Donald Trump has asked the FBI to return some of the documents seized during a search of his Mar-a-Lago home last week. The former president made the request in a Truth Social post Sunday morning, claiming some of the documents were protected under attorney-client privilege and therefore should not have been seized in the first place. It comes after a report claimed Trump personally appealed to Attorney General Merrick Garland before the FBI warrant behind the Mar-a-Lago raid was unsealed. The same report from the New York Times said a lawyer for Mr Trump had told the Department of Justice (DOJ) in June that all classified material at Mar-a-Lago had been returned. Trump’s team has argued that all the documents he brought from the White House to Mar-a-Lago were declassified – as the FBI warrant suggests he is under investigation for violating the Espionage Act.
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What is the espionage law under which Trump is being investigated?
Donald Trump’s alleged unauthorized removal of classified material from the White House is being formally investigated as a possible violation of the Espionage Act, a World War I-era law used by the US government to pursue whistleblowers and whistleblowers such as Chelsea Manning . Understanding the law is critical to piecing together where the Justice Department’s investigation into the former president might go. Read more about this decades-old legislation from Io Dodds in The Independent:
What is the espionage law under which Trump is being investigated?
The former president’s home was searched under a controversial law passed in 1917 to prevent espionage and the leaking of government documents John Bowden August 14, 2022 6:00 p.m 1660494917
Mar-a-Lago video subpoenaed by DoJ sparks speculation Trump may still have some classified documents
A new subpoena from the Department of Justice raises the question: Is the Department of Justice done retrieving potentially classified material from Mar-a-Lago? The New York Times reports that Justice Department investigators have subpoenaed video footage from a 60-day period “including views outside the warehouse” where the documents in question were kept. “According to a person briefed on the matter, the video showed that, following an incident in which Justice Department officials were in contact with Mr. Trump’s team, the boxes were moved in and out of the room,” it said. the Times’ Maggie Haberman. If true, it means investigators could be on the lookout for further materials removed from the White House apparently without authorization. Read more from the Independent’s Graeme Massie:
Footage from Mar-a-Lago sparks speculation Trump may still have some classified documents
The footage from the 60-day period included “views outside the warehouse,” according to the report John Bowden August 14, 2022 5:35 pm 1660492938
‘He’s Going To Jail’: If Trump Really Had Classified Nuclear Documents In His Home, The Consequences Will Be Huge
The Mar-a-Lago raid became somewhat more serious this week when it was reported by the Washington Post that some of the documents seized by FBI agents involved nuclear secrets. As The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg notes, “When it comes to protecting anything nuclear-related, the US government simply doesn’t interfere.” Read more about why Donald Trump and his associates may have stumbled into the most serious scandal of his political career:
If Trump had nuclear secrets at Mar-a-Lago, he’s going to jail
“It’s like child pornography. If it’s on your computer, you can do the time” John Bowden 14 August 2022 17:02 1660491221
GOP senator avoids endorsing Trump in 2024
Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota may be the latest Republican to criticize Donald Trump for infidelity, after he declined to say Sunday whether he would back the former president to run again. Mr. Rounds was asked about the issue on NBC’s Meet the Press. See below: John Bowden 14 August 2022 16:33 1660487946
Trump demands FBI return Mar-a-Lago documents
Donald Trump is calling on the Justice Department to hand over some of the documents seized Monday in a raid at his Florida resort and residence in Mar-a-Lago. In a post on Truth Social, the former president responded to a Fox News report Saturday that the FBI informed Trump’s team after the raid that some of the documents they seized were protected by attorney-client privilege. “Oh wonderful! It has just been learned that the FBI, in its now famous Mar-a-Lago raid, took boxes of privileged “attorney-client” material, as well as “executive” privileged material, which they knowingly should not have taken. With a copy of this TRUTH, I respectfully request that these documents be immediately returned to the location from which they were obtained. Thank you!” Trump tweeted on Sunday.
Trump demands FBI return Mar-a-Lago documents
Former president reacts to report that FBI seized privileged documents John Bowden 14 August 2022 15:39 1660486334
White House Remains Silent on FBI Raid at Mar-a-Lago
While Joe Biden is in Delaware for the weekend, his press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made a rare appearance on ABC This Week to discuss the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that would provide billions to fight and preparing for anthropogenic climate change. Pressed by an interviewer about the raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last week by FBI agents looking for illegally held classified material, Ms Jean-Pierre repeatedly declined to comment and insisted the White House was staying out. research. John Bowden 14 August 2022 15:12 1660478400
“Trump had a habit of grabbing intelligence documents,” says John Bolton
Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, said that Donald Trump “had a habit of grabbing intelligence documents.” “He worried people all the time,” he told NBC News. “God knows what he did with it,” he added. In 2017, Mr Trump had dinner with then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago with other club guests dining nearby. When the dinner was interrupted by a missile test from North Korea, the leaders discussed how to respond in front of others. Lawyer Mark Zeid told Reuters that “what we saw was Trump being so lax on security that he had a sensitive meeting about a potential war issue where non-US government personnel could observe and photograph.” “It would be easy for someone to also have a device that was listening and recording what Trump was saying,” he added. Gustaf Kilander August 14, 2022 1:00 pm 1660473000
Democratic committee chairs are calling for an “immediate review and damage assessment” from the DNI
Gustaf Kilander August 14, 2022 11:30 am 1660469400
Trump asked Merrick Garland, “What can I do to turn the heat down?” before the FBI warrant was unsealed, the report says
Donald Trump personally appealed to Attorney General Merrick Garland before the FBI warrant behind the Mar-a-Lago raid was unsealed, according to a new report. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that he had authorized the Mar-a-Lago search and hinted that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would not have done so without first attempting less intrusive actions. Shortly before Mr. Garland’s statement, a person in the former president’s inner circle contacted a Justice Department official to relay a message from Mr. Trump to Mr. Garland, the New York Times reported. The former president wanted the attorney general to know that people around the US were outraged about the raid. “The country is on fire,” Mr. Trump was quoted as saying, according to the person with knowledge of the message, according to the Times. “What can I do to reduce the heat?”
Trump reportedly asked Garland, “What can I do to turn the heat down?” after the FBI raid
“The country is on fire,” Trump reportedly told Garland Gustaf Kilander August 14, 2022 10:30 am 1660467620
Donald Trump Jr shares meme about stepmother Melania’s underwear as family reacts to FBI raid
Donald Trump Jr. shared a meme about his stepmother Melania’s underwear as the Trump family reacted to the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago. On Saturday, Trump Jr. shared a meme of a man sitting among a pile of underwear, with the caption: “Feeding on Melania’s closet.” The meme was a possible reaction to the FBI’s search of former president and father Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
Donald Trump Jr shares meme about Melania’s stepmother’s underwear
The raid is said to have been aimed at retrieving documents containing classified information Peony Hirwani August 14, 2022 10:00 am
