# 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:** 17
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/321 "2022-08-10T15:03:26Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Even if there is not such a currently active mole, I welcome and encourage speculation along these lines, because of how it will serve to inflame Trump’s paranoia and further isolate him within his ever-shrinking circle. **[WATCH: Lincoln Project Play On Trump’s Paranoia ‘Who Was It Donald Who Gave You Up To the Feds?’](https://politizoom.com/watch-lincoln-project-play-on-trumps-paranoia-who-was-it-donald-who-gave-you-up-to-the-feds/)** ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/322 "2022-08-10T15:06:44Z")
Kerry Sanders of MSNBC, former aide to Kamala Harris, asks people to stop calling it a raid. It’s a legally executed search warrant. > **[Kamala Harris aide-turned-MSNBC host pleads: Don't call FBI Mar-a-Lago search...](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kamala-harris-aide-turned-msnbc-host-pleads-don-t-call-fbi-mar-a-lago-search-a-raid/ar-AA10ug6H?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=b3bfe79217ad4cac9d07669fd44389bd)** > > Former Kamala Harris aide Symone Sanders, now at MSNBC, pleaded with people to stop calling the FBI search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence a "raid." ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/323 "2022-08-10T15:35:23Z")
The Lincoln Project are a bunch of assholes who are completely full of shit, but if this makes Trump lock himself alone in the bathroom, I’ll take it. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/324 "2022-08-10T15:35:53Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > That’s the part that drives me nuts. All of Trump’s “achievements” during his presidency fall into two categories: And, while you didn’t imply the contrary, the trend lines that Obama left him were almost universally good. Trump only had to _not_ put the plane into a nosedive. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > His hucksterism founded an incredibly energetic cult following that’s been very useful for getting more Republicans elected. I kept using the term ‘evil genius.’ What Newt Gingrich started (Machiavellianism to the extreme and ‘there is no bottom’) Trump took to whatever his version of a heart is. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/325 "2022-08-10T15:37:09Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > The Lincoln Project are a bunch of assholes who are completely full of shit Opportunistic, stateless grifters to the extreme. > [@Cervaise](#): > > but if this makes Trump lock himself alone in the bathroom, I’ll take it Oh Hell, yes ! They’re OUR opportunistic, stateless grifters (ETA: at least for the moment) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/326 "2022-08-10T15:46:56Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Not one but two Trump lawyers were on TV today suggesting that the FBI may have planted evidence. > > Sounds like they’re trying to get out in front of something. Yeah. If there was no evidence to be found, they would have said that. Or…they’re just throwing shit against the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/327 "2022-08-10T15:48:16Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Kerry Sanders of MSNBC, former aide to Kamala Harris, asks people to stop calling it a raid. It’s a legally executed search warrant. And as I heard pointed out yesterday, execution of a search warrant requires the agreement of 2 branches of government: the executive, in the form of law enforcement, must seek the warrant; and the judicial branch, in the form of the judge, must authorize it. It’s not something that can just happen on the whims of some rogue actor. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/328 "2022-08-10T15:51:35Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > > [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > > > Not one but two Trump lawyers were on TV today suggesting that the FBI may have planted evidence. > > > > Sounds like they’re trying to get out in front of something. > > Yeah. If there was no evidence to be found, they would have said that. Anyone worth their salt would have stood there watching the FBI agents to make sure that didn’t happen. But the fascists want their constituents to come up with an excuse to commit acts of violence in Trump’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/329 "2022-08-10T15:52:44Z")
An article about how the National Archives and Presidential Records Act are managed, and about how Nixon (who’d’a’thunk?) tried to keep his records private. > **[How the FBI knew what to search for at Mar-a-Lago – and why the Presidential...](https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2022/08/how-fbi-knew-what-search-mar-lago-and-why-presidential-records-act-essential-tool-national-archives-and-future-historians/375646/)** > > A presidential scholar sets the history and context for the battle over President Trump’s official records – and says it isn’t the first records battle between the government and a former president. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/330 "2022-08-10T16:04:41Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I very much enjoy the mental image of the man slumping angrily through a gold-plated bunker, shifting his bleary eyes from one minion to the next, uncertain which one — or more than one — may be his betrayer. It’s delicious. If only he hadn’t ridden that damn escalator in 2015. He could have gone on grifting a million here, dodging taxes there, and stiffing contractors in the other place indefinitely. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/331 "2022-08-10T16:11:01Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > But the fascists want their constituents to come up with an excuse to commit acts of violence in Trump’s name. Yep. But it is not happening… > **[Lawrence: ‘There is no uprising’ for Trump after FBI search](https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-there-is-no-uprising-for-trump-after-fbi-search-145844293680)** > > MSNBC’S Lawrence O’Donnell explains why there was no uprising of the 5.6 million Florida Trump voters or the nation’s 74 million voters after Donald Trump’s home was searched by the FBI and why the media continues to distort the reaction of a tiny... At the front of this piece he shows the TFG grifting: “My house got raided. Send me money!”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/332 "2022-08-10T16:13:16Z")
I’m not on twitter and I’m still seeing this old tweet pop up again and again. [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZvXIw8UUAE5gqs?format=jpg&name=small) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZvXIw8UUAE5gqs?format=jpg&name=small) Then, yesterday, he posted this: [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/08/09/22/61226631-11096373-image-a-15_1660079576330.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/08/09/22/61226631-11096373-image-a-15_1660079576330.jpg) My WAG, whatever Trump had on him, he still has. I feel like even the quietest, shyest pushover would have stood up for himself after 1/6. I can’t imagine what Trump might have on him that would cause him to support Trump after 1/6. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/333 "2022-08-10T16:14:40Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I can’t imagine what Trump might have on him that would cause him to support Trump after 1/6. It’s no secret: Trump has the following of tens of millions of cultists, and if Pence wants to win the Republican primary in 2024, he can’t alienate the cultists. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/334 "2022-08-10T16:17:08Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s no secret: Trump has the following of tens of millions of cultists, and if Pence wants to win the Republican primary in 2024, he can’t alienate the cultists. That, and Trump is on the record calling for Pence to be killed, and some of TFG’s deluded fans were, evidently, willing to carry out that order. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/335 "2022-08-10T16:25:38Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > That, and Trump is on the record calling for Pence to be killed, and some of TFG’s deluded fans were, evidently, willing to carry out that order. The deluded fans are somewhere around 35-40% of the adult population of the country so that would be about 100 million individuals. If you then figure that about 1.5-3% of people will suffer psychosis, that’s **millions** of people who could decide to go do something nutso and murdery towards Pence. It’s a good idea for Pence to not poke the bear too much. (To clarify what I believe @snowthx was getting at.) ---
**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:** [August 10, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/336 "2022-08-10T16:29:18Z")
> **[How the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago could influence another Trump run for president](https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-search-mar-lago-could-030851860.html)** > > Donald Trump has given every signal that he’s running for president in 2024. > “If he wasn’t running [for President] before, he is now,” said a person close to the former president who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record. “It pisses him off that they can do this to him. One way to get it to stop is to control the government again.” … > > Another incentive to run would be that, should he win, Trump would be insulated from prosecution owing to the Justice Department’s long-standing practice of never charging a sitting president with a crime. He would also regain power to hire and fire the FBI and Justice Department officials who have great sway over whom to investigate and charge. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/337 "2022-08-10T16:33:49Z")
I’ve tried to keep up with this thread and news story, so forgive me if this has been brought up. Has anyone thought that they didn’t find anything in the search (and really weren’t expecting to)? That is, this business with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and Trump has been going on for well over a year. The NARA knew Trump had both classified and public documents that the law dictates he should have released to NARA when he left office. Trump knew this as well. NARA collected some of these documents in January of this year. Apparently, there were some things still missing as discussions progressed through the Spring (including a counterintelligence agent?) at Mar-A-Largo with the NARA requesting increased security for the location where additional records were being stored. What if, when asked about the missing documents, Trump and his team stonewalled and delayed, saying they were being stored securely but he was not prepared to release them, yet? What if the DOJ obtained very credible evidence that the records in question were no longer at Mar-A-Largo? What if hey were concerned that a team of counterfeiters was working at duplicating false documents to replace the missing ones? I know, a lot of “What if’s.” But, since all we can do is speculate, let’s go. How about Trump was on record saying he had the records in question, safe and secure. He pretty much would have to, since they knew he took them and getting rid of them in any manner other than returning them to NARA would be be criminal. The DOJ was concerned that the reason he would not produce them was that he had destroyed them (in violation of the law). So, they got a warrant to search for those records. If they found the missing records, then a win for the NARA, as they get their records back and the DOJ has hard evidence that Trump removed, retained, and refused to return them (certainly a violation of the law, though perhaps not egregiously criminal). If they didn’t find them, there’s the evidence that he destroyed them and that he was lying to the Fed’s when he said that he still had them. He can’t really say at this point that they were accidentally destroyed since they were being held in a secure area (verified by NARA investigators) which, presumably has protections to prevent accidental destruction of records. So, the warrant had to be kept secret so that Trump’s lawyers couldn’t fight it before it was executed. The search had to be thorough enough (even his “empty” safe was “cracked”) so that Trump couldn’t claim that he had these records safe and secure, but the FBI just couldn’t find them. In this scenario, the only questionable point would be how credible the information was that the documents no longer existed. Seems like a low risk. If the records did exist, while the information the warrant was based on might have been false, the NARA has the legal right to them, so no harm really resulted from the search. If the records did not exist, well, a big OOPS for Trump and the DOJ was right all along. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/338 "2022-08-10T16:37:13Z")
I suspect this is right-wing media clap-trap, intended to scare Democrats into thinking they have done something wrong here. TFG was going to run anyway (as long as he is legally able to). ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/339 "2022-08-10T16:48:50Z")
Not if the cops are doing their job correctly. They simply apply for an new warrant to look for additional evidence of the crimes they uncovered. The scope of the new warrant would be based on the details contained in the new application. In your hypothetical, the garage would almost be a “gimmie”. At least, based on my experience with applying for drug warrants. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/340 "2022-08-10T16:51:15Z")
Total agreement. But they couldn’t do it _based on the initial warrant_, which is the point I’m trying to make to the kids. So I’d do a late edit on my post and add “For now.” I’d expect that the new warrant would cover the whole property, and that there would be additional warrants for business offices, etc. [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=16) [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=18)