# 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:** 77
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1521 "2022-08-24T07:27:34Z")
So any incriminating photos of Ted Cruz before Trump took office are off limits, damn! But I wonder what other blackmail is in his photo albums? I mean, who keeps actual photo albums anymore? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1522 "2022-08-24T11:40:56Z")
I’m confused about the stuff they are calling Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information. How was Trump allowed such free access to that information? It sure sounds like a lot of our safe guards aren’t very safe. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1523 "2022-08-24T11:45:37Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I’m confused about the stuff they are calling Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information. How was Trump allowed such free access to that information? Trump has access to whatever he wants. There are statutes limiting what he can declassify (such as certain DoE material), but the President has unlimited access to all executive branch material. He was able to just walk away with it because our systems simply aren’t designed to play nursemaid to a President who breaks laws like Garfield\* eats lasagna, \*The cat, not the former president. I don’t know President Garfield’s approach to lasagna. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1524 "2022-08-24T11:51:07Z")
I had the same question, but decided it was very similar to how a toddler always manages to have sticky hands covered with jam — even if no food has been consumed since leaving the house. When your boss and the leader of the free world says: “MINE!!”, who is going to say no?? > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Trump has access to whatever he wants. There are statutes limiting what he can declassify (such as certain DoE material), but the President has unlimited access to all executive branch material. He was able to just walk away with it because our systems simply aren’t designed to play nursemaid to a President who breaks laws like Garfield eats lasagna, The safeguards SHOULD be enough. There are apparently rooms right in the White House, and at one time in Mar a Lago (which means from the lake to the sea according to court documents!) where some of this stuff was NEVER supposed to leave. But if there is anything Donald J. Trump is good at, it is making sure the rules do not apply to him! (I really hope I didn’t mis-remember the description from the document Trump’s team submitted.) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1525 "2022-08-24T11:53:46Z")
I heard Trump invented lasagna, so there’s that. They just make it sound like those particular documents had to be viewed in a special room under heavy guard, so I wonder how he got them out. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1526 "2022-08-24T11:55:17Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > How was Trump allowed such free access to that information? He was the President. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1527 "2022-08-24T11:56:34Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I heard Trump invented lasagna, so there’s that. - If that’s true, it’s the only thing about him that has layers. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1528 "2022-08-24T11:59:27Z")
Now I am imagining him stuffing documents down his pants and I feel sick to my stomach. I wish I hadn’t decided to think about this. AND now I hate lasagna. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1529 "2022-08-24T13:10:39Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Lesson to be learned here, don’t keep your personally incriminating documents next to your illegally obtained top secret government documents and you won’t have this problem. But what if you only have one room in your multi-room mansion/club house/hotel that you can put a padlock on after sending out to Home Depot for a hasp and a padlock? ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1530 "2022-08-24T13:42:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > My favorite quote from the filing: > > "Once back in the dining room, one of the FBI agents said, “Thank you. You did not need to show us the storage room, but we appreciate it. Now it all makes sense.” > > Sure, Donny. That’s exactly what they said. Is it possible that this is _ **exactly** _ what the FBI said, but not in the way TFG wants us to interpret it? In other words, “Wow - thanks for showing us where the documents you say you don’t have are kept, and how ineptly they’re being kept. You _really_ shouldn’t have done that, but we’re not your legal team. Now I fully understand the urgency in retrieving all of these sensitive documents you shouldn’t have.” ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1531 "2022-08-24T14:13:14Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > So any incriminating photos of Ted Cruz before Trump took office are off limits, damn! But I wonder what other blackmail is in his photo albums? I mean, who keeps actual photo albums anymore? No, no. The incriminating photos of Ted Cruz are allowed, as long as they were kept in the same box as the classified materials or in another box stored with the boxes of classified materials. > [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > When your boss and the leader of the free world says: “MINE!!”, who is going to say no?? Someone with principles. IOW, no one in the Trump White House. > [@carlb](#): > > In other words, “Wow - thanks for showing us where the documents you say you don’t have are kept, and how ineptly they’re being kept. You _really_ shouldn’t have done that, but we’re not your legal team. Now I fully understand the urgency in retrieving all of these sensitive documents you shouldn’t have.” This is likely true. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1532 "2022-08-24T14:33:47Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Someone with principles. IOW, no one in the Trump White House. But it’s not just a matter of saying “No!” with Trump. It’s been said by many people who were in the rooms with him that he’d just walk out of the room with various documents in hand, with no warning or discussion of whether or not it was a good idea to do that with classified documents. Would _you_ want to be the one trying to **physically restrain** him from doing that, in the middle of the Whitehouse? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1533 "2022-08-24T14:51:38Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Would _you_ want to be the one trying to **physically restrain** him from doing that, in the middle of the Whitehouse? Be still my heart, this would be a dream job. Do I get to slap him around too? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1534 "2022-08-24T14:52:05Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > Is it possible that this is _ **exactly** _ what the FBI said, but not in the way TFG wants us to interpret it? Hmm, so like: “_Thank_ you. You, uh, you did **NOT** need to show us the storage room, but (_snicker snort_) we appreciate it. Now it _allllll_ makes sense (_meaningful glance at other agent_)." I imagine the agents, having just taken stock of a completely unprecedented crime in both nature and scope, would’ve been more circumspect than that. But who the hell knows. As with so many things in TrumpWorld, it’s completely impossible to even guess. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1535 "2022-08-24T15:04:21Z")
You phrased it much better than I did. 😁 I could also imagine the phrasing you used being their internal monologue, with the external being exactly the same words spoken much more neutrally. But, who knows? ---
**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 24, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1536 "2022-08-24T15:12:54Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Be still my heart, this would be a dream job. Do I get to slap him around too? No fucking joke! I would LOVE that job! ---
**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 24, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1537 "2022-08-24T15:14:49Z")
I can see them doing it totally stone-faced, then breaking down in the car in laughter. Question-if the papers are very classified, are the FBI agents given a special dispensation in the search? Since they can’t look at the things they’re looking for, if that makes sense? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1538 "2022-08-24T15:20:35Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Question-if the papers are very classified, are the FBI agents given a special dispensation in the search? I’m sure some FBI agents have very high security clearances. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1539 "2022-08-24T15:24:19Z")
Since Trump has no legal right to any of the documents, how is this different than the FBI finding a 10 lb bag of cocaine at Mar-a-Lago? So Trump is asking for a special master to determine how much of the coke he gets to keep? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1540 "2022-08-24T15:36:21Z")
I still don’t understand what Trump wanted the documents for. He hardly seems someone interested in the latest stealth bomber designs or whatever. [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=76) [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=78)