# 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:** 189
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3761 "2022-10-18T17:50:46Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > _Everyone_ is beneath him. > > Well, except Vladimir. - Putin deserves the view. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3762 "2022-10-18T17:54:35Z")
I guess Roger Stone will need to tattoo Trump on his front. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3763 "2022-10-18T18:35:01Z")
He’ll be covered in dicks! ---
**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:** [October 18, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3764 "2022-10-18T18:46:25Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I guess Roger Stone will need to tattoo Trump on his front. Nah, the existing likeness between his butt cheeks is sufficient. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3765 "2022-10-18T18:59:42Z")
Moderating: Ok. We’re not in the Pit. Let’s leave aside the Pit-like comments now. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3766 "2022-10-18T20:13:02Z")
Trump’s attorneys have asserted the same document is covered by executive privilege (making it government property) and also personal property (therefore not a government record). > “Unless I’m wrong, and I’ve been wrong before, there’s certainly an incongruity there,” Judge Dearie said. > **[In Documents Review, Special Master Tells Trump Team to Back Up Privilege...](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/us/politics/special-master-trump-privilege.html)** > > “What’s the expression — ‘Where’s the beef?’ I need some beef,” Judge Raymond Dearie, the independent arbiter, said during a conference call. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3767 "2022-10-18T20:18:00Z")
I’m sure Judge Cannon will be along shortly to tell Trump’s team that of course they don’t have to back up any claims no matter what the mean ol’ special master says. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3768 "2022-10-18T20:41:41Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Trump’s attorneys have asserted the same document is covered by executive privilege (making it government property) and also personal property (therefore not a government record). Schrödinger’s document. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3769 "2022-10-18T21:21:45Z")
Sounds like they’re trying to make executive privilege a personal privilege of each president. Sorta like attorney client privilege. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3770 "2022-10-19T14:59:30Z")
To me, it sounds like they are flailing away like third rate lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3771 "2022-10-19T15:02:51Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > To me, it sounds like they are flailing away like third rate lawyers. - That’s got to be a step up. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 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-15-2024/969329/3772 "2022-10-19T15:06:58Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > I think Trump kept a bunch of stuff that he thought was cool, but happened to be marked classified, because he thought he could and should be able to. That’s why some of it appears to be boxes with framed Time covers and shit like that. This is the most likely explanation I’ve heard yet as to why Trump was in possession of any classified documents at Mar a Lago. Given the context of how they were found among other ‘trophies’, it strongly suggests he wanted to use them as ‘props’ to impress visitors with. Safe bet he never once gave the least thought to whatever national security concerns doing so might pose. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3773 "2022-10-19T15:28:45Z")
That’s not true. Some of the documents he took were so sensitive, special teams with appropriate clearances had to be brought in to handle them. The agents who conducted the search didn’t have clearances high enough. > **[Trump took documents to Mar-a-Lago that are so sensitive they may not be...](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-took-documents-mar-lago-181406618.html)** > > Some of the classified documents that former President Trump took to Mar-a-Lago are so sensitive they might not be able to be described in public. Some of what he took was as secret as it gets, disclosure of which endangered sources and methods. Including human intelligence. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3774 "2022-10-19T16:38:48Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Some of what he took was as secret as it gets, disclosure of which endangered sources and methods. Including human intelligence. I think you can take it to the bank that the information has already been compromised, and those sources and methods are in the hands of foreign intelligence services. We’ll likely never know just how much damage has been done. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3775 "2022-10-19T16:42:51Z")
I know. ☹ I also understand that he and his administrative thugs had 4 leisure years to use and compromise that information, long before any of this traitorous behavior could be investigated properly. I’ve assumed our national security – and that of many of our allies – has been badly compromised, and will be for decades to come. It’s almost impossible to overstate the potential damage done. From the moment I heard, “Russia, if you’re listening…” I feared deeply for our safety as a nation. And it’s been much worse than I imagined. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 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-15-2024/969329/3776 "2022-10-19T16:51:29Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > From the moment I heard, “Russia, if you’re listening…” I feared deeply for our safety as a nation. And it’s been much worse than I imagined. That was the moment for me as well. I was in a mall and the clip was played. I thought « A candidate for President of the United States is asking a foreign nation to spy on his opponent. » ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3777 "2022-10-19T17:14:39Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That was the moment for me as well. I was in a mall and the clip was played. I thought « A candidate for President of the United States is asking a foreign nation to spy on his opponent. » - I was aware of Trump’s connections to Russia long before that comment. And there were already bits of evidence of his collusion with them sticking out in public for those who were paying attention. I considered him unfit due to his deliberate use of racism with the birther garbage and was appalled at how few people even cared about that. But the “Russia, if your listening…” comment was when the icy pit formed in my stomach. I never heard it any other way but for what it turned out exactly to be: How you characterized it. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3778 "2022-10-19T19:06:58Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That was the moment for me as well. I was in a mall and the clip was played. I thought « A candidate for President of the United States is asking a foreign nation to spy on his opponent. » and tens of millions of people understood as well, and _were just fine with that._ ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3779 "2022-10-19T19:33:21Z")
Maybe so. But until we get something other than “unnamed sources”, I’m not 100% convinced. There exist documents that have certain security markings simply because of the environment in which they were created that don’t actually have any information in them justifying that level of classification. Over-classification is very much a thing. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Trump, for example, grabbed the letter from Kim out of a larger report detailing NK missile capabilities. That document could very well be marked as containing the highest level of compartmented information. But that doesn’t mean that Trump possessing it actually endangers national security. And, yes, when USG reviews a document stamped (for example) TS/SCI - XXX they will get somebody briefed to XXX to review it - they won’t just assume that it doesn’t contain XXX information. I’m not trying to exonerate the man, I’m just trying to understand the facts that have been made public. And I believe that keeping (relatively) innocuous mementos that happen to be marked classified as trophies makes more sense than keeping US nuclear secrets to sell to the Russians. One is stupid and probably illegal (certainly lying to the FBI about it is illegal). The other is high treason. Now is it possible that some of the documents are less innocuous than Trump thinks they are? Of course, because he’s an idiot about these things. But I don’t think that the breathless reporting about “nuclear secrets” and “highest level of classification” will necessarily age well if the actual contents of the documents becomes known. Just my prediction. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/3780 "2022-10-19T19:34:30Z")
Because the most important thing was to defeat the Democratic candidate, _no matter what the cost_. Nothing else matters except keeping Democrats out of any and every office, and if they do get elected, blocking every single thing they want to do. And that is what passes for Republican policy. No other end except that. [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=188) [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=190)