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Donald Trump’s legal team balks at judge’s declassification questions

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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Donald Trump’s legal team has told a newly appointed independent arbiter that it does not want to answer his questions about the declassification status of the documents seized last month from the former president’s Florida home, saying that issue could be part of Trump’s defense if he’s indicted.

Lawyers for Trump and for the Justice Department are to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday before a veteran judge named last week as special master to review the roughly 11,000 documents — including about 100 marked as classified — taken during the FBI’s Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago.


Ahead of the status conference, Raymond Dearie, the special master, requested the two sides to submit a proposed agenda and also provided a draft plan for how he envisions the process moving forward over the next two months.

Trump’s lawyers signaled in a Monday evening letter their objection to several aspects of that draft plan, including a request from Dearie that they disclose to him and to the Justice Department information about the classification status of the seized documents.




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The resistance to the judge’s request was notable because it was the Trump team, not the Justice Department, that had requested the appointment of a special master to conduct an independent review of the documents so that any material covered by claims of legal privilege could be segregated from the investigation — and because the Trump team’s recalcitrance included an acknowledgment that the probe could be building toward an indictment.

Trump has maintained without evidence that all of the records were declassified; his lawyers have not echoed that claim, though they have asserted that a president has absolute authority to declassify information.

In the letter, Trump’s lawyers say the time for addressing that question would be if they file a motion seeking the return by the Justice Department of some of the property taken from Mar-a-Lago.

“Otherwise, the Special Master process will have forced the Plaintiff to fully and specifically disclose a defense to the merits of any subsequent indictment.” the lawyers wrote.

The Trump team also asked the judge to consider pushing back all of the deadlines for his review.

Also Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers were to respond to a Justice Department’s appeal of a different judge’s order barring the department at least temporarily from using the classified documents it seized as part of its criminal investigation. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, in the same order appointing the special master, directed the department to halt its use of the records until Dearie can complete his work.

 
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Trump should be jumping at the chance to show how those classified documents have been declassified...
Yes. Except that would constitute an admission that they were classified, and Trump’s post-seizure assertion that he waved some magic wand or had a standing declassification order is complete BS, and likely not possible anyway for at least some of the documents.

Trump’s legal strategy has always been to delay to tomorrow and outlast the other guy. I think he might finally be hitting the wall. Hopefully.
 
What a clusterfvck. Wouldn't surprise me if Trump's attorneys head back to the Trump appointed district judge to restrict the Trump approved special master's review of documents seized at Trump's residence for which Trump has no possessory right.

This is the kind of legal mess a judge creates when she deviates from established criminal procedure.
 
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Meanwhile, the usual suspect AGs filed a brief saying, basically, you can’t trust that the documents marked top secret, with a top secret binder, are in fact top secret because Biden and the DOJ are bad people and liars. Really.

No dog in the fight, and this is the bullshit they are spending taxpayer dollars on.

 
This is going about as well as you might expect for the Trump Team, lol.

It seems as though Trump's legal team nominated Dearie under the expectation that he would be sympathetic to their tenous and confusing legal position regarding classification. They want to draw this out as long as possible.
 
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It seems as though Trump's legal team nominated Dearie under the expectation that he would be sympathetic to their tenous and confusing legal position regarding classification. They want to draw this out as long as possible.

Exactly WHY Loose Cannon included language that would allow her to fire the SM for any reason.

Expect that to be next, and her to "appoint" a different one that will give her the answer she and Trump want.
 
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To my understanding, Kash Patel made some statement that Trump previously declassified “whole sets” of documents. However, he’s the only one. Nobody else has corroborated that. I believe it’s BS.

In my opinion, Trump wants access to the documents so that he can prepare an affidavit from Kash Patel or someone else saying everything the FBI has had all been previously declassified. However, without access to the documents they can’t say that because they’re not sure what the FBI seized from MarALago. Basically, we don’t know how we’re supposed to lie here because we don’t know what DOJ knows.
 
What a clusterfvck. Wouldn't surprise me if Trump's attorneys head back to the Trump appointed district judge to restrict the Trump approved special master's review of documents seized at Trump's residence for which Trump has no possessory right.

This is the kind of legal mess a judge creates when she deviates from established criminal procedure.
She is in so far over her head it’s stunning. This is what happens when the only requirement for the job is membership in the Federalist Society. But, I’ve seen a lot of criticism from right leaning lawyers who say she isn’t following Federalist doctrine. She’s just lost, or a sock puppet.
 
To my understanding, Kash Patel made some statement that Trump previously declassified “whole sets” of documents. However, he’s the only one. Nobody else has corroborated that. I believe it’s BS.

In my opinion, Trump wants access to the documents so that he can prepare an affidavit from Kash Patel or someone else saying everything the FBI has had all been previously declassified. However, without access to the documents they can’t say that because they’re not sure what the FBI seized from MarALago. Basically, we don’t know how we’re supposed to lie here because we don’t know what DOJ knows.

No "affidavit" declassifies anything.

There's a legal/statutory process within the agencies to declassify information, allowing the agencies to "clean house" to prepare for the information becoming public. This includes getting human assets out of harm's way.

There is zero evidence any of that occurred, because if it had, Biden's administration would be in possession of those documents and that paper trail. The paperwork remains, regardless of who is in the WH.

Ergo: This is Another Big Lie to distract his masses.
 
No "affidavit" declassifies anything.

There's a legal/statutory process within the agencies to declassify information, allowing the agencies to "clean house" to prepare for the information becoming public. This includes getting human assets out of harm's way.

There is zero evidence any of that occurred, because if it had, Biden's administration would be in possession of those documents and that paper trail. The paperwork remains, regardless of who is in the WH.

Ergo: This is Another Big Lie to distract his masses.
Didn’t say that it would. But right now they have nothing. An affidavit would be at least some evidence that there was some sort of declassification and toss the question to a judge. In Trump’s eyes, hopefully a friendly judge or jury might find in his favor on some of these issues even if he didn’t follow all (or any) of the procedures.

But without at least an affidavit there’s zero evidence to offer that this declassification theory is anything but the nonsense we all believe it to be.
 
Didn’t say that it would. But right now they have nothing. An affidavit would be at least some evidence that there was some sort of declassification

No

Any "affidavit" would merely be evidence of a DISCUSSION of declassification.
That's completely different from ACTUALLY engaging in and completing the process of declassification.
 
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The Master judge has shown that there is now a grown up in the room instead of a little girl.
The bigger problem is, the way I understand it, his findings go before the Cannon fool, who's a Trump appointed stooge.

Probably like the Mueller probe when Bill Barr buried or silenced all the negative stuff that could have removed Turd.

That said... Trump will never again be in the WH.
 
The bigger problem is, the way I understand it, his findings go before the Cannon fool, who's a Trump appointed stooge.

Probably like the Mueller probe when Bill Barr buried or silenced all the negative stuff that could have removed Turd.

That said... Trump will never again be in the WH.

Remember: Loose Cannon included in her order the ability to fire the SM "for any reason".

Since we didn't get the answer we wanted, I anticipate more shenanigans from the bench here.
 
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No

Any "affidavit" would merely be evidence of a DISCUSSION of declassification.
That's completely different from ACTUALLY engaging in and completing the process of declassification.
Over the past 5 years, how many things did you think were certain and settled get turned upside down? It’s a different world, Joe. There are no certainties when it comes to a president/former president testing things we thought were settled.

Good grief, we have a federal judge saying it’s an open question whether documents are classified or not, when the government is saying they absolutely are. Your certainty is misplaced.
 
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Over the past 5 years, how many things did you think were certain and settled get turned upside down? It’s a different world, Joe. There are no certainties when it comes to a president/former president testing things we thought were settled.

Good grief. There are legal requirements and processes.

Things were different when he was in the WH and could weaponize the DOJ in his favor. That's no longer the case.
 
Good grief. There are legal requirements and processes.

Things were different when he was in the WH and could weaponize the DOJ in his favor. That's no longer the case.
You think there’s no possibility that Cannon could find that Trump declassified all or some of these documents and that failing to comply with paperwork requirements is just form over substance? She’s bent over backwards talking about equity and former president, as well as introducing the issue of executive privilege, etc.

Or that an appellate court (or this current Supreme Court), couldn’t find that paperwork requirements don’t override the executive’s power to declassify?

I’m not saying an affidavit from Patel wins the day. Doubtful it does. It just gives them some legal basis for even making the argument in defense.
 
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You think there’s no possibility that Cannon could find that Trump declassified all or some of these documents and that failing to comply with paperwork requirements is just form over substance? She’s bent over backwards talking about equity and former president, as well as introducing the issue of executive privilege, etc.

Or that an appellate court (or this current Supreme Court), couldn’t find that paperwork requirements don’t override the executive’s power to declassify?

I’m not saying an affidavit from Patel wins the day. Doubtful it does. It just gives them some legal basis for even making the argument in defense.
Just another way to delay a year or more.
 
Or that an appellate court (or this current Supreme Court), couldn’t find that paperwork requirements don’t override the executive’s power to declassify?

Paperwork requirements ARE PART OF THE PROCESS

And Trump is NOT the executive.

If Trump could magically "declassify" by just saying the word, what prevents Biden from "classifying" by doing THE SAME THING? 👀
 
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You think there’s no possibility that Cannon could find that Trump declassified all or some of these documents and that failing to comply with paperwork requirements is just form over substance? She’s bent over backwards talking about equity and former president, as well as introducing the issue of executive privilege, etc.

Or that an appellate court (or this current Supreme Court), couldn’t find that paperwork requirements don’t override the executive’s power to declassify?

I’m not saying an affidavit from Patel wins the day. Doubtful it does. It just gives them some legal basis for even making the argument in defense.

If this judges decision got upheld in an appeal I’d be absolutely shocked.
 
Expect more tricks and unusual rulings from Cannon.

She's already compromised.

She'll be removed from office within five years for corruption... that's my prediction.
 
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