One thing occurred to me and I might write about it is how despite many attempts to find “smoking guns” the authorities usually strike out with Trump. What if there are moles? What if it’s all true, the treason, the cult, but it’s worse than we know? What measures would then be needed to stop what could happen in 2024? Is that just dark fantasy or is it worthy of serious thought?
I saw some reporting that there was a tip-off from within Mar-a-Lago. I can't recall where I read that, so take it with a box of salt, but I wonder if the FBI itself knew completely what they were looking to find, especially should this extend beyond Presidential Records and into Nuclear Stuff.
Saw some discussion this morning that if this pans out, the leaker may be Jared as he'd be in a position to know[1] and has a few more decades to live for than his father-in-law:
"The proposal, which involved enlisting the U.S. nuclear power industry to build nuclear plants across the Middle East, was backed by a group of retired generals who formed a firm called IP3. Flynn described himself in financial disclosure filings as an "advisor" to a subsidiary of IP3, IronBridge Group Inc., from June 2016 to December 2016 — at the same time he was serving as Trump's national security adviser during the presidential campaign and the presidential transition, the report says."
...
"In mid-March 2017, deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland reportedly stated during a meeting that Trump told Barrack that he could lead the implementation of the plan, the report says."
"Harvey subsequently held a conference call with Barrack and Rick Gates, Trump's former deputy campaign manager and deputy chairman of the Inaugural Committee, who has pleaded guilty to crimes and is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller."
"At the time, Gates had been hired by Barrack to manage the Washington office of Barrack's company. A career NSC staffer who joined the call later told colleagues that Harvey was trying to promote the IP3 plan 'so that Jared Kushner can present it to the president for approval,' the report says."
"Flynn's replacement, H.R. McMaster, ultimately ordered the council to cease all work on the matter, the report says. He fired Harvey, who is now a minority staffer for the House Intelligence Committee."
100% speculation at the moment, but the pieces look like they might be part of the same puzzle.
It's worth noticing that the WaPo is moderating their reporting somewhat (as of me checking this morning):
"The people who described some of the material that agents were seeking spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. They did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search. A Trump spokesman did notrespond to a request for comment. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment."
I would imagine that due to the double sensitivity of the documents (classified plus evidence) nobody is going to go into any detail on what the FBI took.
Aug 12, 2022·edited Aug 12, 2022Liked by Chris J. Karr
I imagine depending on the actions involved, it's possible. I doubt it'd come to that, even if there's literally emails/texts/voice recordings of Trump trying to actively sell or give this information to others.
Also: there's all sorts of ways to violate the Espionage Act without intending to do so, so there's that to consider.
One thing occurred to me and I might write about it is how despite many attempts to find “smoking guns” the authorities usually strike out with Trump. What if there are moles? What if it’s all true, the treason, the cult, but it’s worse than we know? What measures would then be needed to stop what could happen in 2024? Is that just dark fantasy or is it worthy of serious thought?
I saw some reporting that there was a tip-off from within Mar-a-Lago. I can't recall where I read that, so take it with a box of salt, but I wonder if the FBI itself knew completely what they were looking to find, especially should this extend beyond Presidential Records and into Nuclear Stuff.
Saw some discussion this morning that if this pans out, the leaker may be Jared as he'd be in a position to know[1] and has a few more decades to live for than his father-in-law:
"The proposal, which involved enlisting the U.S. nuclear power industry to build nuclear plants across the Middle East, was backed by a group of retired generals who formed a firm called IP3. Flynn described himself in financial disclosure filings as an "advisor" to a subsidiary of IP3, IronBridge Group Inc., from June 2016 to December 2016 — at the same time he was serving as Trump's national security adviser during the presidential campaign and the presidential transition, the report says."
...
"In mid-March 2017, deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland reportedly stated during a meeting that Trump told Barrack that he could lead the implementation of the plan, the report says."
"Harvey subsequently held a conference call with Barrack and Rick Gates, Trump's former deputy campaign manager and deputy chairman of the Inaugural Committee, who has pleaded guilty to crimes and is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller."
"At the time, Gates had been hired by Barrack to manage the Washington office of Barrack's company. A career NSC staffer who joined the call later told colleagues that Harvey was trying to promote the IP3 plan 'so that Jared Kushner can present it to the president for approval,' the report says."
"Flynn's replacement, H.R. McMaster, ultimately ordered the council to cease all work on the matter, the report says. He fired Harvey, who is now a minority staffer for the House Intelligence Committee."
100% speculation at the moment, but the pieces look like they might be part of the same puzzle.
[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/flynn-backed-plan-transfer-nuclear-tech-saudis-may-have-broken-n973021 (2019)
A lot of ifs. Susan's speculations are even more iffy. If it's true, hang him. If not, hang the worst of the speculators for sowing discord.
Well, now that the warrant has been released and we know what they found and what charges he's potentially facing...
Same old story. We got him time. We shall see.
Hence my "box of salt" comment. :-)
It's worth noticing that the WaPo is moderating their reporting somewhat (as of me checking this morning):
"The people who described some of the material that agents were seeking spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. They did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search. A Trump spokesman did notrespond to a request for comment. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment."
I would imagine that due to the double sensitivity of the documents (classified plus evidence) nobody is going to go into any detail on what the FBI took.
Hoo boy...
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/12/search-warrant-shows-trump-under-investigation-for-potential-obstruction-of-justice-espionage-act-violations-00051507
https://twitter.com/BradMossEsq/status/1558161937418051584
Are they still doing the death penalty for espionage?
I imagine depending on the actions involved, it's possible. I doubt it'd come to that, even if there's literally emails/texts/voice recordings of Trump trying to actively sell or give this information to others.
Also: there's all sorts of ways to violate the Espionage Act without intending to do so, so there's that to consider.