# 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:** 286
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5701 "2023-06-13T14:09:57Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Latest Legal Eagle video. > > [Trump’s Stunning Secret Document Indictment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KRceywz-rU) “Real lawyers take notes.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5702 "2023-06-13T14:17:08Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > since there’s a part of the indictment that strongly implies that she (or, if not, some other immediate family member) was texting about not having room for the boxes on the family flight to New Jersey. I think the texts alone are enough, without her testimony. So far, there’s no indication that she knew there were classified documents in the boxes. Even if the boxes only contained unclassified documents, I could see her being annoyed at Trump lugging all that stuff around like some kind of hoarder. The important thing is that the prosecution can show that the boxes were often moved, and every such move increases the chance that someone nefarious might have gained access to them. There are rules on transporting and securing classified documents, which were clearly not followed, and just showing that, via the texts, is more than sufficient. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5703 "2023-06-13T14:32:50Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I think the texts alone are enough, without her testimony. Oh, I definitely agree with that. I was just trying to predict the type of issues that might be raised before trial. Generally, the defense attorney’s job is to prevent as much incriminating evidence as possible from being introduced at trial. The way to do that is to object to the evidence on as many legitimate grounds as you can raise. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5704 "2023-06-13T14:35:50Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I will predict no large protests today. I think Jan 6th filtered out the vast majority of Trumpers willing to make real personal sacrifice for Trump. Agreed. The convictions and relatively long prison sentences should have sent a message. “Hey Vern, let’s go protest down at the courthouse! Sound like fun?” “Umm, not really, I don’t want to spend the next 10 years in prison, thanks” ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5705 "2023-06-13T14:42:13Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > “Hey Vern, let’s go protest down at the courthouse! Sound like fun?” > > “Umm, not really, I don’t want to spend the next 10 years in prison, thanks” And of course, this shows they don’t get it. They weren’t arrested for “protesting”, even if their protests were mind-numbingly stupid. They were arrested for rioting, and illegally forcing entry to the Capitol. Stand around a wave signs, honk some horns, yell yourself hoarse, fine. We’ll think you’re an idiot, but we’ll let you go home again afterwards. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5706 "2023-06-13T14:47:10Z")
Exactly right! ---
**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:** [June 13, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5707 "2023-06-13T14:57:57Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > No, Indictment Day was June 8th. Happy Arraignment Day! Arraigns on Trump’s parade, day. (Oh yes I said it!) Woooooo! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5708 "2023-06-13T14:58:03Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > We’ll think you’re an idiot, but we’ll let you go home again afterwards. To be fair, we _already_ think you’re an idiot, and after this, we’ll know for certain. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5709 "2023-06-13T14:58:15Z")
LOL. “The documents were stored in the bathroom…as Trump would say, “like a dog”” ---
**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:** [June 13, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5710 "2023-06-13T15:11:42Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > LOL. “The documents were stored in the bathroom…as Trump would say, “like a dog”” - I have never stored a dog in a bathroom. That’s what the spare bedroom is for. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5711 "2023-06-13T15:22:47Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > “Hey Vern, let’s go protest down at the courthouse! Sound like fun?” > > “Umm, not really, I don’t want to spend the next 10 years in prison, thanks” “It will be wild!” is the preferred phrasing. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5712 "2023-06-13T15:40:17Z")
The _New Yorker_ speaks with a legal expert about Aileen Cannon. I found the following bit to be informative: > There’s a statute dealing with federal judge recusal—it’s 28 U.S.C. § 455, and you should look at paragraph A. It’s the very first sentence, and that’s the most frequently cited sentence in motions to recuse. It says that a judge should recuse if the judge’s impartiality “might reasonably be questioned.” > > Now, the fact that a judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned doesn’t mean that the judge is partial. The public may simply not trust the impartiality of the judge. Because public trust in the work of the court is a value as important as the work itself, the rule says that the judge should not sit when we can’t fairly ask the public to trust what the judge does. That rule is especially important in this case. One thing the prosecution can do is move to recuse Judge Cannon on the ground that, in light of her experience in the search-warrant case last year, her impartiality might reasonably be questioned. > **[Will the Judge in Trump’s Case Recuse Herself—or Be Forced To?](https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/will-the-judge-in-trumps-case-recuse-herself-or-be-forced-to)** > > Federal law requires a judge to step away from a case in which her impartiality “might reasonably be questioned.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5713 "2023-06-13T15:52:36Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The privilege would be donald’s to waive, not hers. Wait, really? So if the spouse of a criminal is really not OK with what they’re doing, and they go to the police, they’re still not allowed to testify at trial unless the criminal allows them to (which, of course, they won’t)? That seems like a screwed up way to do things… Surely, there’s at least an exception for crimes committed against the spouse? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5714 "2023-06-13T15:57:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Surely, there’s at least an exception for crimes committed against the spouse? Yes. There is. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5715 "2023-06-13T15:58:06Z")
My understanding was that a spouse could not be compelled to testify, not that they couldn’t choose to testify agaisnt a spouse. I’ll have to ask for a cite on this one. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5716 "2023-06-13T15:59:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Surely, there’s at least an exception for crimes committed against the spouse? Yes there is. You can’t invoke the marital privilege in a domestic violence case. (And I should be careful in my words. It appears from Google that some jurisdictions do give the waiver power to the testifying spouse, and some allow either spouse to invoke it- that appears to be the case for the Feds). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5717 "2023-06-13T16:12:43Z")
In any event, in the case at hand, I don’t think there’s any evidence that Donald nor Melania either one want her to testify, and given that, there’s not really anything the prosecution can do about that, right? If neither spouse wants to waive the privilege, then no judge or other court official can waive it over their objections? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5718 "2023-06-13T16:23:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If neither spouse wants to waive the privilege, then no judge or other court official can waive it over their objections? I believe that’s correct. There are actually two related privileges. One about _communications_ between spouses during a marriage (protected, even after divorce) and one that says a spouse can prevent the other spouse from testifying at all (you couldn’t even ask “was your husband was in Florida that day,” for example). ---
**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:** [June 13, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5719 "2023-06-13T16:30:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think there’s any evidence that Donald nor Melania either one want her to testify [![](https://www.californiajacket.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/I-Dont-Really-Care-Do-U-Jacket.jpg) ](https://www.californiajacket.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/I-Dont-Really-Care-Do-U-Jacket.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/5720 "2023-06-13T17:04:44Z")
Over in MAGA-land the favorite defense of the moment is that Trump didn’t have to comply with the subpoena because he legally owned the documents, and a subpoena can’t be used to take your legally owned property. Seriously. I mean, they have to know that’s not true, right? [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=285) [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=287)