# 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:** 26
**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 11, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/501 "2022-08-11T21:34:11Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > DJT: “I don’t need this on record, the President can do whatever the Hell he wants with classified information.” DJT: ‘The fact that I have them proves that I declassified them. If I didn’t declassify them, they wouldn’t be here.’ ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/502 "2022-08-11T21:35:41Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > It’s up to you to find the statute requiring the President to write an official declassification note. If all an ex-President has to do is say “Oh yeah, I totally declassified those documents when I was in office,” then we have a potentially _massive_ security hole. An ex-P could take a bunch of documents with him when he leaves office, and then sell them to the highest bidder. If caught, all he’d have to do is say the magic words. Furthermore, it puts the government in a weird position- who has the power to declassify any given document, the current President or any of the ex-Presidents, whenever they want? Just for sanity’s sake, this power needs to be strictly limited to the current officeholder. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/503 "2022-08-11T21:37:40Z")
Sage, I will look it up, but there is an actual process for declassifying. It’s not done just at a whim, at a statement, et cetera. There are a number of steps which have to be taken including a review of the documents in question by other people, forms to fill out, and signatures gathered. The President is an _executive_, not a dictator. He tells other people to execute a process and they do so for his signature. There are no ‘secret declassifications’ Trump can pull out. None. (Same thing with pardons, btw.) ---
**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 11, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/504 "2022-08-11T21:41:26Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > If all an ex-President has to do is say “Oh yeah, I totally declassified those documents when I was in office,” then we have a potentially _massive_ security hole. An ex-P could take a bunch of documents with him when he leaves office, and then sell them to the highest bidder. If caught, all he’d have to do is say the magic words. > > Furthermore, it puts the government in a weird position- who has the power to declassify any given document, the current President or any of the ex-Presidents, whenever they want? Just for sanity’s sake, this power needs to be strictly limited to the current officeholder. In theory, the President is the person who has been voted the most wise and trusted person to lead the nation by the people of the United States of America. Constitutionally speaking, you don’t really need to worry about such a thing because no one could get through the free-votes of the non-partisan and deliberative electoral college and be such a scumbag. You’d have to gut the electoral college methodology and turn it into the whipping boy of factionalists and populists, to get to the point where you get dishonest cranks running the country. In practice, during a time of war or other emergency, there simply might not be time to go through some Congress-enacted bureaucratic red tape procedure, to try and save lives and defend the nation. Plausibly, Congress could come up with some reasonable law that gives the President immediate declassification powers during a Congressionally approved state of emergency, so that the issue is minimized. Personally, I’d prefer that we just hire people that we can trust, so that it’s not an issue and the government can operate effectively. Wrapping everything in red tape isn’t as good of a solution as just instituting better hiring policies for important positions. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/505 "2022-08-11T21:44:05Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > In theory, the President is the person who has been voted the most wise and trusted person to lead the nation by the people of the United States of America. Constitutionally speaking, you don’t really need to worry about such a thing because no one could get through the free-votes of the non-partisan and deliberative electoral college and be such a scumbag. You’d have to gut the electoral college methodology and turn it into the whipping boy of factionalists and populists, to get to the point where you get dishonest cranks running the country. Well, That Could Never Happen Here. 🧐 ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/506 "2022-08-11T21:48:04Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > What/why the fuck are people using “TFG”? > > **The Former Guy**. A way of referencing he-who-shall-not-be-named, for those who cannot stand to type that name. I kinda like it and have started using it. My personal problem with that is that I always read it as The Fucking Gibbon. My problem, I know, but I can’t avoid mixing those two monikers. Now back to the topic of the documents he (TFG) kept. What could be the worst scenario? What did he have? My two cents: The plans for a scramjet. > **[Everything We Know About the Air Force's Secret 'Project Mayhem'](https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a40601729/everything-about-the-air-forces-secret-hypersonic-bomber/?utm_source=DamnInteresting)** > > After Russia launched a nearly unstoppable missile, America is hitting back with a bomber that can travel at Mach 10. [Julius and Ethel Rosenberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg) as a tragedy, tanTrum(p) as a farce. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/507 "2022-08-11T21:50:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Sage, I will look it up, but there is an actual process for declassifying. It’s not done just at a whim, at a statement, et cetera. There are a number of steps which have to be taken including a review of the documents in question by other people, forms to fill out, and signatures gathered. Here is what the Politifact source I provided says about how the President classifies/declassifies documents: > The official documents governing classification and declassification stem from executive orders. But even these executive orders aren’t necessarily binding on the president. The president is not “obliged to follow any procedures other than those that he himself has prescribed,” Aftergood said. “And he can change those.” So an executive order has to be made, otherwise the classification of documents doesn’t change. What then is an executive order? [https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public\_education/publications/teaching-legal-docs/what-is-an-executive-order-/](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/publications/teaching-legal-docs/what-is-an-executive-order-/) > An executive order is a signed, written, and published directive from the President of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. They are numbered consecutively, so executive orders may be referenced by their assigned number, or their topic. So, not a sticky note, or a declaration that he promises he declassified something at some point in the past. It’s on record as all executive orders are. ---
**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 11, 2022, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/508 "2022-08-11T22:07:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > So an executive order has to be made I’m not reading that as you are. I’m reading that the source of the process and powers for POTUS declassification authority _arises from_ Executive Orders. ETA: the current EO that is probably still controlling seems to be this one (which I cannot tear into at the moment): > **[The President Executive Order 13526](https://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/cnsi-eo.html)** > > Classified National Security Information December 29, 2009 Part 1 - Original Classification Part 2 - Derivative Classification Part 3 - Declassification and Downgrading Part 4 - Safeguarding Part 5 - Implementation and Review Part 6- General... ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/509 "2022-08-11T22:28:01Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Trump could certainly file a motion to unseal and/or inspect the affidavit. So he’ll know who to send his henchmen to shoot? He’s a mob boss. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/510 "2022-08-11T22:29:04Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I’m not reading that as you are. > > I’m reading that the source of the process and powers for POTUS declassification authority _arises from_ Executive Orders. Yes, you might be right on that one, I probably misread that bit. ---
**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 11, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/511 "2022-08-11T22:34:16Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > > [@TroutMan](#): > > > > The affidavit wouldn’t be provided to Trump. It’s for the judge only, not the target. > > OK - I guess I was confusing the affidavit with the warrant itself and list of confiscated items. Trump does get copies of those, but not the affidavit. Trump would get the affidavit, as part of the disclosure of evidence against him (called “discovery”), if he ended up indicted and was facing charges in court. It must be emphasized that there is a vast difference between what the affidavit says and what the actual search warrant says. The affidavit is a narrative of the entire investigation to that point, leading up to why the police suspect that the evidence they seek is located in the place to be searched. The warrant itself is just a form. You can find a blank one online. But it will tell us what they were seeking, so we can know what law Trump is suspected of breaking. (The search warrant return - which itemizes what was taken - will be redacted, so we won’t know what was retrieved, either) [![](https://i.ibb.co/dtLGcZv/6-E539-D1-F-3945-42-B5-8631-541-D3-E0-CA94-B.png) ](https://i.ibb.co/dtLGcZv/6-E539-D1-F-3945-42-B5-8631-541-D3-E0-CA94-B.png) ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/512 "2022-08-11T22:38:20Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Now back to the topic of the documents he (TFG) kept. What could be the worst scenario? What did he have? My two cents: The plans for a scramjet. As I said earlier, my fondest hope is that they have incontrovertible evidence that Trump was about to sell military secrets to a foreign adversary. With video recordings and a suitcase full of (marked) cash changing hands. And now they have retrieved the cash and the classified secret material, and the next charges that will be brought against Trump are Espionage. And he’s tried, convicted and sentenced to 50 years. Hey a guy can dream, right? ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/513 "2022-08-11T22:43:15Z")
Oh, come on! Make it [57](https://schumanchu.eu/html/l/l_00066executive~time.html) years. One of my worst drawings, but heartfelt. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/514 "2022-08-11T22:44:13Z")
CNN: > Now, it’s worth noting that Garland didn’t go full ham on Trump and release the affidavit, which outlines all of the particulars informing the investigation. [https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/politics/garland-trump-mar-a-lago-search-bluff/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/politics/garland-trump-mar-a-lago-search-bluff/index.html) ---
**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 11, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/515 "2022-08-11T22:45:20Z")
> [@Joey\_P quoting TMZ](#): > > the feds timed the raid so there would not be a confrontation between agents and the former President … law enforcement sources tell TMZ. I’d have paid money for bodycam footage of the agent opening the bathroom door and catching him trying to flush more papers down the toilet. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/516 "2022-08-11T22:49:13Z")
I’m waiting for the SNL parody commercial advertising the high flush Mar-A-Lago brand toilet, which built-in document shredder. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/517 "2022-08-11T22:51:51Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > It must be emphasized that there is a vast difference between what the affidavit says and what the actual search warrant says. The affidavit is a narrative of the entire investigation to that point, leading up to why the police suspect that the evidence they seek is located in the place to be searched. Thanks for clearing this up. It seems Andrew Weissman did misspeak earlier when I heard him opine on the affidavit being made available. What are your thoughts about how close DOJ may be to an indictment? I’m sure they have to comb through everything they retrieved and match it up to determine if they have all the documents they expected to find. But once that’s accomplished, isn’t their case about ready to go? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/518 "2022-08-11T22:51:58Z")
Why would he have physical documents? Wouldn’t all of that stuff be stored electronically? So someone printed off copies and moved them to Mar-A-Lago? ---
**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 11, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/519 "2022-08-11T22:52:43Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Further, I hope that there is some iron-clad evidence of an attempt by Trump personally to sell classified (military?) information to the Saudis, accompanied by video/audio/direct testimony. What I hope is evidence of blackmailing some high-lever GQP official – a two-fer. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/520 "2022-08-11T22:54:28Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I am REALLY hoping that this is the case. Further, I hope that there is some iron-clad evidence of an attempt by Trump personally to sell classified (military?) information to the Saudis, accompanied by video/audio/direct testimony. I hope they have him handing over classified info to an undercover agent in exchange for an envelope of (marked) cash. Wouldn’t he sell to Russia? Those are like his buds. I see the capability to release the warrant has been kicked back to the DOJ to see if Trump objects. Hey, if he is innocent, he should allow us to see the warrant. In fact, he should have shown us it already. It isn’t, I think, secret if he doesn’t mind. [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=25) [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=27)