USA 2020 Elections: Thread

grarpamp grarpamp at gmail.com
Sun Aug 28 21:27:36 PDT 2022


> https://donaldjtrump.com/
> https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump
> https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-donald-trump
> While the secret documents content would bigly expose something,
> the real story are the political frauds waged against Trump for years...


Federal Judge Indicates Intent To Appoint Special Master For
Mar-a-Lago Document Review

Authored by Jonathan Turley via jonathanturley.org,

Since the start of the controversy over the Mar-a-Lago raid, I have
called for the release of a redacted affidavit and the appointment of
a special master to sort through the seized material, including
alleged attorney-client privileged material. Indeed, I felt that this
was one of the four failures of Attorney General Merrick Garland in
not taken proactive steps to assure that public that this was not a
pretextual raid to collect sensitive material for other investigative
purposes. Now, District Judge Aileen Cannon has indicated an intent to
make such an appointment. It was a belated request from the Trump team
but, as I wrote yesterday, it would still have considerable value in
the case.

Judge Cannon filed an order Saturday morning that “The Court hereby
provides notice of its preliminary intent to appoint a special master
in this case.”

Such an appointment should have been done before the Justice
Department reviewed the material. The Department sought a ridiculously
broad search warrant and Magistrate Paul Reinhart simply signed off on
the order without considering the wide array of privileged material
that could be seized. It adopted language so broad that it was the
legal version of Captain Jack Sparrow’s “Take what you can … Give
nothing back.” It allowed the seizure of any box containing any
document with any classification of any kind — and all boxes stored
with that box. It also allowed the seizure of any writing from Trump’s
presidency.

However, a special master could still serve the same interests of
transparency and legitimacy. The special master could divide these
documents in classified material, unclassified but defense
information, and unclassified material outside of the scope of the
alleged crimes. The last category would then be returned.

That accounting could also offer basic descriptive information on the
material without revealing their precise content or titles. The
special master could describe material as related to national defense
or nuclear weapons (as was previously leaked government sources). The
government has already leaked that there was nuclear weapons material
being sought. Confirming such general details can be done without
giving details on the specific information or even titles for the
documents to protect national security. In national security cases,
including cases where I have served as counsel, such indexes and
summaries are common.

Once again, as with the release of the redacted affidavit, Garland
could have taken these steps to assure the public that the Department
was not acting for political or improper purposes — or using excessive
means to achieve those goals. He has refused every opportunity to do
so while chastising those who question the integrity of his
Department.

The release of the redacted affidavit shows that what Garland and his
Department told the public was untrue about the inability to release a
redacted affidavit without endangering the case or national security.
As discussed yesterday, the redacted affidavit confirmed various key
points on the legal and factual background. After opposing the release
of even a single line, the government released whole pages that were
manifestly suitable for public disclosure.

Once again, Garland waited to be forced to take this step rather than
act on his own to address widespread concerns. His department has a
documented history of officials misleading courts and filing false
material in Trump-related investigations. This is yet another example
of how Attorney General Garland has done little to earn the trust of
almost half of the country. In this and other controversies, he has
demanded respect but refused to take even modest measures to justify
it.


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