WASHINGTON (AP) — When a government document mysteriously appeared earlier this week in the highest profile case in the federal court system, it had the hallmarks of another explosive storyline in the Justice Department’s investigation into classified records stored at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate.
The document purported to be from the U.S. Treasury Department, claimed that the agency had seized sensitive documents related to last month’s search at Mar-a-Lago and included a warrant ordering CNN to preserve “leaked tax records.”
The document remained late Thursday on the court docket, but it is a clear fabrication. A review of dozens of court records and interviews by The Associated Press suggest the document originated with a serial forger behind bars at a federal prison complex in North Carolina.
The incident also suggests that the court clerk was easily tricked into believing it was real, landing the document on the public docket in the Mar-a-Lago search warrant case.
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It wouldn’t surprise me if we found some familiar (political) names if we check to see if anyone has tried to get keep him from being charged/get him acquitted/released early etc.
It’s my understanding that many prison libraries have extensive legal references. I think it’s because you’re not guaranteed an attorney for appellate work, but I could be wrong.
Update: The 11th Circuit gives Trump's legal team until Tuesday at noon to respond to DOJ's petition to resume using seized Mar-a-Lago docs with classified markings in the criminal probe/not include those in the special master review.
I was pretty sure that even Trump judges weren’t going to protect him (with the exception of Cannon) over this issue. To rule any other way is contrary to the Federalist Society goals with respect to their Unitary Executive theory, that virtually all power of the executive branch rests with the current president. If they were to undo this for Trump, it would mean any former president could assert executive privilege over classified material. No one wants that, least of all the Federalist Society.
So here’s a chance for Trump judges to do the bidding of their Federalist Society masters and look like impartial arbiters of justice at the same time. (In this case, I agree with them!)
@commasense, that was an excellent summary of the issues by Midas Touch. Thanks so much for posting it. And I think they are right, the Eleventh Circuit will grant DOJ’s request for a stay re the classified material by the end of the week.
Not at all. They just get another of their quisling Trump judges to rule that the Cannon ruling only applies to Republican presidents. Easy-peasy lemon-sqeezey! The concept of precedents that apply to all equally is gone. The law means what their judges want it to mean.
How certain are we that the court actually said this–is there a primary source? Searching Google News for stories in the last 24 hours about “Cannon Appeals Court” shows plenty of stories about the Justice Department’s appeal, but none about the appeals court responding.
It’s a briefing schedule, not a ruling, but it’s an important one. I’m not finding anything in mainstream media, either. This case is of such significance, this is troubling. I would tend to trust Midas Touch, but who knows? Maybe they got it wrong.
