Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Remember Kids; "Only the Mob and Loozers take the Fifth!"

Trump says he invoked Fifth Amendment in N.Y. attorney general deposition

Trump said Wednesday that he refused to answer any questions from New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) in the civil investigation over his business.

The deposition comes as Trump has faced a new level of legal scrutiny and just days after the FBI executed a search warrant at the former president's Mar-a-Lago residence in an unrelated investigation.

"Under the advice of my counsel, ... I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account.

"I once asked, 'if you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?" Now I know the answer to that question," he also said.

"When your family, your company and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt ... you have no choice."

Trump earlier on Wednesday said that he would face questioning Wednesday from the New York state attorney general's office in its civil investigation.

Trump said on his Truth Social account earlier on Wednesday that he would be seeing James "for a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. history! My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides. Banana Republic!"

We've talked about this before. Recently, like minutes ago, I said you take the Fifth when you're out of other ways to stall. But further back, we talked about Trump taking the Fifth in a civil investigation. Long story short, it's bad.

I went through the NYTimes tracker and found a few things.

One, Trump is...confused. He thinks this is a PR problem that can be solved by riling up his base. WITCH HUNT etc. For someone who once bragged he sat for over 100 depositions, you'd think he'd know better by now. Also, good luck solving this with a PR stunt in NYC. Trump has no friends in NYC.

Two, NYState almost certainly knew this and is planning on it. They will continue to ask more and more pointed questions, and cause more and more doubt/shade/embarrassment when he refuses to answer. It's also likely they're trying to bait Trump into going full "You can't handle the Truth Social!" basically taunting him on cooldown.

Three, Trump by doing this has almost certainly come to accept his business is going to lose whatever judgements are coming his way. He's sacrificing his money to save himself. Considering money is the only thing people have ever claimed he was good at (it certainly wasn't telling the truth or running the country) this loss will be pushed by NYState to happen before summer 2024.

And fourth, Trump is baselessly suggesting that the F.B.I. might have planted evidence during its search.

Wow. "Those classified documents even I admitted I took? Those aren't mine!" Also your lawyer was on site! The fuck is wrong with him?

In a post on Wednesday morning on his social media app, Truth Social, Mr. Trump said that the agents who showed up at Mar-a-Lago would not let anyone, including his lawyers, observe their work, which was authorized by a federal magistrate judge.

Mr. Trump — who has not released the search warrant provided by the agents to his lawyers or the manifest his team was given of the materials the agents gathered and removed — baselessly suggested that the F.B.I. might have acted inappropriately.

“Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be alone,” he wrote, “without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, ‘planting.’”

Mr. Trump’s effort to sow doubts about the F.B.I.’s search before the results are known was in keeping with his history of trying to head off news by seeking to turn the tables on his accusers. The former president’s first line of attack against adversaries is often to mount a campaign in advance to discredit them and their work.

Around the same time that his message appeared on social media, The New York Post published an article about the F.B.I. search, noting in the third paragraph that “a source close to the former president” had expressed concern that federal agents or prosecutors could have “planted stuff” in the 128-room building.

The unfounded allegations seem to have first emerged on Tuesday morning when Christina Bobb, a lawyer for Mr. Trump who was present during the search, was asked during an interview on the right-wing TV station Real America’s Voice about whether it was possible that federal agents could have planted evidence.

“There is no security that something wasn’t planted,” Ms. Bobb said before quickly admitting that she did not know if anything improper had occurred.

Okay so I have to revise my previous challenge. Remember how I said "find someone who said Trump is innocent"? You can't just have Trump or someone quoting Trump, either. Claims of planted evidence will not be taken seriously until you have something better than "we don't know that they didn't". That shit doesn't flush. If the FBI was going to plant evidence anyhow, why not go after the insurrection charges? "We found the missing WH call logs," this hypothetical FBI guy could say, "and you can't prove otherwise because Trump erased the real ones. Oh shit, did I say that out loud?"

- - - Updated - - -

They genuinely have nothing outside of "AMERICA FIRST!" and whatnot.

I have said many things, mostly negative, about the Republican Party since I grew up through Reagan. Until recently, I always thought Republicans actually had a plan, an agenda, things they wanted to do. Even if it was "fuck over black people and make ourselves richer". Even in 2016 that seemed accurate.

It's not anymore. The closest I've seen recently to policy is "break up the FBI because they found out Trump was a criminal".

- - - Updated - - -

Shortly after noon, a police spokesman said that Mr. Trump had started to eat lunch, and the break was expected to last an hour.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/SarahHuckabee/st...55968448020480

When you're attacking FBI agents because you're under criminal investigation, you're losing

Reminder of that time Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former Press Secretary for Trump and current Republican candidate for governor in AR, made this post.

And how it has aged like unpasteurized milk.

I thought these folks "backed the blue"? Aren't FBI "the blue"? Why would they be worried about planting evidence? I mean, I hear you have nothing to fear from law enforcement if you've done nothing wrong!

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.businessinsider.com/law-...ed-info-2022-8

A bill which former President Donald Trump signed into law in 2018 could be used to punish him if he's found to have mishandled classified information after leaving office.

FBI agents on Monday raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as part on an investigation into whether Trump wrongly kept hold of classified material after he left office.

Bradley P. Moss, a national-security attorney, told Insider that Trump could face five years in prison if he's found guilty under a national security bill which he signed as president.

The bill, which made changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was signed into law by Trump in January 2018.

It upgraded the seriousness of wrongly moving classified material, turning it from a misdemeanor into a felony — and increasing the maximum punishment from one year to five.

Has this been discussed yet? How Trump basically pre-emptively self-owned himself? Because like, I'm kinda delighted that Trump signed a law that would potentially turn his activities relating to the unauthorized taking of classified information from a misdemeanor into a felony.

[Canpinter]

Remember the republicans only like law enforcement when it's hurting people they don't like. I'm sure that if the FBI would start doing the stuff they did in the civil right movement conservatives would be all for it.

[Redwyrm]

So... who's making the "Lock Him Up" & "Trump For Prison 2024" bumper stickers?

[For_The_Horde]

I guess I could have been more accurate. But basically, if they know Trump walked out with papers, they can look for papers. They can't take his phone unless they have PC that Trump texted people where the papers are.

- - - Updated - - -

That's assuming they don't suspect him of not turning over emails and such too. Unless that's not really a big deal or something. I'm sure nobody cares about some possibly classified information attached to emails and texts.

It's Bizarroworld right now. Even Johnathan Turley, the dumbass so called "liberal professor" that frequents Fox News is even saying that the FBI had every right to collect classified information from Mar-A-Lago. I just find it hilarious, you see all these fucking pundits and propagandists on Fox News, Newsmax, OANN, and the morons of Youtube like Steven Crowder, Tim Pool and others going ABSOLUTELY NUTS, some even stating that they are going to start a civil war over Trump breaking the fucking law and the FBI seizing stolen classified material.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-news...al-from-trump/

Watching some of the (crazier) conservative forums and social media, they're just as riled up as they were before Jan 6th. Same calls to action and violence, there's just no time and place because its a disorganized rabble. If Trump makes another rally though...

[Edge-]

If Trump makes another rally though...

He will. I wouldn't want to be law enforcement at that rally, though. I feel like conservatives are turning hard on them, or maybe it's just federal law enforcment they're turning on.

It's weird they used to seem to like the FBI? And then hated it after liking it? And then liking it again when Trump appointed his own Director? And now they hate him for being a secret leftist, again.

Though that's if they're even aware of who the FBI works for and reports to, and who their bosses actually work for. Because spoilers: It's not the current administration.

[Aphelios]

banana republic political hitjob that wont work. next step they will prob assassinate him and call it a suicide. then you all will rejoice and try to rationalize it.

[s_bushido]

Oh boy. I imagine they've been thinking about this, but the second Trump reads this it should be very fun times on #TeamTrump.

Everyone gonna be walking around with anti-knife vests with extra protection on their backs.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a member of his Secret Service detail. Since they presumably have no attachment to the piece of shit beyond doing their jobs.

I honestly just feel bad for you.

I could never really muster up any empathy for the conservative NPCs repeating their hotfixed talking points an hour after they heard it on Fox.

[Edge-]

banana republic political hitjob that wont work. next step they will prob assassinate him and call it a suicide. then you all will rejoice and try to rationalize it.

How will we know if he's actually assassinated, and not secretly in hiding like JFK Jr. and JFK both are, apparently? I mean, folks keep hanging out Dallas waiting for those two to come back.

Why would Trump's own pick to head the FBI engage in such a hit job? Is Trump that bad at picking people and always picks secret leftists that will turn on him?

- - - Updated - - -

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a member of his Secret Service detail. Since they presumably have no attachment to the piece of shit beyond doing their jobs.

Eh, there are enough reports about how many in his detail are big personal fans as well. Especially with the whole, "Oops! Our texts are all gone and nobody backed them up. Aw shucks, that's just a shame, innit?" fiasco.

[Belize]

banana republic political hitjob that wont work. next step they will prob assassinate him and call it a suicide. then you all will rejoice and try to rationalize it.

Cringe .

[Edge-]

Jesse Watters time!

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1556785418431041536

"Let's ask a former CIA agent, who is part of an agency that's legally not allowed to operate within the US."

Ace! No legal expert, just a CIA analyst guy.

"You're going into the home of a presidential candidate..."

He has not announced.

"And this is after they went after his campaign with wire taps"

They did not, they went after others with wire taps...who just happened to be communicating with the campaign, curiously.

"Jesse, it almost feels like a preemptive coup"

What the fuck does that even mean?

"This is meant to prevent Donald Trump from being able to run again."

I mean that might be a consequence...but if he did nothing wrong how would it prevent him from running?

AND THERE'S MORE - https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1556782165689507841

"This is absolutely going to enrage the country..."

No it's not.

"...especially the Republican base"

Well yes, this is accurate. Cultists don't like it when their cult leader potentially gets in trouble.

LOTS of focus on his strength in CPAC/TPUSA polling, which makes sense given that they accidentally shared polling that wasn't so nice for Trump and he lost his damned mind. They gotta reinforce his ego that he's polling well.

I'm almost tempted to watch Fox to see this alternate reality unfolding in real time...but I don't think I have the mental fortitude for such an assault on reality.

[Endus]

AND THERE'S MORE - https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1556782165689507841

"This is absolutely going to enrage the country..."

No it's not.

And even if it did, fuck 'em. Anyone enraged by the prosecution of crimes based on their partisan support for the criminal in question is an extremist dipshit whose anger only deserves hilarity and mockery in response. Go on, get angry your God-King's a shitbird and you're an idiot for supporting them. You precious little domestic terrorist wannabes.

Emphasis on the "wannabes", because these people are almost all chickenshit cowards on top of everything else, and they're gonna bitch angrily online and then do absolutely fucking nothing about it.

[s_bushido]

And even if it did, fuck 'em.

Yeah the "don't do this or we'll get mad!" line is ridiculous. These assholes are literally always outraged by something. Most of the time it's shit they've made up themselves.

[Breccia]

That's assuming they don't suspect him of not turning over emails and such too.

I am, yes.

If he has a copy of official WH emails from an official WH server, that doesn't sound like what they're looking for. The archives would have the originals, due to it being an official WH server. Yes, having a copy isn't great, but it doesn't sound like that was the issue being discussed.

If he had a private email server, that's also an entirely different thing than what's being discussed.

And in either case, they wouldn't have waited until he was out of town to raid his house. His phone was clearly on him. Considering the FBI siezed a phone from a Rep yesterday, they would have taken it from Trump, who was tied up in court.

[Edge-]

If he had a private email server, that's also an entirely different thing than what's being discussed.

Given that he can't even use a computer and apparently hates email since there's a digital trail that can be followed...highly, highly skeptical.

[Breccia]

(post scrubbed)

Ah ah ah, that creation date says 2020. Therefore, you did not decry Trump threatening Clinton in 2016. Therefore, I get to answer for you.

This was completely fair. As a Trump supporter, I stand for the rule of law and order. I also supported Trump threatening legal action against a politcal rival. Therefore, I must also support this legal warrant. Anything else would be admission of trolling, against the forum rules.

Have a nice day, and thank you for admitting you stand behind the raid.

- - - Updated - - -

Jesse Watters time!

"Jesse, it almost feels like a preemptive coup"

Nobody in Team Trump has any right to complain about a coup. They tried a violent one. They clearly believe a coup is okay.

I mean that might be a consequence...but if he did nothing wrong how would it prevent him from running?

It depends which laws he broke, is tried for, and found guilty of. Best of my knowledge, there is nothing in the Constitution which keeps you from running because you're accused of a crime.

And yes, I'm fully aware Trump and his cult have said things like "being under investigation should disqualify you" which means even they know it doesn't.

[Anevers]

banana republic political hitjob that wont work. next step they will prob assassinate him and call it a suicide. then you all will rejoice and try to rationalize it.

Delusion is treatable.

Seek help.

[Breccia]

So that thing I did earlier, looking at which news posted what? How FOX News was trying to stir up outrage? Looks like they blew their cooldowns on trash. In the last hour, their only post that makes the top list is them complaining about MSNBC, who is refusing to call it a raid.

Hah.

Meanwhile, two senior government officials tell Newsweek that one of Trump's people ratted him out.

The raid on Mar-a-Lago was based largely on information from an FBI confidential human source, one who was able to identify what classified documents Trump was still hiding and even the location of those documents, two senior government officials told Newsweek.

The officials, who have direct knowledge of the FBI's deliberations and were granted anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters, said the raid of Donald Trump's Florida residence was deliberately timed to occur when the former president was away.

FBI decision-makers in Washington and Miami thought that denying the former president a photo opportunity or a platform from which to grandstand (or to attempt to thwart the raid) would lower the profile of the event, says one of the sources, a senior Justice Department official who is a 30-year veteran of the FBI.

The effort to keep the raid low-key failed: instead, it prompted a furious response from GOP leaders and Trump supporters. "What a spectacular backfire," says the Justice official.

"I know that there is much speculation out there that this is political persecution, but it is really the best and the worst of the bureaucracy in action," the official says. "They wanted to punctuate the fact that this was a routine law enforcement action, stripped of any political overtones, and yet [they] got exactly the opposite."

Both senior government officials say the raid was scheduled with no political motive, the FBI solely intent on recovering highly classified documents that were illegally removed from the White House. Preparations to conduct such an operation began weeks ago, but in planning the date and time, the FBI Miami Field Office and Washington headquarters were focused on the former president's scheduled return to Florida from his residences in New York and New Jersey.

"They were seeking to avoid any media circus," says the second source, a senior intelligence official who was briefed on the investigation and the operation. "So even though everything made sense bureaucratically and the FBI feared that the documents might be destroyed, they also created the very firestorm they sought to avoid, in ignoring the fallout."

Yeah, I think we all knew, the second Trump said a single word on the topic, it was going to become a circus. But, if as said the options were to risk documents being destroyed or risk a media circus, the circus is at least not illegal.

Now Trump has already said...well who cares, Trump lies about everything all the time. So there's more from people who are more reliable, even though we don't know their names, because Trump is bottom of the barrel in terms of trust.

According to the Justice Department source, the Archives saw things differently, believing that the former White House was stonewalling and continued to possess unauthorized material. Earlier this year, they asked the Justice Department to investigate.

In late April, the source says, a federal grand jury began deliberating whether there was a violation of the Presidential Records Act or whether President Trump unlawfully possessed national security information. Through the grand jury process, the National Archives provided federal prosecutors with copies of the documents received from Trump in January 2022. The grand jury concluded that there had been a violation of the law, according to the Justice Department source.

Now I believe I personally cited that Trump had admitted he took things back in April and May, and I've seen that the WH still had to talk with him in June. It's August. "Trump is stonewalling" sure seems to fit the timeline Trump himself has posted.

In the past week, the prosecutor in the case and local Assistant U.S. Attorney went to Florida magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart in West Palm Beach to seek approval for the search of Donald Trump's private residence. The affidavit to obtain the search warrant, the intelligence source says, contained abundant and persuasive detail that Trump continued to possess the relevant records in violation of federal law, and that investigators had sufficient information to prove that those records were located at Mar-a-Lago—including the detail that they were contained in a specific safe in a specific room.

"In order for the investigators to convince the Florida judge to approve such an unprecedented raid, the information had to be solid, which the FBI claimed," says the intelligence source.

And we've heard about that safe. I'm just going to assume that random-ass people who happen to stay at Mar-a-Lago don't get to see the safe where Trump keeps the deed to the house, a few stacks of bills for emergencies, probably a gun, and other items it's perfectly legal to have. So this means, someone with enough inside information on Team Trump's inner workings went to the FBI and said "He has illegal shit in this safe in this room", and more importantly, the FBI believed them.

It was not a wandering Democrat, a covfefe boy Trump didn't pay, or an internet troll. It was someone that had enough credibility (at least with the FBI) to say "this is where the proof of the crime is", to the point the FBI got a Trump-appointed judge to sign a warrant.

According to experts familiar with FBI practices, Judge Reinhart reviewed the prosecutor's evidence and asked numerous questions about the sources and the urgency. The judge signed a search warrant allowing the FBI to look for relevant material and the FBI then planned the operation, wanting to conduct the raid while Trump was spending time at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. A Secret Service source who spoke on background said the Secret Service director was given advance warning and was later told the specifics of the raid.

Because the Secret Service is still responsible for protecting the former president, his family, and his property, the FBI had to coordinate with the Secret Service to gain access to the grounds.

A convoy of unmarked black SUVs and a Ryder rental truck filled with about three dozen FBI special agents and technicians entered the gates in the early evening. Heavily armed Secret Service agents were also visibly present at the gates. The Palm Beach Police Department was also present at the scene.

Oh, so Florida police was there? Sounds like the raid had legitimacy. Oh, you're worried because Palm Beach hates Trump? Well, maybe he shouldn't have been such a hateful person who made Palm Beach hell for years.

The entire operation was conducted relatively stealthily. No FBI people were seen in their iconic blue windbreakers announcing the presence of the Bureau.

And that's why there were basically no pictures!

And though local law enforcement was present, the Palm Beach Police Department was careful to tweet on Tuesday that it "was not aware of the existence of a search warrant nor did our department assist the FBI in the execution of a search warrant."

According to news reports, some 10-15 boxes of documents were removed from the premises. Donald Trump said in a statement that the FBI opened his personal safe as part of their search. Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was present during the multi-hour search, says that the FBI targeted three rooms—a bedroom, an office and a storage room. That suggests that the FBI knew specifically where to look.

So Trump now knows he has a leak. That's neat. Well, the number of people who saw this safe is finite, but it could be large or small. If Trump was, in fact, showing off his prized classified documents he illegally and knowingly stole to everyone, then he'll never figure out who ratted him out. Bad for Trump, good for the FBI, they still have a source. If he hoarded that info, and only a few people knew about it, then he's going to go paranoid, and soon. Trump's paranoia will be the most "fun" when the insane clown can't posse-bly figure out if it was (for example) Giuliani caving to pressure, Ivanka letting it slip by accident, Melania prepping for a divorce, or Kushner making a power play. I mean, he'll probably figure out it's not Eric, but that's it.

If that's the case, and no we don't know that, but if it is, what might Trump do in full paranoia mode? Sociopaths project, because they can't empathize. So what would Trump do, if he thought Trump was out to get him?

Keep an eye on the news. If Trump was, in fact, sold out by a close friend or family member, the symptoms in his increasingly claustrohomophobic mind will not be subtle.

[Poopymonster]

So that thing I did earlier, looking at which news posted what? How FOX News was trying to stir up outrage? Looks like they blew their cooldowns on trash. In the last hour, their only post that makes the top list is them complaining about MSNBC, who is refusing to call it a raid.

Hah.

Meanwhile, two senior government officials tell Newsweek that one of Trump's people ratted him out.



Yeah, I think we all knew, the second Trump said a single word on the topic, it was going to become a circus. But, if as said the options were to risk documents being destroyed or risk a media circus, the circus is at least not illegal.

Now Trump has already said...well who cares, Trump lies about everything all the time. So there's more from people who are more reliable, even though we don't know their names, because Trump is bottom of the barrel in terms of trust.



Now I believe I personally cited that Trump had admitted he took things back in April and May, and I've seen that the WH still had to talk with him in June. It's August. "Trump is stonewalling" sure seems to fit the timeline Trump himself has posted.



And we've heard about that safe. I'm just going to assume that random-ass people who happen to stay at Mar-a-Lago don't get to see the safe where Trump keeps the deed to the house, a few stacks of bills for emergencies, probably a gun, and other items it's perfectly legal to have. So this means, someone with enough inside information on Team Trump's inner workings went to the FBI and said "He has illegal shit in this safe in this room", and more importantly, the FBI believed them.

It was not a wandering Democrat, a covfefe boy Trump didn't pay, or an internet troll. It was someone that had enough credibility (at least with the FBI) to say "this is where the proof of the crime is", to the point the FBI got a Trump-appointed judge to sign a warrant.



Oh, so Florida police was there? Sounds like the raid had legitimacy. Oh, you're worried because Palm Beach hates Trump? Well, maybe he shouldn't have been such a hateful person who made Palm Beach hell for years.



And that's why there were basically no pictures!



So Trump now knows he has a leak. That's neat. Well, the number of people who saw this safe is finite, but it could be large or small. If Trump was, in fact, showing off his prized classified documents he illegally and knowingly stole to everyone, then he'll never figure out who ratted him out. Bad for Trump, good for the FBI, they still have a source. If he hoarded that info, and only a few people knew about it, then he's going to go paranoid, and soon. Trump's paranoia will be the most "fun" when the insane clown can't posse-bly figure out if it was (for example) Giuliani caving to pressure, Ivanka letting it slip by accident, Melania prepping for a divorce, or Kushner making a power play. I mean, he'll probably figure out it's not Eric, but that's it.

If that's the case, and no we don't know that, but if it is, what might Trump do in full paranoia mode? Sociopaths project, because they can't empathize. So what would Trump do, if he thought Trump was out to get him?

Keep an eye on the news. If Trump was, in fact, sold out by a close friend or family member, the symptoms in his increasingly claustrohomophobic mind will not be subtle.

It could have been an ERIC, which one who knows, or the fuck trophy bearing his namesake.
Or both.
I do think a family member went all Mr Meeseeks on him.

[Cthulhu 2020]

Wanna read the replies to that tweet? Or leave your own? See if you can figure out which one(s) were mine.

Every single top reply to that tweet is pure gold.

That quote of Trump saying you only take the fifth amendment if you're guilty certainly hasn't aged well either.