By now Trump and his fourth-rate lawyers are asking themselves why they wanted a special master.
Immediately following the execution of the search warrant at Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Florida, both the former president and his allies began alleging that the FBI “likely” or “could have” been there to “plant” evidence against him.
“Planting information anyone?” Trump said on his social media site attacking the FBI.
Fox News host Jesse Watters similarly asked the question on his show on Aug. 9.
“What the FBI is probably doing is planting evidence,” he claimed. Two days later, Watters was saying, it wasn’t so much planting evidence as Trump wanted to take home some reminders of his time in the Oval Office.
Even Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Fox News that no one is certain that the FBI wouldn’t “put things in the boxes to entrap him.”
By September, Trump was recycling the same tune on his social media.
“They leak, lie, plant fake evidence, allow the spying on my campaign, deceive the FISA Court, RAID and Break-Into my home, lose documents, and then they ask me, as the 45th President of the United States, to trust them,” wrote Trump.
He has also attacked the FBI for what he called a “witch hunt” over “Russia, Russia, Russia.”
When his lawyers made the case in legal filings, however, that tidbit was missing.
The Trump lawyers had a rough day in court this week with the special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, one of two judges that Trump asked to be appointed to the position. For six weeks, Trump has claimed that he declassified the documents that the FBI uncovered at Mar-a-Lago. Even Wednesday night when speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity, he said that he has the power to declassify things with the power of his own thoughts.
When Dearie asked Trump’s lawyers for proof that Trump declassified the documents, they refused to turn it over, saying that they didn’t want to show their hand for what they believe is a forthcoming criminal indictment of the former president.
On Thursday, Dearie asked for a response to another claim by Trump: whether or not they actually believe that the FBI planted evidence.
“No later than Sept. 30, 2022, Plaintiff shall submit a declaration or affidavit that includes each of the following factual matters: a. A list of any specific items set forth in the Detailed Property Inventory that Plaintiff asserts were not seized from the Premises on Aug. 8, 2022,” the court filing said.
He also asked the lawyers to give him a list of the items on the list in which the “location within the Premises where the item was found is incorrect.”
For example, Trump has focused a lot on the photo of the classified folders laying on the floor of his office, which he said was messy and an unacceptable lie by the FBI. The photos show the items laid out to display the classification abbreviations, and the court documents detail where they were found in Trump’s office. So, Trump will have an opportunity to argue they weren’t found in a desk drawer or a closet, etc.
Another on the list was for Trump to tell the judge any item that was not on the list that they believe was taken from the premises.
COMMENT: The Special Master — whom Trump’s team insisted on and whom they suggested is a textbook case of unintended consequences.