents ransacking the home of a former president over the fact that he wasn’t turning over documents to the National Archives fast enough is a historic moment. The obstruction of justice allegations is once again proven false. Trump’s lawyers worked with government officials to review and send records back. They sent 15 boxes to the agency in January. The allegations that nuclear secrets were strewn about the residence were also false. At least there’s no mention in the affidavit that provided probable cause for the raid.
Mike Davis, a former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, has been active and informatory about classification, the presidency, and how the liberal media is focusing on things that don’t matter in this case. He’s continued to inform the public that the classification statutes and regulations do not apply to the presidency's office, that government always over-classifies materials of any post-presidency, and that Trump taking the documents is a declassifying action. Trump already declassified documents relating to Crossfire Hurricane—the FBI spy operation against his campaign.
1. President Trump lawfully declassified the documents and took a personal copy.
— ???? Mike Davis ???? (@mrddmia) August 27, 2022
2. Former presidents have federal staff, security clearances, secure offices, and Secret Service protection.
3. Where’s the (political) “damage assessment” for Hillary’s hacked illegal home server? https://t.co/wgdcYRMt42
6. If these (declassified, personal) records were so dangerous in President Trump’s possession, why did:
— ???? Mike Davis ???? (@mrddmia) August 27, 2022
- President Biden wait 18 months to retrieve them?
- AG Merrick Garland deliberate “for weeks” before obtaining (illegal) warrant?
- He wait 3 days to execute warrant?
??
This storm is starting to dissipate as every new update either makes the Biden Justice Department flaunt its rogue and extrajudicial roots or drops nothing remarkable regarding any criminal intent that comes with Trump holding onto these documents. Until Trump’s team filed a motion for a special master to review the documents, something a judge seems intent on appointing, the most recent stories about what led up to the raid is a monotonous stream of emails between Trump lawyers and the National Archives. Liberal writers, like Matt Taibbi, noted how the media is reticent on anything regarding this raid. He likened it to an accidental missile launch.
“Are we really being softened up for the DOJ ending this story without ever explaining what it had at the time of the raid? That would be bananas,” Taibbi wrote.
Davis added that Mar-a-Lago has Secret Service protection. Former presidents are afforded staff to handle these issues—the documents were secure. They were also potentially legal for Trump to have as he is a former president. He is the ultimate authority on declassifying such records. In just a few tweets, the man seems to have gutted the core reasoning for the DNI review. Unlike Hillary, Trump can and did declassify sensitive information. Again, these updates are a tortured production that teases something big to drop but remains incapable of showing why we need an army of FBI agents to raid Melania Trump’s closet and bust open the residence’s vault, which the affidavit provided no probable cause. It’s Russian collusion Part 5,000 regarding the pervasive updates that proved nothing. In this case, all the new developments post-raid are rendered meritless as the media pushes for a mishandling of classified materials story involving Trump. No president can ever be charged with that violation.
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