4 months after the #FBI raided #MarALago, Trump’s attys discovered 4 docs marked #classified in his personal bedroom.
That revelation was among several cited by US District Judge Beryl Howell in a newly unsealed 2023 opinion that found prosecutors had presented compelling #evidence that #Trump#knowingly stashed #NationalSecurity docs in his home & then tried to conceal them when the #DOJ tried to retrieve them.
Throughout the opinion, Howell — who was chief judge of the Washington, DC federal district court at the time — described w/varying degrees of incredulity how 4 documents w/ classification markings could have been discovered in #Trump’s private quarters months after prosecutors had subpoenaed them & the #FBI conducted its own exhaustive search of the property.
“Notably, no excuse is provided as to how the former president could miss the classified-marked documents found in his own bedroom at Mar-a-Lago,” Howell wrote.
In a footnote, #Howell also noted that another #Trump adviser connected to his SaveAmerica #PAC had acknowledged scanning the contents of the box that contained the #classified materials in 2021 & storing them on a personal laptop provided by the PAC.
Howell’s opinion was unsealed along w/a large batch of other previously secret grand jury-related docs stemming from the investigation into #Trump for withholding reams of #ClassifiedDocuments after leaving office in 2021, incl’g some of the nation’s most sensitive #MilitarySecrets. US Dist Judge #AileenCannon, a Trump appointee based in #Florida, released the batch of docs Tues after lengthy negotiations w/ #JackSmith’s team & Trump’s lawyers over redactions.
Related: Chief Judge Boasberg denied#Trump “body man” #WaltNauta’s request to transfer some #GrandJury materials from DC to #Florida, says #Nauta failed to make specific case.
"[The New York Case] may be the least serious of the four criminal cases against [Trump], and I’m worried that Trump’s successful stalling of the other three cases will cause the news media to sideline coverage of those charges – involving the plot to overturn the 2020 election and the theft of secret documents."
"If news outlets don’t keep those cases front-and-center in the run-up to the 2024 election, they’ll be playing into the hands of the MAGA Republicans who are desperately delaying justice. …
The right-wing propagandists who say Trump is the victim of 'lawfare' and a 'witch hunt' won’t stop trying to undermine the credibility of our courts, so honest journalists can’t stop bringing the facts either."
3 fmr #UnitedStates foreign policy ofcls in Trump's admin met w/ Benjamin Netanyahu & other public figures in #Israel on Mon….
The delegation was comprised of Robert O'Brien, who served as Trump's 4th & final #NationalSecurity adviser, as well as fmr Ambassador to the #UAE John Rakolta & fmr Ambassador to #Switzerland Ed McMullen….
How should numeric probabilities be translated into words? Maybe they shouldn't be.
"Words of estimative probability" wreak havoc in high-stakes communication like #intelligenceCommunity assessments and briefings, in part because intelligence and defense institutions map numbers to different words (!) — see Amelia Kahn's forthcoming work at ameliakahn.wordpress.com.
President #Biden on Monday evening signed a bipartisan bill prohibiting Russian imports of enriched #uranium a move intended to cut off one of the last significant flows of #money from the #UnitedStates to #Russia amid the #war in #Ukraine.
The bill also frees up $2.7B…in previous #legislation to build out the domestic #uranium processing industry.
“This new #law reestablishes America’s leadership in the nuclear sector,” #NationalSecurity adv Jake Sullivan said in a stmnt Mon. “It will help secure our #energy sector for generations to come.” The bill passed the #House in Dec, but stalled for months in the #Senate, where Sen #TedCruz had blocked the measure over unrelated disputes.
AM I THE ONLY ONE who thinks #AG Merrick #Garland needs to intervene in the #ClassifiedDocs case that has now been indefinitely postponed on the grounds that THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW BEFORE THE ELECTION if the #Republican candidate for president is a #NationalSecurity risk. #MerrickGarland
The prosecution asks that the defense be precluded from asking #StormyDaniels whether she was arrested. Justice #Merchan agrees w/the prosecutors, saying that “anybody can be arrested” & that it “doesn’t prove anything.”
The people call Stormy Daniels back to the stand
#Trump atty #Necheles begins questioning by saying that in 2011, Daniels denied having had sex w/Trump.
#Westerhout abruptly left the #WhiteHouse in the summer of 2019 after #Trump learned that she had shared details about his family. She now works for Trump's former #NationalSecurity adviser Robert O'Brien, who runs a geopolitical consultancy.
Ridiculous that #AileenCannon says that there are "novel & difficult" #CIPA issues when her delays have meant the CIPA issues have barely been considered by the court. The only section of CIPA she has considered was §4, which is straightforward.
Al Jazeera rejected accusations that it harmed Israel's #security as a "dangerous & ridiculous lie" that puts its #journalists at risk & said it reserved the right to "pursue every #legal step"
The network is funded by the #Qatar govt & has been critical of Israel's #military op in Gaza.…
TikTok CEO #ShouZiChew has said the company will take the fight against the new law to the courts, but some experts believe that for the #US#SupremeCourt, national security considerations could outweigh #FreeSpeech protection.
The cabinet vote came after #Israel’s parliament passed a law allowing the temporary closure in Israel of #ForeignBroadcasters considered to be a threat to #NationalSecurity during the war in #Gaza.
With foreign journalists banned from entering Gaza, #AlJazeera staff based in the #GazaStrip have been among the few reporters able to cover the war on the ground.
Attorneys for Ryan Corbett, an American imprisoned in Afghanistan by the Taliban without charge since 2022, have filed new petitions to the U.N. urging action to secure his release. Two non-Americans who were jailed with Corbett but have since been released testified to his deteriorating condition, saying he could soon be dead. Corbett’s wife, Anna, says her requests for meetings with President Biden and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan have not been answered. CBS News has more.
On the important issue of #Border Security, Republicans are perpetuating a fraud on Americans. Republicans block all debate and ammendment to our border security bill.
Republicans rejected the bipartisan measure negotiated by their own members because they take orders from and are controlled by Donald. Republicans killed the bill because Donald ordered it. This is weakness to take orders from someone who was voted out of office, the adjudicated fraud, adjudicated rapist in a complete ethical collapse and dereliction of their duty. They are endangering the Security of all Americans.
#House Speaker #MikeJohnson is plowing ahead on a #ForeignAid plan that has roiled his conference & prompted 2 #Republicans to push an effort to oust him….
But instead of the complex 4-part plan he floated this week, Johnson now intends to try to pass 5 bills — 1 each for #aid to #Ukraine, #Israel, & #IndoPacific allies, …a #GOP wish list of #ForeignPolicy priorities & a 5th…to address widespread Republican… [#border ] demands….
#GOP leadership announced that the #House would stay in session until Sat to consider the bills.
[good friggin luck]
The new approach is risky & is already blowing up on the speaker, who…is being threatened by …#MarjorieTaylorGreene to invoke a “motion to vacate” to topple #MikeJohnson if he puts #Ukraine#aid on the floor, something to which many #FarRight#Republicans aka consumers of [#Russian#disinformation; #Putin & #Trump lackeys] object.