About The Redacted MAL Raid Affidavit

I’ve pasted in some Twitter comments by two of my go-to legal guys, SWC and Jonathan Turley. I think SWC’s bottom line is exactly what was to be expected: From a legal standpoint the unredacted portions of the affidavit provide little meaningful information. Beyond that, however SWC makes a number of important points regarding classification and declassification, including that 1) classification markings are not dispositive as to whether the docs are still classified, and 2) there is evidence that Trump regarded the docs as declassified—and that’s all that really matters.

For his part, Turley points out that the affidavit confirms that the Trump’s team was in communication with government officials about the docs and wasn’t wholly uncooperative. That means there were—at a minumum—discussions of differences going on. That drastically undercuts any rationale for a search warrant. The affidavit further confirms that Trump told the FBI that the docs had been declassified. That, too, should have ended any consideration of a search warrant.

This was not about presidents and the documents from their administrations. It was solely about Donald J. Trump. Which suggests almost conclusively that the real purpose was to grab embarrassing or incriminating docs that the Zhou Regime doesn’t want made public.

Jonathan Turley

Having read the redacted affidavit, it leaves most questions unanswered. It also raises further doubt over the Court's acceptance that the DOJ found the Goldilocks point of getting this "just right." The DOJ released what was largely already leaked or known.

...When the court called for the release of the affidavit, he indicated that he could push back on the DOJ redactions but did not do so...

...Yet, the affidavit confirms a couple points that appeared in leaks. The affidavit does not establish that the Trump people were wholly uncooperative or non-communicative while noting that they were asked to turn over material and did not do so.

...It is confirmed that the FBI told the Court that Trump was claiming to have declassified the documents. However, there is little else on those communications, particularly after June 9th.

Shipwreckedcrew.substack.com @shipwreckedcrew

The fact that the DOJ let it be released -- even in redacted form -- without taking the issue to a Dist.Ct. judge or the 11th Circuit, shows you they 1) don't really care to protect the investigation, and 2) likely have no intention of pursuing this as a criminal matter.

CryptoLawyer🐊🇺🇸 @CryptoLawyerz

What a joke! According to the first couple pages they literally raided a former President's house for boxes of documents. Nothing else! This was Seal Team 6 operation to recover documents. GTHOH! https://t.co/lKfUxwAqTa

Shipwreckedcrew.substack.com @shipwreckedcrew

Critical omission here is the "personal" v. "Presidential" records distinction, and the fact that POTUS decides that while in office. The records were shipped to MAL on Jan 18 - I think that's what the Aff. says -- meaning Trump, by his conduct, determined they were "Personal".

Margot Cleveland @ProfMJCleveland

Addendum 1/ Note the OR using presidential records to justify search. https://t.co/F6UifSFiXQ

Shipwreckedcrew.substack.com @shipwreckedcrew

"bearing classification markings" does not mean they were still classified.

Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley

In the May search, the FBI found 184 unique documents bearing classification markings, including 67 documents marked as CONFIDENTIAL, 92 documents marked as SECRET, and 25 documents marked as TOP SECRET. However, there is no reference to what was contained in those documents...

Shipwreckedcrew.substack.com @shipwreckedcrew

The unredacted portions of the affidavit provide very little meaningful information -- which is what I predicted on Spaces and other formats. To make anything in the unredacted portion inculpatory, you have to engage in a lot of speculation about other facts which are not known.

Shipwreckedcrew.substack.com @shipwreckedcrew

Strong evidence he personally reviewed them, which supports the claim made by some on his side that he made a decision to declassify them.

David Laufman @DavidLaufmanLaw

Especially disturbing to see in affidavit that HUMINT and FISA collection was believed to be on unauthorized MAL premises. Meanwhile, intriguing detail that Trump’s handwritten notes were on several classified documents. https://t.co/z5Vf3uUmgc