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In the wake of the FBI's raid on Donald Trump's Palm Beach resort this Tuesday, his base has rallied around him, including some who could be potential presidential contenders in 2024.
Trump said Monday that his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida was being "raided" by FBI agents in what he called an act of "prosecutorial misconduct."
As Politico points out, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin all put out statements calling the raid "unprecedented," a "weaponization" of federal agencies, and politically motivated.
But former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, had a different take. Speaking to SiriusXM’s Julie Mason, Christie said the raid was "fair game" if the “factual underpinnings” that led to the FBI’s search are true.
RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to 'totally gut' FBI over 'communist' raid on Mar-a-Lago
South Carolina GOP Sen. Tim Scott also was willing to wholeheartedly defend Trump, saying Americans need to let the situation “play out” and see what happens.
But according to Shiree Verdone, co-chair of both of Trump’s Arizona campaigns, the raids may have breathed new life into support for Trump in areas where it may have been diminishing.
“I had gotten calls from people last night that were getting kind of tired of Trump, not so much they wanted to move on from him, but more that they were sick of the drama. Well, that’s over,” Verdone said. “Just talking to people now, they are irate, and they are ready to support Trump. Even some people who were not full Trumpers, but are so upset with what happened [FBI search]. It seems this is really going to elevate Trump.”
The FBI declined to comment on whether the search was happening or what it might be for, nor did Trump give any indication of why federal agents were at his home.
But multiple media outlets cited sources close to the investigation as saying that agents were conducting a court-authorized search related to the potential mishandling of classified documents that had been sent to Mar-a-Lago.
The National Archives said in February it had recovered 15 boxes of documents from Trump's Florida estate, which the Washington Post reported included highly classified texts, taken with him when he left Washington following his reelection defeat.
The documents and mementos -- which also included correspondence from ex-US president Barack Obama -- should by law have been turned over at the end of Trump's presidency but instead ended up at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The recovery of the boxes raised questions about Trump's adherence to presidential records laws enacted after the 1970s Watergate scandal that require Oval Office occupants to preserve records related to administration activity.
The Archives had requested then that the Justice Department open a probe into Trump's practices.
With additional reporting by AFP
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Journalist: Is Mark Milley coming clean — or just trying to rehabilitate his image after Trump administration?
August 09, 2022
The actions of Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are under increased scrutiny as his portrayal in best-selling books on the Trump administration appear to contract his record in office, according to a new analysis.
Writing in Slate, Fred Kaplan analyzed an excerpt from forthcoming Susan Glasser and Peter Baker book The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021.
Kaplan wrote, "most of the excerpt is given over to a glorification of Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is portrayed as the main source of resistance to Trump’s assault on American democracy. We’ve seen this before, in Peril, the final volume of Bob Woodward’s Trump trilogy (co-authored by Robert Costa). The account by Glasser and Baker is more credible, in that they quote reliable witnesses—former defense secretary Robert Gates, Rep. Adam Smith, and Sen. Angus King—confirming key aspects of Milley’s tale. (Woodward never identifies sources, but Milley is clearly the source of his stories about Milley; most of his books’ heroes are the characters who cooperate with him most fully.)"
Kaplan claimed the description of Milley did not match his actions.
IN OTHER NEWS: MAGA rage over Mar-a-Lago FBI search stokes GOP’s civil war
"The most remarkable item in the Glasser-Baker portrait is the full reproduction of a long letter of resignation that Milley wrote a week after Trump’s June 1, 2020, photo op outside the church on Lafayette Square, after Black Lives Matter protesters had just been violently removed by national guard and federal officers. It’s a harsh letter," Kaplan wrote. "But here’s the thing: Milley never sent this letter. In fact, Glasser and Baker note that this was merely one of several drafts of a resignation letter—the others were shorter (and, I would guess, less contentious). Had he resigned, would he have sent this one? Given the reluctance of many officers—active-duty or retired—to reproach the commander-in-chief in public, and given the paucity of evidence that Milley ever confronted Trump so directly in private, I doubt it. This was probably his getting-it-out-of-my-system draft—meant to be saved for the personal files, then deleted."
Kaplan wondered how much of what Milley is saying is meant as public relations as he continues to lead the Joint Chiefs in the Biden administration.
"Nonetheless, Milley is now working overtime to dissociate himself from Trump as much as possible and thus rehabilitate his reputation. At least Milley did speak out a bit, to the degree he felt he could, while still on his job," he wrote. "Still, judging from the excerpt, the Glasser-Baker book is probably a good read. Then, of course, Maggie Haberman, the most seasoned Trump chronicler, has her 600-page tome, Confidence Man, coming out in October. And as the Trump scandal machine keeps churning—the Jan 6 revelations, the Mar-A-Lago raid this week, who knows what curveball next week—all of these authors will need to write afterwords, if not wholly revised chapters, for the paperback editions."
Read the full report.
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One of Russia's top military commanders has threatened to blow up the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine after heavy shelling over the weekend sparked fears of a potential radioactive catastrophe.
The facility was captured by Russian forces on March 3rd, nine days after President Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that the situation is getting more perilous every day at the Zaporizhzhya plant. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is Europe’s largest atomic energy station.
Concerns over the stability of the physical integrity of the plant and the recent shelling in the region may be the least of Ukraine’s worries.
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According to a Telegram post by Energoatam, a Ukrainian state nuclear agency, Major General Valery Vasiliev of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops told his battalions that "there will be either Russian land or a scorched desert" surrounding the site.
“We warned them," Energoatam wrote that Vasiliev added. "The enemy knows that the station will be either Russian or nobody's. We are ready for the consequences of this step. And you, the liberating warriors, must understand that we do not have a second way. And if there is the most severe order - we must fulfill it with honor!"
Leaders around the world are speaking out about the emerging nuclear crisis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his concerns over the deteriorating situation on Sunday.
Then, on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks on and around Zaporizhzhia.
A spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov said the shelling of the plant by “Ukrainian armed forces” was “fraught with catastrophic consequences” for Europe. Officials in Ukraine and Russia continue to exchange blame for the bombardment.
Tuesday marked the 77th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki, Japan. It seems that unfortunately, the prospect of nuclear conflict is no longer in our past, but once again in our conceivable future.
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