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Here's why Democrats are holding their fire as Trump's world falls apart after the Mar-a-Lago search
August 14, 2022
During a panel discussion on CNN's "Inside Politics" on Sunday morning, it was noted that Democratic lawmakers are remaining, for the most part, very subdued in their attacks on Donald Trump in light of his burgeoning legal problems after the Department of Justice sent FBI agents armed with a warrant to his Mar-a-Lago resort.
With the walls closing in on the former president as he faces DOJ scrutiny, a House select committee investigation, multiple civil cases in New York City, and a special grand jury in Georgia looking into election tampering, CNN host Phil Mattingly asked the Washington Post's Leigh Ann Caldwell why Democrats aren't piling on.
"You are very well-sourced on the Democratic Party on Capitol Hill," the host prompted. "I have been kind of interested to watch how Democrats have responded to date on this. It's been a little more cautious and I think they think it's damaging and not a good thing in any way, shape or form."
"But you haven't seen the kind of jump-all-in, he's going to jail, when are they going to be marching him out of Bedminster or wherever he is at this time? Why?" he asked.
RELATED: The DOJ now has 'the strongest case against Trump yet': legal expert
"Well, they have held back because, first of all, they were also taken by surprise with this," Caldwell replied. "No one knows all the facts yet. We have a lot more information now than we did last Monday when this [the Mar-a-Lagon search] happened. But throughout this process, Democrats also know [Attorney General] Merrick Garland very well. They know how thorough he is and they have trust in him and the Department of Justice."
"So they are just going to see what happens because they also think the Republicans are overreaching by far here," she elaborated. "They jumped to conclusions so quickly after this search was announced on Monday night and they think Republicans are kind of sowing their own seeds and could regret a lot of their statements depending on what moves forward."
"And, as far as Donald Trump is concerned, Democrats still think Donald Trump is the best Republican nominee for Democrats to run against. They think he is politically weak, not only with Democrats but with moderate and independent voters as well," she added.
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In a column for Politico, former prosecutor Renato Mariotti maintained that Department of Justice now has a very prosecutable case against Donald Trump after FBI agents were forced to get a warrant to recover boxes of stolen highly-sensitive government documents from Mar-a-Lago last week after weeks of negotiations with the former president's lawyers.
According to Mariotti, Trump has only himself to blame for helping the Department of Justice put together a case that will stick.
With the New York Times reporting that surveillance video at the luxury Florida resort owned by Trump showed the disputed boxes of government reports were moved in and out of a room that was supposed to be secured, thereby alarming DOJ officials, the former prosecutor claimed that would be a contributing factor if investigators seek an indictment.
Writing for Politico, he asserted, "while it is possible the DOJ merely wanted to retrieve and secure the material that Trump refused to give back to the government, if they decide to press forward with charges, their case looks quite strong."
RELATED: Trump launched a late-night attack on the FBI after latest damaging Mar-a-Lago revelations
"One strategy I used as a federal prosecutor was to have agents serve targets of investigations with a notice indicating that what they were doing was breaking the law. If the target continued to violate the law after receiving the notice, we had the proof we needed," he explained. "DOJ’s repeated requests and demands to Trump and his team served the same purpose. It will be difficult for Trump to claim that he did not realize that the records he kept were national security secrets that rightfully belonged to the government, given that the government repeatedly told him so and demanded their return."
The attorney added, "Although Trump may believe that highly classified defense secrets are his own personal property, or that he could keep Top Secret documents because he informally 'declassified' them without following established procedures, it will be difficult to convince jurors that he had a legitimate reason to keep such sensitive national security information at his Florida resort."
Mariotti also pointed out that Trump has been treated with "kid gloves" by the DOJ until now, but that seems to have come to an end.
He also added that Trump's "best defense" in this case would likely blow up in his face.
"Trump’s best defense would likely be that he didn’t really know that classified material remained at Mar-a-Lago, because he relied on his aides and lawyers, who told him that they gave all the classified material back to the government. The problem for Trump is that doing so would likely waive attorney-client privilege between himself and the lawyers he is pointing the finger at, and it’s unclear whether any of them would be willing to take the fall for him," he wrote
"I would not be surprised if DOJ refuses to pursue charges, regardless of their strength, in the absence of a 'plus factor' like obstruction. But that factor might be present here, given recent reports that one of Trump’s lawyers signed a written statement falsely asserting that “all material marked as classified” had been returned to the government. That falsehood might be why an obstruction statute was included in the search warrant executed at Trump’s residence," he predicted. "That false representation creates potential liability for the lawyer, because lying to the federal government is a crime if it is done knowingly and willfully. DOJ could investigate that lawyer, who could claim that she relied on Trump’s false statements or — if she lied on her own — potentially flip on him."
"If DOJ can establish that Trump was personally behind efforts to obstruct their investigation, they very well might charge him," he concluded.
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Trump launched a late-night attack on the FBI after latest damaging Mar-a-Lago revelations
August 14, 2022
Hours after the New York Times released a report that Department of Justice rushed the search at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort after seeing a surveillance video showing the boxes of stolen government documents were being moved, the former president lashed out at the FBI in a post-midnight attack
The Times report stated, "The Justice Department also subpoenaed surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago recorded over a 60-day period, including views from outside the storage room. According to a person briefed on the matter, the footage showed that, after one instance in which Justice Department officials were in contact with Mr. Trump’s team, boxes were moved in and out of the room."
Taking to his Truth Social account, Trump aimed multiple accusations at the FBI including "was there a 'plant?'"
He first stated, "The FBI gas (sic) a long and unrelenting history of being corrupt. Just look back to the days of J. Edgar Hoover. In the modern era, nothing has changed except that it has gotten far worse. Look at Comey, McCabe, Strzok and lover Lisa Page. Check out the brilliantly written but damning I.G. Reports. See what they were willing to do in order to get Crooked Hillary Clinton elected (they failed), and got caught!," before adding, "They spied on my campaign, pushed the FAKE Dossier, and illegally used the FISA Court."
RELATED: Feds obtained surveillance footage showing boxes being moved after discussions with DOJ: report
"The Inspector General said the FBI acted with 'gross incompetence and negligence.' I was fully vindicated in the Russia, Russia, Russia SCAM, the 'No Collusion' Mueller Investigation, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and all else," he continued. "NOW THEY RAID MY HOME, ban my lawyers and, without any witnesses allowed, break the lock that they asked us to install on the storage area that we showed them early on, which held papers that they could have had months ago for the asking, and without the ridiculous political grandstanding of a “break in” to a very storied, important, and high visibility place, just before the Midterm Elections."
He concluded, "The whole World was watching as the FBI rummaged through the house, including the former First Lady’s closets (and clothing!), alone and unchecked. They even demanded that the security cameras be turned off (we refused), but there was no way of knowing if what they took was legitimate, or was there a “plant?” This was, after all, the FBI!"
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