They did not take anything, TFG took it. They just took it back, which they were entitled to, AIUI.
FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence, August 8, 2022, Case Dismissed July 15, 2024
While I am quite assured on a personal level that Trump will never face any serious consequences as a result of this very serious crime, the assertion made here in this post can be shown to have merit if you recall that someone in Putin’s orbit recently died in a grisly ball of fire caused by a car bomb.
Car bombs do not exist in nature, it takes a brutal person with a certain amount of power to cause such a thing to happen, and it just happened to someone connected to a brutal, powerful person who has a connection to Trump. It also happened as it has been discovered that Trump had access to human intelligence documents to which he should not have access. Perhaps the young girl was passing secrets to us, or perhaps her father was (be interesting to see what happens to him in the near future).
There is no doubt that Trump is guilty over the documents. There is a possibility he has cost the life of those helping America – or at the very least put their lives in jeopardy. It is a national tragedy and source of shame that we allowed such a person as Trump to hold such high office, wield such power, or acquire such a degree of access to sensitive information.
It is still my contention that he will never see the inside of a courtroom over this, much less a prison cell. That is regrettable, and I certainly hope I am wrong about that matter (but that seems unlikely).
[Unnecessary Tangent: You do not even need to be a rich white guy to get away with murder in these United States, you just need to play one on TV. (See: O.J. Simpson)]
The affidavit that resulted in the search warrant has been, although redacted, released to the public. This never happens. The defendant and his lawyers get it. There isn’t even a defendant here- there has been no crime charged.
This is transparent in ways that are new and unprecedented.
Just so it’s clear. Trump is a criminal because he stole Top Secret documents and obstructed their return. Full stop. I’ve already made up my mind about that.
I’m just projecting to the next time. In reverse. What standard/precedent can we do now for the next time. I’m now certain this will happen again to a degree that maybe I shouldn’t be. In the future, if they don’t charge the person, then I’d feel better if Schumer, at some point, put eyes on it and at least agreed what it was/had an opportunity to put eyes on it, even he did not agree with the methods employed to get it back. Something. I don’t want to be left with…it’s classified because we said so in an affidavit and no one can see.
I think Chronos’ suggestion above is good. Don’t commit the crimes.
She’s wonderfully approachable, too. I once messaged her about a brooch I wasn’t able to figure out, and she replied to me in a very friendly manner.
It seems that the US gradually becoming a country like that, a true “Deep State” like Russia, is certainly possible. The checks and balances of our government are supposed to guard against the frivolous targeting of political rivals. And it seems to have worked so far. I’m sure Trump would have loved to figure out a way “lock up” Hillary and others, but there was no path. And I’m guessing future presidents will leave office with nothing in hand.
This is a significant issue. It applies just as much to the jury, who won’t have clearance to see the docs. I don’t know how that issue is handled in the US courts, with classified docs? It must have come up before?
But, this is one of the reasons why the potential obstruction charge is significant. If the prosecution can show a pattern of hiding or destroying docs, they don’t have to put the docs themselves in evidence. Obstruction charges can be proven by showing a pattern of trying to prevent law enforcement from investigating the case.
This is the course of action I foresee the DOJ taking. They won’t want to get into a protracted, messy fight with the originating agencies over which classified documents the jury or public can see. They’ve got what they need for obstruction, and it should be enough.
Sure. But that doesn’t mean the prosecution is relieved of their duty of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, using all the normal rules of evidence, with the defence having the right to object to admissibility.
If someone does commit a crime, there has to be a way to put it in front of a court for a full hearing.
The question was how to avoid partisian retaliation. The suggestion is no guarantee, but a solid start.
Fair.
And the Republicans are starting to fall silent as noted by the Failing New York Times:
Some GOP are starting to worry that Trump’s continued media spotlight undercuts their arguments about inflation, etc., queering their pitch in the mid-terms.
Even Karl Rove has commented: “Donald, would you please just SHUT UP!”
(alright, that’s my paraphrase 
)
The Sunday talkies are on tomorrow morning. Let’s see how a week has changed the Republican outrage.
Pretty close.
That picture makes him look especially Ham Rove-ish.
In her brief order, which she emphasized was not a final decision, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon also directed the Justice Department to produce by Tuesday “a more detailed” list of items seized from Trump’s residence on Aug. 8 as well as the status of the government’s ongoing review of those materials, which includes the use of a “filter team” to screen for attorney-client privileged records.
What “attorney-client privileged records” do you suppose they are suggesting might be in there? Nothing was taken from an attorney. (I know, it’s just a delay tactic, but they must have at least tried to make up something that sounds good enough for a judge to consider intervening.)
What are the odds the Feds haven’t already gone through everything recovered with a fine-tooth comb, making the application moot?
I’ve also heard them talk about a special master to screen out “executive privileged” materials, as if that buffoon still has any executive privileges to worry about. He’d like to think so, I’m sure.
Communications from the lawyer to the client are potentially covered by privilege; it’s not just material held by the lawyer.
This doesn’t surprise me, in a case of this magnitude. The affidavit and attachments provided that there would be a privilege team involved in the search, to immediately look at documents that were potentially covered by privilege, but that privilege team would still be FBI.
With all the accusations of partisanship and bad faith, the appearance of justice would benefit from having an independent special master do the privilege review, not a team of FBI agents.
If I were Trump, the cartoonishly simple solution would be to have a lawyer draft up a cover page that basically says “everything that this document is stapled to is attorney-client privilege, executive privilege and property of Donald J. Trump and nobody else. Anyone else who tries to look at these records is doing so as part of a partisan witch hunt and should be thrown in jail forever” and then staple this to every single document he stole. Unfortunately, given how much leeway Trump is getting here (think of what would happen to any other person in the US who did something like this) it is likely such a trick would actually work.
I doubt Loser Donald’s motivation was any more complicated than “These are mine, and I want them, and I like to have them, and these are mine”.