What a crook! In desperation....
By Alexander Mallin and Katherine Faulders
Former President Donald Trump filed a motion in federal court in Florida on Monday seeking the appointment of a special master to review materials seized by the Justice Department from his Mar-a-Lago estate in a raid earlier this month.
The motion from Trump seeks an injunction that would bar the government from any further review of the seized materials until the appointment of a special master, and also requests a "more detailed" receipt from the government of items that were seized.
The motion further requests an order from the judge to have the Justice Department return any item seized "that was not within the scope of the Search Warrant."
In a statement released after the filing, Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley said, "The Aug. 8 search warrant at Mar-a-Lago was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause. The Department is aware of this evening's motion. The United States will file its response in court."
Sources have told ABC News the search of Trump's Palm Beach home two weeks ago was connected to a probe into whether Trump improperly took classified documents and other records to Florida after leaving the White House.
In January, National Archives officials retrieved 15 boxes of records that had been improperly taken to Mar-a-Lago when Trump left the White House last year -- then, two months ago, federal agents visited Mar-a-Lago to retrieve additional materials that they believed Trump had failed to turn over. Shortly after that visit, an attorney for Trump signed a statement saying that all classified documents at Mar-a-Lago had been turned over to federal investigators, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
But authorities believed Trump continued to possess classified documents, leading to the August 8 raid.
His print/copy/scanner needs to be searched to see what he copied and where it was sent to. No doubt the idea was to use all this material to blackmail or sell to foreign governments fro profit.
First he says it's not his and it was planted. Now it's his and he wants it back. Which one is it?
Exactly.
I wonder if it has yet dawned on Hair Furor that his latest attempt at litigation is essentially a guilty plea to violating the Presidential Records Act. I am guessing the Justice Department understands that.
Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! I wouldn't be surprised if he stole those docs to use as leverage. If the DOJ or one of the others decide to indicate him. He would blackmail them by threatening to release the highly sensitive doc or drop the indictments. He's an absolute P.O.S.
His former lawyer Mr. Cohen has said as much, that the documents were to facilitate blackmailing his way out of future legal trouble.
Just another delay tactic...he screwed the pooch when he took all those Classified Documents and he is buying time to hopefully con his way back into Office. If the Republicans gain control in the midterms...game over for the Country.
He certainly does keep a lot of lawyers busy filing his wild ideas. He definitely works on the principal that if you throw enough shit at the wall, eventually some of it will stick.
Asking for a special master and a more detailed receipt of items are merely delaying tactics. The fact that Done Cheato said publicly that he wants the unredacted affidavit released to the press is also a smoke screen. His lawyers filed no motion making such a request. And they would not be helping him if they did. The affidavit is a very compelling summary of the evidence that Orange Foolius committed crimes. Letting that information out would NOT improve his public image.
Trump files motions just to delay and obfuscate. He hasn't got a prayer.
Any special master is going to have to have a current TS/SCI clearance, plus the number of frivolous suits that trump has filed are all going to go against him. I don't see much chance of prevailing since he never had ownership of any of the documents and his possession was illegal and his lawyer swore in writing that there were no more classified documents in their possession.
Since trump does not read, I bet his plans for those materials were to use them to make money or gain influence. It will be interesting to see what a judge says. the material is not his and he broke the law by removing them. He claims powers he does not have, either when he was in the WH or now that he is an ordinary citizen.
I have not seen any expert opinions on Trump's chances to prevail in this suit, but his track record on other matters is reassuring. Especially since he now has virtually his last resort in attorneys.
I don't think he could hire Saul Goodman!
He was an accomplished criminal who would take on any client, no matter how slimy. He was just bright enough to get away with it for a while, but not forever. He lived in the shadow of his older brother, who was a brilliant lawyer at the top of his field.