# 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:** 78
**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 24, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1541 "2022-08-24T15:38:01Z")
But Russia or North Korea might be. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1542 "2022-08-24T15:38:08Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I still don’t understand what Trump wanted the documents for. My hypothesis is that he was planning to sell them, or trade them for “considerations.” ---
**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, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1543 "2022-08-24T15:39:56Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Do I get to slap him around too? Sure, right up until the Secret Service guns you down explains why that’s not a good idea. ---
**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, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1544 "2022-08-24T15:40:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I still don’t understand what Trump wanted the documents for. He hardly seems someone interested in the latest stealth bomber designs or whatever. He wanted them to prove how special he is. 'Cause no one else gets to have them. Surely you have learned by now not to look for rational reasons for anything he does. ---
**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 24, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1545 "2022-08-24T15:45:57Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > how is this different than the FBI finding a 10 lb bag of cocaine at Mar-a-Lago? I imagine he’d try to demand that back, too (well, to be fair, it would be hard to replace the finest in the land). ---
**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, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1546 "2022-08-24T15:47:56Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I still don’t understand what Trump wanted the documents for. He hardly seems someone interested in the latest stealth bomber designs or whatever. I have two ideas about that. First idea - he took stuff related to his presidency that he thought he could give to a ghostwriter to help write his memoirs. Second idea - he took stuff relating to his political rivals hoping to use it against them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 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-15-2024/969329/1547 "2022-08-24T15:48:54Z")
There seem to be three schools of thought here: 1. Trump had the documents for criminal purposes (e.g. selling state secrets) (Edit to incorporate the post above: 1a. practical purposes such as ghost-writing memoirs) 2. Trump had the documents for psychological reasons (I’m still president; these incriminate me, must hide them; these make me feel important) and perhaps 3. Trump was lazy / careless (didn’t plan the move-out; just took everything and threw it in a corner) I’m firmly in Camp #2. I don’t think #1 would be against his ethics, but it’s quite different from his usual modus operandi. I could see him promising state secrets and stringing them along, never delivering, and maybe it would be useful to have Putin’s intelligence services report that Trump did, in fact, have state secrets at Mar-a-Lago, but I can’t see Trump managing an international grift when he must surely know that he’s being watched. I can’t think of a practical reason for Trump to keep hold of these documents, so that leads me to consider irrational reasons that are down to Trump’s psychology. There’s a whole host of reasons why a narcissist who truly doesn’t believe rules apply to him would want to hold onto things that remind him of how important he is. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1548 "2022-08-24T15:50:38Z")
You say you’re firmly in Camp #2, and explain why you don’t pick #1; why not #3? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1549 "2022-08-24T15:53:43Z")
Mostly because of logistics: other people are involved, and no matter how lazy & careless Trump is (IMHO, very), there are dozens of other people shifting boxes, and people being paid to make sure the wrong boxes weren’t shifted. I would think that to keep them from blowing whistles, he’d need to be reasonably deliberate about the situation. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1550 "2022-08-24T15:53:50Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > how is this different than the FBI finding a 10 lb bag of cocaine 4.5 kg. It is déclassé to state cocaine in anything but metric. ---
**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, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1551 "2022-08-24T15:56:51Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I still don’t understand what Trump wanted the documents for. It’s helpful to remember that his treatment of records had been a sticking point through all four years of his presidency. He had people haranguing him all the time about ripping up records, mistreating documents, revealing classified information, etc. He’s also a person who relishes in displays of powers and influence. Taking the documents was a way of exercising it at a time when he was feeling uncharacteristically powerless. Finding ways to exert control in situations that feel out-of-control is a pretty common coping mechanism. So taking those documents must’ve been incredibly satisfying. It was a thumb in the eye of the rules and regulations he hated, and it was one last Bigly use of the presidential power he couldn’t believe he was losing. Then you add in all the other stuff about potentially displaying them to important visitors, or selling them to foreign interests, or just lording over them like Smaug on his hoard. Frankly, it’s astonishing that he didn’t steal **more** stuff. Or maybe he did and we just haven’t found out yet. Haven’t there been kerfuffles about gifts from foreign dignitaries going missing? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1552 "2022-08-24T16:06:25Z")
Weren’t there reports of Trump lackeys carrying out artwork (paintings? busts?) that belonged to the inventory of the White House when he left? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1553 "2022-08-24T16:10:24Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I can’t see Trump managing an international grift when he must surely know that he’s being watched. Hypothetical: “Oh, you’re looking for _those_ documents? Nobody’s seen them since the hurricane.” ---
**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 24, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1554 "2022-08-24T16:26:36Z")
It’s kind of funny to me how this story is being driven by panic on the Right. The seizure occurs, Trump is obviously caught flat-footed, and then… Laura Ingraham starts peppering Bobb with questions on August 18th, this after a few days of Laura wondering why Trump’s legal team hadn’t already filed a legal response (links go to tweets with video segments): > > Because of Ingraham’s hectoring… and she wasn’t the only one, she was just the most visible… Trump felt compelled to file the motion earlier this week, on Monday. The motion, as we discussed, is a disaster. Then Trump ally, John Solomon, freaks out about _something_ and releases the letter NARA sent to Trump in May. This letter is even more damning to Trump’s cause than the embarrassing filing, both laying out the timeline of events and in destroying many of Trump’s rationales for the filing made earlier that day. (For example, if he knew about these documents back in January, why not demand the “Special Master” then?) And all this because Laura Ingraham was impatient with Trump’s response and embarrassed the shit out of his attorney. Thank you, Laura. Thank you. 😃 ---
**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, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1555 "2022-08-24T16:36:35Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Then you add in all the other stuff about potentially displaying them to important visitors, or selling them to foreign interests, or just lording over them like Smaug on his hoard. Yeah, this. The idea that there was _just one_ reason why he stole this stuff is probably wrong. If we ever get a public accounting of what he had, I’m willing to bet good money it will be stuff that was kept for several different reasons. Ego, blackmail, espionage, personal pique, childish giggling over “sticking it to them”, and more. Remember those meetings he had with Putin? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if one of their topics of conversation was Putin telling Trump how critical it is to have kompromat, for both your enemies and allies. ---
**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 24, 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-15-2024/969329/1556 "2022-08-24T16:38:14Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Mar-A-Lago (which means “sea to lake”) _Mar_ means sea in Spanish, _lago_ means lake, and _a_ is a preposition that can mean a lot of things, but the phrase _mar-a-lago_ does not mean anything at all in Spanish. It is not Spanish. It is just supposed to look and sound exotic and catchy. Just pretentiousness, no substance (sounds familiar? We are talking about tanTrump here!) Other sources say that it is a [corruption](http://artandpopularculture.com/Corruption_%28linguistics%29) (ha!) or [bastardization](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Corruption+(linguistics)) (ha! ha!) of the French word marècage. That would be fitting, as marècage means [swamp](https://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/mar%C3%A9cage). ---
**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 24, 2022, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1557 "2022-08-24T16:39:40Z")
I am sure when exposed he will claim it was Barron. Can’t blame the kid, he just meant well. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 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-15-2024/969329/1558 "2022-08-24T16:48:42Z")
when ms post built the home, the property extended from lake to ocean. she gave it the name mar a lago. i’m sure she would not be happy with it being bought by trump and ickly gilded. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1559 "2022-08-24T17:16:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > 4.5 kg. It is déclassé to state cocaine in anything but metric. Slowly … slowly … the metric system gains a foothold in the US. ---
**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 24, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-search-and-seizure-at-trumps-mar-a-lago-residence-august-8-2022-case-dismissed-july-15-2024/969329/1560 "2022-08-24T17:32:15Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > _Mar_ means sea in Spanish, _lago_ means lake, and _a_ is a preposition that can mean a lot of things, but the phrase _mar-a-lago_ does not mean anything at all in Spanish. It is not Spanish. If you type it into Google Translate as Spanish, it translates to ‘Sea-to-Lake’. [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=77) [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=79)