# FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence, August 8, 2022, Case Dismissed July 15, 2024 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 8, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329 "2022-08-08T23:18:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 162
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3221 "2022-09-22T20:24:59Z")
That’s fine. My 25 yrs litigating in federal courts and then 12 years as a federal administrative law judge suggest to me that like people, judges tend to make mistakes far more often that they act out of evil intent. And if Cannon were intelligent and truly wished to tip the scales for TFG, she coulda done it in ways that were much subtler and less readily objectionable. Her actions are so fucked up, unnecessary, and unjustified that to me they smack of beginner’s mistake. But you - and others - may well be correct. Like I said, I REALLY dislike saying ANYTHING noncritical of Connor or TFG. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3222 "2022-09-22T20:33:23Z")
In other words: incompetence trumps evil intent and bad faith? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3223 "2022-09-22T21:32:07Z")
It’s a given that Trump’s blathering about having declassified the documents at Mar-A-Lago is bullshit, a red herring, etc. But I’m just curious, has anyone questioned Trump (or more likely one of his funkiest) if he was actually asserting that the type of sensitive info in play should now be much more widely accessible? Wouldn’t they now be available through a FOIA request? We’ve all read the reporting that the sensitive docs included nuclear capabilities of a foreign nation, and a host of other details that could jeopardize national security and human sources. Has anyone followed up an assertion that it was all declassified by asking, “Really? The former president felt that revealing intel sources and nuclear secrets was okay?” Sorry if I missed it, or if I’m misunderstanding the effect of declassification, but it seems like an obvious, bullshit-dispelling question. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3224 "2022-09-22T21:38:21Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > It’s a given that Trump’s blathering about having declassified the documents at Mar-A-Lago is bullshit, a red herring, etc. It’s also a given that nobody in Team Trump really know what the documents are, exactly, so any attempt to press them on the issue would result in blank looks and/or claims that any particular document was never in Mar-a-Lago. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3225 "2022-09-22T21:40:19Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Has anyone followed up an assertion that it was all declassified by asking, “Really? The former president felt that revealing intel sources and nuclear secrets was okay?” The special master did ask exactly which documents had been declassified. Trump’s lawyers declined to provide an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3226 "2022-09-22T21:46:46Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > The special master did ask exactly which documents had been declassified. Trump’s lawyers declined to provide an answer. That’s not my question though. It would be more like this: Trump flunky: This is just a storage issue! Trump had already declassified everything! Reporter: Really? He declassified documents containing nuclear capabilities of a foreign nation? Documents revealing sources and methods? What would have possessed him to do such a thing? Isn’t anyone worried that making this info available is, I don’t know, dangerous maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3227 "2022-09-22T21:54:51Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > But I’m just curious, has anyone questioned Trump (or more likely one of his funkiest) if he was actually asserting that the type of sensitive info in play should now be much more widely accessible? > > Wouldn’t they now be available through a FOIA request? We’ve all read the reporting that the sensitive docs included nuclear capabilities of a foreign nation, and a host of other details that could jeopardize national security and human sources. > > Has anyone followed up an assertion that it was all declassified by asking, “Really? The former president felt that revealing intel sources and nuclear secrets was okay?” This is part of the argument that both the DOJ and now the special master are making. Even as far back as January of this year, when NARA first started taking back documents (before the FBI needed to get involved), Trump was making the claim and one of the counters was whether this was all available via the FOIA. Trump’s argument is that they are declassified, therefore he can’t be in trouble for having them (both false things, they are still classified and he’s still in trouble whether they are or are not classified), but since they are _privileged_, they can’t be made publicly available. He has also insisted that they are his, he owns them. So again, they can’t be made available to people on request, because they belong to Trump. > **[Judge to Team Trump: ‘You can’t have your cake and eat it, too’](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/judge-team-trump-cant-cake-eat-rcna48630)** > > In the Mar-a-Lago case, there was some "early tension" between the Trump-approved special master and Donald Trump's legal team. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3228 "2022-09-22T21:57:42Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Trump flunky: This is just a storage issue! Trump had already declassified everything! > > Reporter: Really? He declassified documents containing nuclear capabilities of a foreign nation? Documents revealing sources and methods? Trump flunky: He never had any of that. Reporter: Sure he did. Here’s proof! Trump flunky: Fake news! Team Trump always manufactures their own reality. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3229 "2022-09-22T21:58:30Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Trump’s argument is that they are declassified, therefore he can’t be in trouble for having them (both false things, they are still classified and he’s still in trouble whether they are or are not classified), but since they are _privileged_, they can’t be made publicly available. He has also insisted that they are his, he owns them. So again, they can’t be made available to people on request, because they belong to Trump. Right. Classification status is icing on the cake, but Trump shouldn’t have _anything_ resembling an official record. A birthday card from Eric - fine, he can keep that at Mar-a-Lago. But if he wrote down what he wanted for lunch during a cabinet meeting, that’s the property of the American People and belongs in the national archives. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3230 "2022-09-22T22:00:15Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Reporter: Really? He declassified documents containing nuclear capabilities of a foreign nation? Documents revealing sources and methods? What would have possessed him to do such a thing? Isn’t anyone worried that making this info available is, I don’t know, dangerous maybe? I agree that reporters making FOIA requests for the supposed declassified information would be a nice fly in the ointment to the Trump team’s comfort train. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3231 "2022-09-22T22:00:45Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Trump’s argument is that they are declassified, therefore he can’t be in trouble for having them (both false things, they are still classified and he’s still in trouble whether they are or are not classified), but since they are _privileged_, they can’t be made publicly available. He has also insisted that they are his, he owns them. So again, they can’t be made available to people on request, because they belong to Trump. Very helpful, thanks for the clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3232 "2022-09-22T22:06:45Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > It is fun to joke about TFG saying “declassify by thinking.” But he immediately follows up by saying he can declassify through his actions - i.e., by shipping them to MaL, he did not treat them as classified materials should be treated, therefore he declassified them. Or, for example, he could send them to Putin. No problem, because the act of doing so declassifies them. Totally fucking crazy how this fuckstick’s mind works. I think this follows from Nixon’s “if the president does it it’s not illegal” reasoning. If the president handles documents in an way that would be illegal for classified documents then they must not have been classified. I’m also amused by his claim that NARA is a “radical left group of people”. If I created a list least likely to be political government agencies, NARA would probably be near or at the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3233 "2022-09-22T22:09:08Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > The special master did ask exactly which documents had been declassified. Trump’s lawyers declined to provide an answer. I would have loved to have seen an answer like “You tell us what documents you have, and we’ll tell you when Trump declassified them_with the power of his mind_.” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3234 "2022-09-22T22:22:27Z")
Out of curiosity if Trump does end up being indicted can the court force him to undergoe a psychiatric evaluation or dementia screening, or does he have to plead insanity first? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3235 "2022-09-22T22:24:46Z")
Yes, I imagine there is statutory authority to do this at the federal level, same as there is at the state level. At the state level, defendants can be referred for competency hearings to determine if they are competent to cooperate with counsel in their defense and if they understand the charges against them. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3236 "2022-09-22T22:25:32Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I’m also amused by his claim that NARA is a “radical left group of people”. I’m not. He and other MAGAt leaders have learned to call anyone who disagrees with them “radical left,” and tens of millions of Americans believe them. It’s destroying our country. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3237 "2022-09-22T22:30:37Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I agree that reporters making FOIA requests for the supposed declassified information would be a nice fly in the ointment I bet a FOIA request has to be more specific than “Stuff from Mar-a-lago”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3238 "2022-09-22T22:41:10Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > He and other MAGAt leaders have learned to call anyone who disagrees with them “radical left,” and tens of millions of Americans believe them. And most of them can’t tell you what ‘radical’ means. Including Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3239 "2022-09-22T22:42:30Z")
They just know “left” = bad, so “radical left” means even more bad. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3240 "2022-09-22T22:47:36Z")
But radical means ‘totally awesome’, dunnit? So Trump is calling us the ‘Totally Awesome Left’? That’s tubular! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329.md?page=161) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329.md?page=163)