“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen,” reads a quotation often attributed to Vladimir Lenin (although he may never have said it). Whoever came up with that sentence, it captures the past week perfectly — from the eruption of new legislation to the FBI visit of a former president’s home. One image will remain with me forever, despite the avalanche of news and astonishing revelations: Donald Trump at his Bedminster club, New Jersey. watchingThe surveillance camera feed from his Florida residence was captured by federal agents who searched Mar-a-Lago.
Trump has taken great care to whip his supporters into submission in the days since the federal hunt. towering frenzy, and as “frenzy” is the default position for too many of them – especially in the media – it was not too much of a reach. All of a sudden, Republican officeholders called for the defunding and even outright destruction of the FBI. Cries of “totalitarian state” were raised, as Trump’s allies accused the FBI of being an arm of the president’ wrath. This irony is because Trump has done this. tried to doWhile he was at the FBI.
More than anything, the call from all Trumpian points was, “Where’s the warrant?”
As the invective reached an egregious height, some were listening. Ricky Shiffer, a member of Trump’s Truth Social message board who attended the January 6 Capitol raid, attackedA nail gun was used by the Cincinnati FBI office. “We must not tolerate this one,” he posted before his attack, which he did not survive. The overheated rhetoric in combination with Shiffer’s act of violence motivated the FBI to release a sternly worded denunciation. “Calls for violence against law enforcement are unacceptable,” reads the statement, “and should be condemned by all leaders. This is not a political or partisan issue. It is a matter of public safety and basic decency.”
At this point, it is important to remember that Donald Trump may have lost a step since his departure from office, but his hold on his base remains strong. His King-Midas-in-reverse powers remain an astonishment: Only Trump could turn the Federal Bureau of Investigation into a building full of victims in need of rescue and succor from Big Daddy Garland. That’s some freaky magic, y’all.
Attorney General Garland (who I had recently referred to as a perfectly named inert ornament object) took my snark this past week and yeted up my left nostril. The Garland-approved and completely unprecedented FBI visit to Mar-a-Lago in the middle of all this was followed by a press conference last night that belonged at center table of the World Series of Poker.
Garland stood before his people and announced that the Department of Justice was seeking to release both the warrant as well as a basic list of the items found in the search. He also indicated what crimes could have been committed. Trump could fight the release if he wanted. In poker terms Garland placed his entire stack of chips in the center of the table, looked over his reflector sunglasses at Trump, and waited.
Minutes later, The Washington PostReports state that Mar-a-Lago’s federal agents were looking for highly classified documents pertaining to nuclear weapons. The New York TimesRapidly followed-up with additional reporting that the feds were concerned with the existence at Mar-a-Lago of “material from what the government calls ‘special access programs,’ a designation that is typically reserved for extremely sensitive operations carried out by the United States abroad or for closely held technologies and capabilities.”
If such documents were actually in Trump’s possession, it represents an astonishing breach of security. Trump may believe that he can easily declassify any information he wants, but this is not the case with highly classified material such nuclear data and the dispositions of forces. To achieve such declassification, there is a process and Trump didn’t follow it before harping off with boxes full of white-hot secrets.
Garland’s death and the silence that followed it was the silence on the left Times PostReports had their own mass and gravity. From Bedminster, California to Orange County, California, Republican heads gathered together asking the same question: Would releasing a warrant actually be harmful? He was really storing nuke docs.
“Republicans around Trump initially thoughtThe raid could help him politically,” reports the Post, “but they are now bracing for revelations that could be damaging.”
After a brief pause while Trump talked with his lawyers about the matter, Trump got up and started pushing his own chips towards the center of the table. He should release the warrant. He has a copy and could release that right now if necessary. The morning was filled with a surprising, but not shocking, event. new line of defense: Trump called the whole thing a “hoax” while strongly suggesting the FBI had planted damning material during the search. The people who searched his home were “sleazy,” he said. The planted evidence accusation circulated on Fox NewsHowever, it was not with the same gusto that the Garland presser brought to the allegations. Ever heard a forest of peeper-frogs stop talking when a predator is near? It’s like that.
The warrant could be released as soon as 3:00 PM Eastern time today. “It’s unclear at this point how much information would be included in the documents, if made public, or if they would encompass an FBI affidavit that would presumably lay out a detailed factual basis for the search,” reports the Associated Press. “The department specifically requested the unsealing of the warrant as well as a property receipt listing the items that were seized, along with two unspecified attachments.”
It is unlikely that the document release would include the affidavit. Because it could describe in detail highly classified material it makes the affidavit almost as classified as the documents that it describes. The warrant, along a basic listing of documents and the possible criminal offenses involved, are the most likely items that will be revealed. If the worst is true about Trump’s document hoard, those documents may be more than enough … and the tell for that will be if Trump’s lawyers ask the judge to redact the document list before its release.
In 2016, Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court was thwarted by Mitch McConnell. He was appointed Attorney General by President Biden in 2021. He is engaged in a bluffing match with a former President that could change history’s course. There are weeks that turn into decades.
