I just have to say that I really love the way that Garland is managing the press releases. He is scrupulously maintaining his pledge not to publicize or politicize any of the actions of the DOJ, but like an Aikido master he is using Trumps own public attacks as an opportunity to absolutely destroy him.
If Trump had kept entirely mum about the raid, then we wouldn’t know much of anything about Trump’s crimes, but since Trump can’t keep his mouth shut we now know almost everything.
Here is the time line according to my recollection:
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FBI conducts raid without any publicity.
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Trump complains on social media and so the FBI is “forced” to acknowledge that there was evidence of a crime on Trump property.
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Trump complains that the warrant wasn’t public, so the FBI is “forced” to release it and reveal that Trump had boxes of top secret documents.
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Trump gets upset and complains the the affidavit isn’t public, so the FBI is “forced” to reveal the affidavit which shows that Trump lied about returning all the documents, and also that trump is not only being investigated for having the documents illegally, he’s also being investigated for obstruction of justice.
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Trump’s lawyers send out a highly political motion to the judge to demand a “Special Master”. The FBI is “forced” to make public a response that not only clearly lays out why Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice but also includes a “smoking gun” photo that will be on the front page of every paper from her to Poughkeepsie.
And there sits Garland with his enigmatic smile honestly saying that they only discuss ongoing investigations when absolutely necessary.
I can’t wait for the next Trump bum-rush attempt that leads to his hard faceplant SMACK into the floor.