Excuses for the FBI search

[billvon 2,380]

So now the Trumpies are struggling to come up with the right spin on the FBI search warrant.  It's fun to watch them struggle to frame it to make Trump the hero/victim.  The first story was that the FBI planted something.  This is probably wise since they know the FBI is going to find something incriminating.  

Trump lawyer Alina Habba: "I'm concerned that they may have planted something; you know, at this point, who knows?"

Rand Paul: They will "put things into those boxes to entrap him."

FOX's Jesse Watters: "What the FBI is probably doing is planting evidence.."

This of course led to the violence that Trump supporters are now well known for.  For example, Jan 6th rioter Ricky Shiffer called for violence against the FBI on social media.  Then he went to an FBI office with an AR-15, body armor and a nail gun and tried to do just that.  He was killed while fleeing the scene.

But wait!  It wasn't really the FBI, it was a "rogue agent."  Rep. Steve Scalise: "it concerns everybody if you see some agents go rogue."

No, it was the FBI, but they were there to loot, not to execute a search warrant.  Marco Rubio: "I actually don't think they went in looking for documents . . . I think they went in for whatever they could find."

No, that's not it at all.  It was a military invasion, not the FBI.  Charlie Kirk: "They're now going to try to play the victim after they occupied Donald Trump's home, a military occupation."

No?  Then how about everyone's favorite bogeyman, the Deep State?  Real America's Anna Perez: "This is all a part of the puzzle I'm trying to put together here, which is that the Deep State, ultimately, this past raid of Mar-a-Lago, it's a threat. It's a threat because they don't want Trump to expose the pedophiles that he knows about.  That's what impeachment was about. That's what the Russia hoax was about. That's what every single . . . that's what Jan. 6 was about before they planted all those people from the FBI there . . .They're coming after him and it's because they don't want him to expose the pedophiles." 

Can't wait to see what they come up with next.

[JoeWeber 2,294]

43 minutes ago, billvon said:

So now the Trumpies are struggling to come up with the right spin on the FBI search warrant.  It's fun to watch them struggle to frame it to make Trump the hero/victim.  The first story was that the FBI planted something.  This is probably wise since they know the FBI is going to find something incriminating.  

Trump lawyer Alina Habba: "I'm concerned that they may have planted something; you know, at this point, who knows?"

Rand Paul: They will "put things into those boxes to entrap him."

FOX's Jesse Watters: "What the FBI is probably doing is planting evidence.."

This of course led to the violence that Trump supporters are now well known for.  For example, Jan 6th rioter Ricky Shiffer called for violence against the FBI on social media.  Then he went to an FBI office with an AR-15, body armor and a nail gun and tried to do just that.  He was killed while fleeing the scene.

But wait!  It wasn't really the FBI, it was a "rogue agent."  Rep. Steve Scalise: "it concerns everybody if you see some agents go rogue."

No, it was the FBI, but they were there to loot, not to execute a search warrant.  Marco Rubio: "I actually don't think they went in looking for documents . . . I think they went in for whatever they could find."

No, that's not it at all.  It was a military invasion, not the FBI.  Charlie Kirk: "They're now going to try to play the victim after they occupied Donald Trump's home, a military occupation."

No?  Then how about everyone's favorite bogeyman, the Deep State?  Real America's Anna Perez: "This is all a part of the puzzle I'm trying to put together here, which is that the Deep State, ultimately, this past raid of Mar-a-Lago, it's a threat. It's a threat because they don't want Trump to expose the pedophiles that he knows about.  That's what impeachment was about. That's what the Russia hoax was about. That's what every single . . . that's what Jan. 6 was about before they planted all those people from the FBI there . . .They're coming after him and it's because they don't want him to expose the pedophiles." 

Can't wait to see what they come up with next.

I sort of like this angle from Trumps office:

"President Trump, in order to prepare for work the next day, often took documents, including classified documents, from the Oval Office to the residence. He had a standing order that documents removed from the Oval Office and taken into the residence were deemed to be declassified the moment he removed them," the statement said.

Just an innocent example of doing homework, you know, like everyone continues to do after they were fired. And besides, we had a swell sign on the exit door reading all documents leaving here are now declassified.

[jakee 1,254]

Holy shit, what is ‘Real America’?

Every time some new right wing media like Newsmax or OAN appears that you think has hit an all time low, there always another waiting to come along and dig that rabbit hole just a little bit deeper.

[gowlerk 1,903]

21 minutes ago, jakee said:

Holy shit, what is ‘Real America’?

Every time some new right wing media like Newsmax or OAN appears that you think has hit an all time low, there always another waiting to come along and dig that rabbit hole just a little bit deeper.

It is a contest to be the most outrageous asshole. Inspired by the greatest asshole in the nation.

[ryoder 1,381]

I think BillV missed this one:

 

[jakee 1,254]

18 minutes ago, ryoder said:

I think BillV missed this one:

 

Lol, the obvious implication being that Trump had no intention or plan to leave until Jan 6th failed.

[ryoder 1,381]

See? It has all been declassifed. Are we good now?

 

[jakee 1,254]

And now from the ranking Republican member of the House Intelligence committee - classified nuclear weapons information isn’t really classified because you could probably look it up on your phone anyway if you wanted.

 

Also Trump’s own insane defence that he didn’t have any classified information because by definition anything he took with him was instantly declassified is undercut by the fact that his own chief of staff previously argued in court that just because Trump said he declassified something didn’t mean we should take him seriously. 
 

And there are still millions of people who think that degree of chaos and confusion is the best possible government there could ever be.

Edited August 14, 2022 by jakee

[billvon 2,380]

Recently seen on Facebook:

"There was someone else who was persecuted like this 2000 years ago!"

Yes, that's right.  Trump is now being compared to Jesus.

[JoeWeber 2,294]

26 minutes ago, billvon said:

Recently seen on Facebook:

"There was someone else who was persecuted like this 2000 years ago!"

Yes, that's right.  Trump is now being compared to Jesus.

Next up: no ones been treated worse since I was cut from the 400 way!

[JoeWeber 2,294]

New glob of spaghetti sliding down the wall: the documents were protected by attorney client privilege and must forthwith be returned. TRUTH!

 

[SkyDekker 1,121]

2 hours ago, JoeWeber said:

New glob of spaghetti sliding down the wall: the documents were protected by attorney client privilege and must forthwith be returned. TRUTH!

 

It is a confession of sorts really. If some of the records are part of Executive Privilege, that would automatically make them Presidential Records, which are to be delivered to NARA and not MAL. 

[phantomII 36]

I don't know what is scarier, politicians spreading this BS or millions of americans happily believing this BS.

Edited August 15, 2022 by phantomII
spelling

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

2 hours ago, phantomII said:

I don't know what is scarier, politicians spreading this BS or millions of americans happily believing this BS.

The 2nd one.

Politicians, con men and snake oil salesmen have always lied.

The degree to which the gullible idiots have believed Trump and his bullshit is frightening.
The number of people who think the election was 'stolen' is truly frightening.
The number who think the search was 'illegal', that it was not a crime for him to posses those documents, who think that the current administration is 'out to get him', the idiocy is really scary.

 

Along the same lines, the people who believe that Covid is a 'hoax', that the vaccines are killing people, that hospitals are lying about the deaths, all that shit is equally disturbing.
On a slightly positive note, the Covid deniers are dying from their stupidity.

Admittedly, so are some of the Trumpettes, but nowhere near enough of them.

[jakee 1,254]

16 minutes ago, wolfriverjoe said:

The 2nd one.

Politicians, con men and snake oil salesmen have always lied.

It’s not the same. Implying that Trump is just another lying politician like many others is a dangerous thing. Trump isn’t like other politicians. The scope and frequency of his lies, along with his absolute disregard for the norms and rules of behaviour in office is unprecedented, and any normalising of it just enhances the damage he’s done to democracy and to ethics in government. 
 

I think his major ‘discovery’ was that you should never backtrack, equivocate or apologise. When caught in a lie or falsehood, no matter how blatant, he’d simply double down, repeat it, elaborate on it, attack anyone else who dared question it. And that’s what made him more popular than anything else, among people who would otherwise always complain about the dishonesty of politicians.

[Faicon9493 114]

All the talk about the records, classified and unclassified, seems to center around Donald Trump but he couldn’t have pulled this off by himself. I’m a retired public school educator and one of my primary duties was test coordinator. When it came to the state wide standardized test, security was given a top priority. When the materials arrived at school, they came with packing lists. Everything had to be opened and materials had to be hand counted to make sure it matched the packing list. Discrepancies had to be reported immediately and sometimes, I found discrepancies. When test materials had to be returned, if numbers didn’t match, it could have cost me my job and there were potential criminal penalties as well. During testing, if a student got sick and vomited on their test materials, those materials had to be put in a zip lock bag and returned with the other test materials. Test materials had to be kept in a secure area at my school. I was given a room where the lock was changed. The only people who had a key to this room was the Principal, the head custodian, and me. I had to maintain a Chain of Custody Log to list the names and times that other people entered that room.

Having said all that, I have some questions:
1. Did Donald Trump come up with the list of documents that were taken on his own?
2. Who was the person he dispatched to retrieve these records?
3. Who signed for the release of these records?
4. Did the request for these records raise red flags? If yes, why wasn’t it reported?
5. Who organized and packaged these records for transportation to Florida?
6. Who unpacked these records and took them to the place where they were kept?

At the end of the day, if Trump’s head rolls over this, he should have plenty of company. Just my two cents.

 

[Phil1111 908]

Excuses aside. This may, MAY, turn out to be a net benefit for democracy. As republicans rally around trump. It further complicates everything for any presidential contenders who want to challenge him. For GOP members who want to replace him the whole victim-hood messaging will make life difficult. It will drive trump fundraising while reducing the cash for other republicans.

It will add to the stink surrounding him for the average voter. Although for trumpites who don't possess noses thats irrelevant.

[jakee 1,254]

Fox and Friends have hit the jackpot on this one. They’ve invoked the precedent of….. Nixon. Richard freakin Nixon is now their defence of Trump. 
 

You know, if I listen to alternative media today, oh, classified documents, no one is above the law, right? The rule of law applies to everyone. I'm curious. When it comes to classified documents, famously, President Nixon said, that if the president does it, that it is not illegal. Is that not truly the standard?

 

I love these guys. The ‘alternative media’ jerks say that the rule of law applies to everyone, but Nixon said he could do whatever the fuck he wanted so obviously that’s what we’re going with!

[JerryBaumchen 1,046]

3 minutes ago, jakee said:

Fox and Friends have hit the jackpot on this one. They’ve invoked the precedent of….. Nixon. Richard freakin Nixon is now their defence of Trump. 
 

You know, if I listen to alternative media today, oh, classified documents, no one is above the law, right? The rule of law applies to everyone. I'm curious. When it comes to classified documents, famously, President Nixon said, that if the president does it, that it is not illegal. Is that not truly the standard?

 

I love these guys. The ‘alternative media’ jerks say that the rule of law applies to everyone, but Nixon said he could do whatever the fuck he wanted so obviously that’s what we’re going with!

Hi jakee,

When you got nothing, you have to find something.

Jerry Baumchen

[wmw999 2,116]

Any port in a storm. They’re pretty sure it’ll all blow over in the long run. And maybe it will. How long was Tammany Hall in charge of NY politics?

Wendy P. 

[ryoder 1,381]

A nice round-up of the excuses:

 

[JoeWeber 2,294]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:43 AM, Faicon9493 said:

All the talk about the records, classified and unclassified, seems to center around Donald Trump but he couldn’t have pulled this off by himself. I’m a retired public school educator and one of my primary duties was test coordinator. When it came to the state wide standardized test, security was given a top priority. When the materials arrived at school, they came with packing lists. Everything had to be opened and materials had to be hand counted to make sure it matched the packing list. Discrepancies had to be reported immediately and sometimes, I found discrepancies. When test materials had to be returned, if numbers didn’t match, it could have cost me my job and there were potential criminal penalties as well. During testing, if a student got sick and vomited on their test materials, those materials had to be put in a zip lock bag and returned with the other test materials. Test materials had to be kept in a secure area at my school. I was given a room where the lock was changed. The only people who had a key to this room was the Principal, the head custodian, and me. I had to maintain a Chain of Custody Log to list the names and times that other people entered that room.

Having said all that, I have some questions:
1. Did Donald Trump come up with the list of documents that were taken on his own?
2. Who was the person he dispatched to retrieve these records?
3. Who signed for the release of these records?
4. Did the request for these records raise red flags? If yes, why wasn’t it reported?
5. Who organized and packaged these records for transportation to Florida?
6. Who unpacked these records and took them to the place where they were kept?

At the end of the day, if Trump’s head rolls over this, he should have plenty of company. Just my two cents.

 

Thank you for your service but I doubt it. 4 years of disrupting every norm concerning presidential records, not the least of which was tearing them up and tossing them on the floor or flushing them down the crapper, will give anyone an excellent excuse for doing what to them was normal. Even Trump might be able to claim innocence: What? Seriously? No one ever told me no or to stop it or else! If you need to blame anyone blame my advisors! And it might just work.

[ryoder 1,381]

12 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

Thank you for your service but I doubt it. 4 years of disrupting every norm concerning presidential records, not the least of which was tearing them up and tossing them on the floor or flushing them down the crapper, will give anyone an excellent excuse for doing what to them was normal. Even Trump might be able to claim innocence: What? Seriously? No one ever told me no or to stop it or else! If you need to blame anyone blame my advisors! And it might just work.

Oh, Trump was very worried about preserving documents...when Pelosi ripped up a copy of his speech. Jump to 0:28 here:

 

[Faicon9493 114]

14 minutes ago, ryoder said:

Oh, Trump was very worried about preserving documents...when Pelosi ripped up a copy of his speech. Jump to 0:28 here:

 

His speech wasn't classified.

[JoeWeber 2,294]

Just now, Faicon9493 said:

His speech wasn't classified.

In court that would be a nifty piece of evidence showing intent; that's the tricky bit to prove.