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About The Redacted MAL Raid Affidavit

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About The Redacted MAL Raid Affidavit

Mark Wauck
Aug 26, 2022
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About The Redacted MAL Raid Affidavit

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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.

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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

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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.

Twitter avatar for @shipwreckedcrew
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.
Twitter avatar for @CryptoLawyerz
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
4:57 PM ∙ Aug 26, 2022
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Twitter avatar for @shipwreckedcrew
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".
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Margot Cleveland @ProfMJCleveland
Addendum 1/ Note the OR using presidential records to justify search. https://t.co/F6UifSFiXQ
5:09 PM ∙ Aug 26, 2022
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Twitter avatar for @shipwreckedcrew
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"bearing classification markings" does not mean they were still classified.
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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...
5:10 PM ∙ Aug 26, 2022
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Twitter avatar for @shipwreckedcrew
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.
5:16 PM ∙ Aug 26, 2022
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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.
Twitter avatar for @DavidLaufmanLaw
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
5:17 PM ∙ Aug 26, 2022
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About The Redacted MAL Raid Affidavit

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About The Redacted MAL Raid Affidavit

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Ray-SoCa
Aug 27, 2022

From Andrew McCarthy’s latest column:

https://nypost.com/2022/08/26/reading-through-the-redacted-lines-of-the-mar-a-lago-raid-affidavit/

“If the former president continues to assail the integrity of law-enforcement officials, however, they might well decide that only a public trial can show who was breaking the law and who was protecting national security.”

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3 replies by Mark Wauck and others
Ray-SoCa
Aug 27, 2022

Rope a dope?

Trump calling Biden a criminal:

https://twitter.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1563226117711884293?

Biden calling Trump and Maga semi Fascist:

https://lidblog.com/maga-supporters/

I guess ultra Maga failed.

Of course Biden compared Trump to Hitler before the election:

https://lidblog.com/biden-harris-uses-hitler-footage/

Perhaps this is Biden’s attempt to change the subject from the Trump FBI Raid?

Or change the subject from Zuckerberg’s admission on the Fbi on the Hunter Biden laptop?

Or just a 2 minutes of hate distraction, or rally the base?

Lots of projection by the Dems going on with an amazing amount of hypocrisy. Seems to be standard fir the Dems to accuse their opponent as a distraction, of what themselves are guilty of.

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