Canadian Politics Today

Supposedly the contents of another audio recording has been made public...

This involves Trump referring to a document that he had  in 2021 (regarding military plans and Iran) that Trump said "this is secret" and that "he could declassify it when president but could not now".

Which of course means that his whole "its declassified when I take it" was something he knew was a lie. It also means that if/when it goes to trial, he can't claim he "just didn't know" about its classified status and/or the ramifications of having them".

See: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/09/politics/trump-tape-didnt-declassify-secret-information/index.html

Oh, and you know how the MAGAchud like to claim the documents were securely stored in a store room? (It had a pad-lock and everything!) Well apparently there are pictures of various boxes of documents stored in bathrooms at Mar a Lago, and on stage in their ballroom.

From: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-classified-documents-indictment-live-updates-d50264cc69b9a6eefd8e47821359ff5e
Prosecutors noted that “tens of thousands of members and guests” visited the “active social club” of Mar-a-Lago between the end of Trump’s presidency in January 2021 through the August 2022 search. They argued that “nonetheless” Trump stored documents “in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, and office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.”

Its amazing that, as bad as we suspected things were, reality shows them being just that much worse, especially for Trump himself.

We knew he was careless about where he stored them, now we find they were in public areas like the ballroom. We knew he had 'classified' material, but we now know some of it involved nuclear secrets. We knew he was lying about his "declassifying with his mind", but now we learn that he's on tape admitting that yes, the documents were still classified.

Lordy... nuclear secrets? That is especially bad for Stubby McBonespurs.

You see, Trump claimed (incorrectly) that he used his mental powers to declassify documents. (He didn't, but lets assume there is a MAGAchud on the jury who is as gullible as shady and falls for that claim.) But from what I understand, nuclear secrets cannot be declassified by the president, even one with extraordinary mental powers.

If he declassified them, then why can’t we just look at them? 

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Lordy... nuclear secrets? That is especially bad for Stubby McBonespurs.

You see, Trump claimed (incorrectly) that he used his mental powers to declassify documents. (He didn't, but lets assume there is a MAGAchud on the jury who is as gullible as shady and falls for that claim.) But from what I understand, nuclear secrets cannot be declassified by the president, even one with extraordinary mental powers.

If he declassified them, then why can’t we just look at them?

I suspect you meant that as a joke, but believe it or not, there actually is some precedent to it...

Back when he was president, Trump announced (via twitter) that he was declassifying documents related to Russia and Clinton.  But when the media tried to access the documents, Trump's own associates claimed that simply saying that they were declassified was not enough to MAKE them declassified....

From: https://www.axios.com/2020/10/20/mark-meadows-trump-tweets-russia
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows confirmed in court on Tuesday that President Trump's tweets authorizing the disclosure of documents related to the Russia investigation and Hillary Clinton's emails "were not self-executing declassification orders," after a federal judge demanded that Trump be asked about his intentions....BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold cited the tweets in an emergency motion seeking to gain access to special counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted report...

So to Trump and his MAGAchud supporters:
- Trump actually stating "Its declassified" is not enough to declassify something
- Trump just THINKING "Its declassified" means its declassified

Making you wonder how you can say something without thinking it first.

You know things aren't going well when your lawyers quit and then flip on you because attorney-client privilege does not extend to your client asking you to commit a crime. LOL

He's also having troubles finding replacement lawyers.

From: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/13/trump-finds-no-new-lawyers-mar-a-lago-documents-arraignment
Trump is expected to be represented at his first court appearance to face federal criminal charges for retaining national security materials and obstruction of justice by two of his existing lawyers, despite trying to recruit a local Florida lawyer willing to join his legal defense team....Trump has also seemingly been unable to find a specialist national security lawyer, eligible to possess a security clearance, to help him navigate the Espionage Act charges....

Of course, there are a lot of reasons why Trump might be having troubles finding lawyers to represent him:
- As mentioned before, he often implicates his lawyers in his crimes.
- He's a poor client to work for... doesn't listen to advice, treats lawyers poorly
- He has a habit of not paying his bills. (Rudy never got fully paid, and one of his current lawyers, Habba, might have to pay for a huge fine for a bogus lawsuit filed on behalf of Trump)
- Some lawyers probably see the case as a pretty slam-dunk win for the prosecution, and don't want to have the black mark of a losing case on their record

Trump will be pardoned by the next president.  You heard it here first.

Good point.  I agree with this assessment.  Whether a Democrat or Republican president in 2024, Trump is most likely pardoned.  It’s good for the country, and it’s great politics for the president that pardons him. 

There's no way a Democrat pardons him. They believe in law and order and one set of laws for everybody.

You obviously didn't read the indictment.

Agreed.  It won’t be Biden who pardons him.  Scumbag Republicans will win the presidency and they will pardon Trump with retarded excuses like “for the good of the country”, which only a complete idiot would believe.

He has no defence against the charges.  He admits to his crimes every time he opens his fat mouth.  His only hope is that a Republican wins.

"Troubling numbers" of CIA agents were being captured or killed after Trump stole classified information on their existence. Republicans don't think Trump should even be investigated. That is all.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/us/politics/cia-informants-killed-captured.html?unlocked_article_code=eqcF_ISs2K-l8pzUNCLrITV-7p-dKvsYraB85L6u6NEfikf973kIJoyPq5-IS7x1_r2kNFoRkIZiVWNfC9m06J_JTR0n2d4nzzo_7g-rSmrna_z3D_srReNzCF6v34qyvrlUfB156xqGGXtRkLIp7xZaSKur8vzYyn0TlqmoK1ZSb7nCS66HjCZmPyPgGWBR1IExUwnJNDqWkpFInDk4b-_2RRym7ZA83-2J9GJXyCxpo7VfpOSfQjyVpUwPg6RLMlaNL1Knx7Oy-J7c7kuxUg3Pc7wn_SbCBBRrgfnv4J15-YbvIZJ1p4SSMeTAQonclPhorBrwjl_ShTr1MdhyDplqvaTjQSbuTG9z_Q&smid=tw-share

Meanwhile, Trump continues to shoot himself in the foot during a Fox news interview, with yet another excuse why he couldn't return the documents: It was the shoes!

From: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/19/trump-sort-boxes-mar-a-lago-00102611
Donald Trump on Monday said he did not hand over government records to federal officials when asked because he was too busy to sift through the contents of the boxes.... “Before I send boxes over,” Trump told host Bret Baier, “I have to take all of my things out. These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things.”

(In the interview he said there were all sorts of other things in the boxes... golf shirts, shoes, etc. that he wanted to keep.)

This is so stupid on his part, since the prosecution can use the interview as evidence in any trial.

Why its dumb:
- He's admitting to elements of the crime. It makes it harder to claim innocence if you are saying "there might have been classified stuff but I was just too lazy to go through it"
- If he really "didn't have time", then the proper course of action would have been to contact the DoJ/NARA and say "I've started to go through stuff but need more time", not "I don't have anything left"
- Perhaps he might have had time to go through the stuff if he wasn't busy directing his minions to move boxes around

So what excuses have we seen? The FBI Planted evidence that I declassified with my mind and have every right to have but I was too busy to go through the boxes to look for the things that I didn't need to return in the first place.