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Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley | Trump Tells His Lawyers: Get ‘My’ Top Secret Documents Back
Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley, Rolling Stone
Excerpt: "The ex-president is desperate to recover the classified trove taken from Mar-a-Lago — and is pushing his legal team on a long-shot maneuver to return them."
The ex-president is desperate to recover the classified trove taken from Mar-a-Lago — and is pushing his legal team on a long-shot maneuver to return them
In the weeks after the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid, former President Donald Trump repeatedly made a simple-sounding but extraordinary ask: he wanted his lawyers to get “my documents” back from federal law enforcement.
Trump wasn’t merely referring to the alleged trove of attorney-client material that he insists was scooped up by the feds during the raid, two people familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone. The ex-president has been demanding that his team find a way to recover “all” of the official documents that Trump has long referred to as “mine” — including the highly sensitive and top secret ones.
Sources close to Trump agree with outside legal experts that such a sweeping legal maneuver would be a long-shot, at best. “I hate to break it to the [former] president, but I do not think he is going to get all [the] top-secret documents back,” says one Trump adviser. “That ship has probably sailed.”
Further, several longtime Trump advisers say they want absolutely nothing to do with the now-infamous boxes of documents, fearing that any knowledge of them could invite an unwanted knock on the door from the feds. “Who would want any of that back? … If it is what they say it is, keep them the hell away,” a second adviser says.
Still, the former president’s legal team appears to be working to retrieve at least some of the papers seized during the Aug. 8 federal search. In recent days, the Trump team — led by former federal prosecutor Evan Corcoran — has been quietly prepping additional legal arguments and strategies to try to pry back material that the feds removed from the ex-president’s Florida abode and club, the sources say. Those measures include drafting a so-called “Rule 41(g) motion,” which allows “a person aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure of property” to “move for the property’s return,” according to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
This would be a follow-up measure to the lawsuit, filed Monday by Trump and his attorneys, calling for the appointment of a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago materials for potentially privileged materials. It is unclear when the ex-president’s lawyers plan to file a subsequent motion, which people close to Trump expect to be more narrowly tailored than what the former president apparently wants.
“The motion he already filed is so absolutely terrible, that it’s hard to contemplate him filing something even more aggressive and even more unlikely to succeed,” says Ken White, a criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor.
“However,” White added, Trump is “basically trying to litigate the ultimate issue in the case, which is whether he had the right to possess and keep those things, even after he was asked to return them. It’s very unlikely that the court would accept that invitation to litigate that…He would have to prove that those things were illegally taken, and — based on what we know — that is going to be very difficult to prove…He’s going to have to make some very unusual legal arguments, which, if they’re anything like the motion that was just filed, is going to be a very uphill climb.”
In the suit filed on Monday seeking the appointment of a special master, Trump’s attorneys signaled that a 41(g) motion could be forthcoming. A special master should, they argued, should provide Trump’s attorneys with a more detailed inventory of the items taken from Mar-a-Lago so that “the President can properly evaluate and avail himself of the important protections of Rule 41.”
The Trump legal team also asked Judge Aileen Cannon to appoint a special master with a “fair-minded approach to providing defense counsel with information needed to support any Rule 41(g) filing.”
Judge Cannon has yet to rule on those requests but suggested she had some questions about it. In an order posted Tuesday afternoon, Cannon instructed Trump’s attorneys to respond to questions about whether she even had jurisdiction to offer the kind of relief they seek and whether granting their demands would affect Trump’s ongoing litigation in another case seeking to unseal the Justice Department’s evidence supporting the search warrant application.
The potential Rule 41(g) motion comes amidst a series of odd and, at times, seemingly self-defeating moves by Trump allies seeking to defend the former president’s conduct.
The former president’s office claimed recently that Trump had issued a so-called “standing order” to automatically declassify any materials taken from the West Wing in order to facilitate a flexible work schedule for the then-president. Thus far, no Trump administration veterans have come forward to attest to the existence of the legally questionable order. But it has prompted, as Rolling Stone reported last week, FBI agents to begin questioning former members of the Trump National Security Council about whether they have any recollection of such an order.
And in a May 10 letter, Justice Department officials revealed that Trump took 15 boxes of classified materials to his Mar-a-Lago residence with documents classified “up to the level of Top Secret and including Sensitive Compartmented Information and Special Access Program,” in addition to those documents seized by the FBI. Special Access Programs are among the most closely-held secrets in the federal government covering sensitive intelligence, operations, and technologies and are strictly limited to smaller numbers of individuals on a “need to know” basis.
The letter, posted by MAGA reporter John Solomon, appeared in an article by Solomon insinuating that President Biden had intervened in the efforts to retrieve the documents. But the correspondence — sent to Solomon, who Trump designated as his liaison with the National Archives — confirmed that Trump had taken Special Access Program materials — among the most sensitive secrets held by the government — to his private residence after leaving office.
tRUMPERS NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE tTRUP COUP FAILED!
GET OVER IT & WORK TO PROTECT DEMOCRACY FROM INCOMPETENT LEADERS
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Police inspect the debris of a rocket at the site of a shelling near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Monday, in which civilians were injured. (photo: Sergey Kozlov/EPA)
Russia to Step Up Strikes on Civilians, US Warns, as Ukraine Independence Day Nears
Isobel Koshiw, Guardian UK
Koshiw writes: "The US has said it thinks Russia will 'step up' efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days and has urged its citizens to leave the country."
US embassy urges its citizens to leave as Ukraine prepares to mark 31 years of independence
The US has said it thinks Russia will “step up” efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days and has urged its citizens to leave the country.
The warning from the embassy in Kyiv is the first specific security alert it has issued in recent months and comes after a ban by the Ukrainian government on celebrations in the capital to mark Wednesday’s anniversary of independence from Soviet rule because of fears of attack.
Dnipro’s mayor, Borys Filatov, said Russia had launched a rocket at the city on Tuesday morning. “Please stay in the [bomb] shelters,” Filatov wrote on his Telegram channel. “There is information that rocket fragments have fallen on private houses. More information will come later.”
Despite its proximity to the frontlines and status as a military hub, Dnipro has been hit infrequently since Russia launched its invasion in March. Wednesday also marks the six-month anniversary of the war.
Russia’s war in Ukraine: latest developments
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Tuesday there would be a powerful response to any attacks by Moscow on Ukrainian cities or towns in or around Ukraine’s independence day.
Speaking at a press conference with Andrzej Duda shortly after the Polish president’s arrival in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said he had information from Ukraine’s intelligence services and international partners that there was an increased threat but stressed that the threat from Russia had remained daily and constant since 24 February.
Duda, one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters, is meeting Zelenskiy to discuss further support for Ukraine, including military aid.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine planned to restore world order by regaining control over Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. “It all began with Crimea, and it will end with Crimea,” said Zelenskiy, at an online conference on Crimea attended by representatives of 60 states.
Kyiv is far from the frontlines and has rarely been hit by Russian missiles since Ukraine repelled a ground offensive to seize the capital in March. Some restaurants have been closing early this week because of the perceived increased threat.
“The department of state has information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days,” the US embassy said in a statement. US citizens should leave Ukraine “now” by their own means if it was safe to do so, it said.
Ukraine’s defence ministry has advised Ukrainians to be especially careful on independence day, citing the threat of missile attacks and “provocations” from Russia.
“Russia and the Putin regime attacked the independence of Ukraine and independent Ukraine. They are really obsessed with dates and symbols, so it would be logical to be on the lookout and be prepared for independence day to be attacked,” Andriy Yusov, the head of the ministry’s intelligence directorate, said on Ukrainian state TV.
Ukraine’s authorities have cancelled celebrations amid increased security concerns. Instead of the traditional parade down Kyiv’s main street, authorities have lined the tarmac with captured and destroyed Russian military equipment.
Ukraine has been bracing for an intensification of Russian missile attacks after a car bomb killed the daughter of the ultranationalist Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin on Saturday night. After the attack, which Russian security services blamed on Ukraine, a host of prominent pro-Putin figures called for revenge. Ukraine denies responsibility.
At Darya Dugina’s funeral in Moscow on Tuesday her father said she died in the name of victory for Russia and the Russian people.
The head of Ukraine’s security and defence council, Oleksiy Danilov, said he expected Russia’s security services to stage a series of terrorist attacks in Russian cities, resulting in civilian losses in an attempt to reignite domestic support for the war. Danilov said he believed the killing of Dugina was the first such attack.
Ukraine’s armed forces said on Sunday night that Russia had closed the airspace in the Russian border regions of Lipetsk, Voronezh and other locations between 22-25 August.
A spokesperson for the UN rights office said it was concerned about Russian attempts to try Ukrainian prisoners of war in the coming days, saying the process could amount to a war crime.
“We are very concerned about the manner in which this is being done. There are pictures in the media of cages being built in Mariupol’s philharmonic hall, really massive cages and apparently the idea is to restrain the prisoners,” Ravina Shamdasani told a UN briefing. “This is not acceptable, this is humiliating.” Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war to the right to a fair trial amounted to a war crime by Russia, she added.
Zelenskiy has said that if Russia puts the prisoners on trial it will eliminate the possibility of talks with Moscow. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, called on the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene and prevent the trial.
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Breonna Taylor in an undated family photo. She was fatally shot in her apartment by Louisville police on March 13. (photo: Justice for Breonna)
Ex-Detective Admits to Lying on Breonna Taylor Search Warrant
Angelina Chapin, The Cut
Chapin writes: "More than two years after Breonna Taylor’s death, a former police officer has admitted wrongdoing in the tragedy. Former Louisville detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday, August 23, to helping falsify a search warrant for Taylor’s home."
More than two years after Breonna Taylor’s death, a former police officer has admitted wrongdoing in the tragedy. Former Louisville detective Kelly Goodlett pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday, August 23, to helping falsify a search warrant for Taylor’s home. Goodlett now faces up to five years in prison.
Three other current and former police officers involved in the incident face federal charges. The long-awaited development, which was announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland at a press conference in early August, comes after an in-depth investigation that alleges the Louisville cops lied to get a search warrant and later, after the botched raid on Taylor’s apartment, created a false cover story.
Taylor’s death in March 2020 sparked national outrage after details emerged that the 26-year-old EMT and her boyfriend were lying in bed when the officers busted down her apartment door, supposedly to investigate her ties to a drug dealer, even though the case’s main suspect had already been arrested. They shot more than 30 rounds, leaving Taylor dead on her hallway floor and fueling a wave of protest against racist police brutality.
Six months after the tragedy, a Kentucky grand jury decided none of the officers should face charges directly related to Taylor’s death. Now, the federal indictments fill in yet more alleged details of the injustice: Along with Goodlett, officer Joshua Jaynes was accused of using a false affidavit to get a search warrant for Taylor’s home despite having no probable cause to do so. Prosecutors say the officers then met in a garage and fabricated a story to evade responsibility. Together with officer Kyle Meany, they are accused of violating Taylor’s Fourth Amendment rights by pursuing the raid on false grounds. Goodlett is now expected to serve as an important witness in Janynes’s and Meany’s trials.
Brett Hankison, the officer who shot ten rounds through a window and glass door in Taylor’s home and was recently exonerated on charges that he endangered her neighbors, now faces a two-count federal indictment for use of “unconstitutional excessive force.”
In a June 2020 interview with the Cut, Taylor’s mom, Tamika Palmer, described her daughter as someone who “loved life” and “lit up a room.” Palmer said, “She did everything right. She always wanted to do anything that would help her be a better friend, a daughter, a girlfriend. I was definitely in awe of her.”
“We share, but we cannot fully imagine, the grief felt by Breonna Taylor’s loved ones and all of those affected by the events of March 13, 2020,” Garland said in the August 4 announcement, adding, “Breonna Taylor should be alive today.”
BREONNA TAYLOR'S KILLING CANNOT BE IN VAIN!
LET'S MAKE HER KILLING IN HER OWN HOME, ASLEEP IN HER OWN BED MEAN SOMETHING FOR JUSTICE!
THE KENTUCKY GRAND JURY DEFINES RACISM OR THE DELIBERATE PRESENTATION OF INCOMPLETE EVIDENCE BY THE PROSECUTION.
ELECTIONS MATTER & IF THE PROSECUTION FAILED, IT'S TIME TO REPLACE THOSE WHO PROTECT POLICE AT ALL COSTS.
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Maxwell Frost speaks during a March For Our Lives Florida drive-in rally and aid event at Tinker Field in Orlando on March 26, 2021. (photo: Orlando Sentinel/TNS)
Progressive Activist Maxwell Frost Wins, Has Inside Track to House Seat
Elena Moore, NPR
Moore writes: "Progressive activist Maxwell Frost, one of the first members of Generation Z to run for Congress, has won his Democratic primary, according to a race call by The Associated Press."
Progressive activist Maxwell Frost, one of the first members of Generation Z to run for Congress, has won his Democratic primary, according to a race call by The Associated Press.
Frost's win nearly secures his path to Congress since the Orlando-based seat is considered a solidly Democratic district. Frost will face off against Republican Calvin Wimbish in November.
"Today's election is proof that Central Florida's working families want representation that has the courage to ask for more," Frost said in a statement. "I share this victory with the nurses, forklift drivers, teachers, caregivers, social workers, farmers, union organizers, cashiers, and other members of this vibrant community who supported this campaign."
At 25 years old, Frost just qualifies for the age requirement to serve in the U.S. House. The 2022 midterms mark the first election where members of Generation Z can run for congressional office. The Pew Research Center considers anyone born between 1997 and 2012 to be Gen Z.
Frost campaigned on key progressive issues, including Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, student debt cancelation and an end to gun violence. He first became involved in political organizing in 2012 while in high school following the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. He's also spoken publicly about surviving a separate incident of gun violence.
"Our generation has been born into a lot of trauma and a lot of civil unrest around people being frustrated with things. And I think because of that, our generation naturally thinks about things in a bit of a different way," Frost told NPR.
The former March for Our Lives national organizing director and ACLU activist beat out a crowded field of nine other competitors, including state Sen. Randolph Bracy and former Florida Reps. Corrine Brown and Alan Grayson.
Frost also topped his competitors in fundraising while racking up key national endorsements from progressive leaders, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
In an interview with NPR, Frost acknowledged that age plays a symbolic role in his campaign.
"Yes we march, yes we engage in mutual aid, yes we engage on social media, and now we're running for office because we believe that we are prepared to be in the rooms and to be the voice for our communities and we can do that and young people should be allowed," he said.
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Federal Civil Rights Probe Begins Into 3 Arkansas Officers Seen Beating a Man on Video
CBS News
Excerpt: "The Department of Justice has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the violent arrest of a 27-year-old man in Arkansas on Sunday, a department spokesperson confirmed on Monday. The investigation will be separate from the state probe into the arrest, which was captured on video."
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Journalist Becomes 15th Media Worker Killed This Year in Mexico
Al Jazeera
Excerpt: "Journalist Fredid Roman has become the latest media worker killed in Mexico so far this year, bringing the total to at least 15, according to monitoring groups."
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Endangered Sea Turtles Found on Louisiana Islands for First Time in 75 Years
Maya Yang, Guardian UK
Yang writes: "For the first time in 75 years, hatchlings of the world’s smallest sea turtle species have been discovered on the Chandeleur Islands, a chain of barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of New Orleans."
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