DOJ releases photos of classified documents found at Mar-A-Lago IN TRUMP’S POSSESSION.
The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday released a photo of classified documents it retrieved from Donald Trump’s Florida home earlier this month, the latest disclosure in its investigation into the former president’s removal of secret government records from the White House following his 2020 election loss.
The heavily redacted photo, which shows documents clearly marked “secret” and “top secret” sprawled out on carpet, accompanied a new 36-page filing in which the Department of Justice said it compiled evidence that “efforts were likely taken to obstruct” its investigation, a finding that puts members of Trump’s team and potentially the former president himself in even more legal jeopardy.
The filing notes that the FBI “developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed” from a Mar-a-Lago storage room that Trump’s team claimed was the location of all the documents removed from the White House.
“Against that backdrop, and relying on the probable cause that the investigation had developed at that time, on August 5, 2022,” the filing reads, “the government applied to Magistrate Judge Reinhart for a search and seizure warrant, which cited three statutes: 18 U.S.C. § 793 (Willful retention of national defense information), 18 U.S.C. § 2071 (Concealment or removal of government records), and 18 U.S.C. § 1519 (Obstruction of federal investigation).”
DOJ files a 40-page response to Trump’s silly demand for a special master
From Bradley P. Moss — “I have read the entire Government filing. I spend all day, every day, litigating against the Government, so some of this is familiar stuff to see. This particular brief is very well-done.”
Here are the highlights:
1) The facts. NARA negotiated in 2021 for the missing records. They finally got 15 boxes. After going through them and finding all kinds of classified records (not organized at all), they raised the alarm. They wanted to make a referral to the FBI but had to first consult with Trump’s team, per the PRA procedure. Trump’s team delayed for weeks and weeks, and never substantively responded. Finally, NARA told Trump’s team they were making the referral and rejected the “protective” assertion of Executive Privilege.
2) At no time did Trump’s legal team file an action *at that point* to prevent the referral to FBI.
3) The FBI reviewed the records and the criminal inquiry was opened. A grand jury subpoena was issued to Trump’s team. Again, they delayed and delayed in complying. Finally, in early June they agreed to a meeting at MAL to comply. They turned over more classified records, and swore out a statement that they had done a diligent search, they had not found any more classified records, and any records that remained were in the storage room. They refused to let the FBI agents look at the boxes in the storage room.
4) The FBI gathered new evidence that there were in fact more classified records at MAL, including in locations outside of the storage room. They got the search warrant and found approximately 100 additional classified records, some located in Trump’s own office.
5) That is straight up obstruction and concealment of classified records, and willfully retaining them in an unauthorized location.
6) Now come the legal arguments. First, DOJ says Trump lacks standing. The records are not his: they are the property of the US. Even if he wanted to claim them as personal records, he never did so. He did not do so in 2021, he did not do so when subpoenaed, he never did it. He has no possessory interest in the records.
7) Second, they argue Trump is not entitled to any injunctive relief. Again, these are not his records, he waited way too long to even try to stop the FBI from getting the records, he’s not entitled to relief given Executive Privilege would not apply, and even if it did the criminal investigative need outweighs it.
8) Third, the Special Master is moot. The A/C privilege records
were already separated and are set to be evaluated by the magistrate. The records Trump claims are covered by EP are not his anyway, and the Nixon precedents make clear he cannot invoke it to override the need to conduct a criminal investigation.9) To sum it up, Trump took
PLAINLY MARKED classified records to MAL, he delayed, obstructed and resisted Government efforts to recover them, he (or his staff) concealed the records from investigators, and they got caught doing so.
Meanwhile — Biden’s plans are working as American and foreign manufacturers announce plans to build plants in the US and hire thousands
The big news until shortly before midnight tonight was that businesses do indeed seem to be coming home after the pandemic illustrated the dangers of stretched supply lines, the global minimum tax reduced the incentives to flee to other countries with lower taxes, and the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act spurred investment in technology.
Yesterday, Honda and LG Energy Solution announced they would spend $4.4 billion to construct a new battery plant in the U.S. to join the plants General Motors is building in Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee; the ones Ford is building in Kentucky and Tennessee; the one Toyota is building in North Carolina; and the one Stellantis is building in Indiana. The plants are part of the switch to electric vehicles. According to auto industry reporter Neal E. Boudette of the New York Times, they represent “one of the most profound shifts the auto industry has experienced in its century-long history.”
Today, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear (D) announced that Kentucky has secured more than $8.5 billion for investment in the production of electric vehicle batteries, which should produce more than 8,000 jobs in the EV sector. “Kentuckians will literally be powering the future,” he said.
Also today, First Solar, the largest solar panel maker in the U.S., announced that it would construct a new solar panel plant in the Southeast, investing up to $1 billion. It credited the Inflation Reduction Act with making solar construction attractive enough in the U.S. to build here rather than elsewhere. First Solar has also said it will upgrade and expand an existing plant in Ohio, spending $185 million.
Corning has announced a new manufacturing plant outside Phoenix, Arizona, to build fiber-optic cable to help supply the $42.5 billion high-speed internet infrastructure investment made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. AT&T will also build a new fiber internet network in Arizona.
The CHIPS and Science Act is spurring investment in the manufacturing of chips in the U.S. Earlier this month, Micron announced a $40 billion investment in the next eight years, producing up to 40,000 new jobs. Qualcomm has also committed to investing $4.2 billion in chips from the New York facility of GlobalFoundries. Qualcomm says it intends to increase chip production in the U.S. by 50% over the next five years. In January, Intel announced it would invest $20 billion, and possibly as much as $100 billion, in a chip plant in Ohio.
This investment is part of a larger trend in which U.S. companies are bringing their operations back to the U.S. Last week, a report by the Reshoring Initiative noted that nearly 350,000 U.S. jobs have come home this year. The coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and China’s instability were the push to bring jobs home, while the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act were the pull. Dion Rabouin notes in the Wall Street Journal that this reshoring will not necessarily translate to blue-collar jobs, as companies will likely increase automation to avoid higher labor costs.