FL - Former President Donald Trump indicted, 40 counts to classified documents and obstruction of justice, June 2023, Trial May 2024

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves

New Posts

Status
Not open for further replies.
As of Monday, Miami police had not received any formal requests for demonstration permits, according to communications director Kenia Fallat.

Nonetheless, pro-Trump rallies are planned for outside the courthouse Tuesday, including at least one promoted on Twitter by members of the extremist group the Proud Boys.

Unlike New York or Washington D.C., where Trump previously called on crowds to protest on his behalf, Florida has notoriously loose gun laws. Although Suarez called for peaceful demonstrations, neither the mayor nor the police chief addressed what safety measures were in place should protesters come armed.

“If we begin to see that there’s opposing parties we’ll, at that time, make sure that they are separated and there’s plenty of officers on the scene,” Morales said.

 
sds71 said:
www.verifythis.com

Yes, Trump signed a law that made mishandling classified documents a felony

While he was president, Donald Trump did sign a law that made it a felony to mishandle classified documents instead of a misdemeanor, like viral tweets claim.
www.verifythis.com www.verifythis.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/1668401303725170689
Click to expand...

Naturally.

SIGNING laws makes him feel presidential.
OBEYING laws makes him feel ordinary.
REMEMBERING what he’s signed would mean he’d been paying attention.
 
SouthAussie said:
As of Monday, Miami police had not received any formal requests for demonstration permits, according to communications director Kenia Fallat.

Nonetheless, pro-Trump rallies are planned for outside the courthouse Tuesday, including at least one promoted on Twitter by members of the extremist group the Proud Boys.

Unlike New York or Washington D.C., where Trump previously called on crowds to protest on his behalf, Florida has notoriously loose gun laws. Although Suarez called for peaceful demonstrations, neither the mayor nor the police chief addressed what safety measures were in place should protesters come armed.

“If we begin to see that there’s opposing parties we’ll, at that time, make sure that they are separated and there’s plenty of officers on the scene,” Morales said.

Click to expand...
It seems the Miami Mayor also has presidential aspirations.

www.politico.com

'Stay tuned': Miami's mayor teases possible presidential announcement

"I'm going to be making a big speech in the Reagan Library," he said.
www.politico.com www.politico.com
 
Jovi Girl said:
What if Trump is issued a gag order ? Is that possible ?
Click to expand...

Well it’s possible to issue one, I suppose. Whether it’s possible for him to comply is another matter.:D Plus, he’s a candidate for President, so it’s not likely the court could find a legal way to do that. I don’t know if it could just apply to his incendiary speech, but I doubt it. He’s kind of on the verge of yelling “Fire” in a crowded theater, but that’s a tough legal call to make and it would end up in the Supreme Court with a free speech argument. So I guess this is a long way of answering “No.”
 
Okay - this is a long one - I have been keeping notes since April... Hopefully it will all fit on one post! I will definitely shorten this up a bit.... :)

Tuesday, June 13th:
*Summons/Arraignment Hearing (@ 3pm ET) - FL – *Donald John Trump (76) indicted (6/8/23) with 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents, 1 count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, 1 count of withholding a document or record, 1 count of corruptly concealing a document or record, 1 count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, 1 count of scheme to conceal & 1 count of making false statements & representations.
Count 1-31: Willful retention of National Defense info, Count 32: Conspiracy to obstruct justice, Count 33: Withholding a document or record, Count 34: Corruptly concealing a document or record, Count 35: Concealing a document in a Federal investigation, Count 36: Scheme to conceal & Count 37: False statements & representations. Southern District of Florida (Miami) Federal Court 9:23-cr-80101-AMC
Co-Conspirator *Waltine Nauta indicted (6/8/23) on 6 charges stemming from special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents probe, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheming to conceal & making false statements to federal agents.
Count 32: Conspiracy to obstruct justice, Count 33: Withholding a document or record, Count 34: Corruptly concealing a document or record, Count 35: Concealing a document in a Federal investigation, Count 36: Scheme to conceal & Count 38: False statements & representations. Southern District of Florida (Miami) Federal Court 9:23-cr-80101-AMC
Indictment: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648653/gov.uscourts.flsd.648653.3.0.pdf
U.S. District Judge Aileen Mercedes Cannon. In addition to Cannon, Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart's name also appeared on the summons sent to Trump on Thursday, 6/8/23.
Trump’s lawyers: James Trusty, John Rowley, Lindsey Halligan & (maybe) Evan Corcoran (Timothy Parlatore left on 5/15/23). 6/9/23: Trump says John Rowley & Jim Trusty will be leaving his legal team & he'll now be represented by New York lawyer Todd Blanche "and a firm to be named later."
Clues about what precise crime or crimes Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has been investigating can be found in court filings, including the search warrant & an accompanying affidavit submitted by the Justice Dept. There are two basic categories: 1) crimes about the handling of classified documents, and 2) crimes about obstructing investigators from retrieving those materials. Prosecutors cited the Espionage Act, which conjures up an image of someone acting as a spy for a foreign country. But the statute, enacted after World War I, is broader. It criminalizes anyone with "unauthorized possession" of "national defense" material who "willfully" retains it. A string of court decisions has concluded that even if a document isn’t technically "classified," someone can be charged under the law, so long as the information is "closely held" & the information would be useful to U.S. adversaries.
4/2/23 Update: Justice Dept. & FBI investigators have amassed fresh evidence pointing to possible obstruction by former president Trump in the investigation into top-secret documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home. The additional evidence comes as investigators have used emails & text messages from a former Trump aide to help understand key moments last year, said the people, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. The new details highlight the degree to which special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the potential mishandling of hundreds of classified national security papers at Trump’s Florida home & private club has come to focus on the obstruction elements of the case — whether the former president took or directed actions to impede government efforts to collect all the sensitive records. Investigators now suspect, based on witness statements, security camera footage & other documentary evidence, that boxes including classified material were moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area after the subpoena was served & that Trump personally examined at least some of those boxes, these people said. "In the classified documents case, federal investigators have gathered new & significant evidence that after the subpoena was delivered, Trump looked through the contents of some of the boxes of documents in his home, apparently out of a desire to keep certain things in his possession. 4/3/23 Update: Multiple secret service agents connected to [the] former president” have received subpoenas to testify Friday to a Washington DC grand jury regarding the return of classified documents.
4/3/23: After a three-judge panel there sided with DOJ in a dispute over whether the former president’s attorney in the Mar-a-Lago probe, Evan Corcoran, could be ordered to cooperate in that investigation. Judge Howell, in a separate ruling, determined that Corcoran could not refuse to answer questions before a grand jury assembled in that case due to attorney-client privilege. The protection can be pierced if legal advice or communications may have been given in furtherance of a crime. In that ruling Judge Howell suggested Trump may have withheld relevant information from Corcoran, concealing the existence of additional classified records held at his Florida home following a DOJ subpoena.
4/15/23 Update: One of former president Donald Trump’s top lawyers on the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case is no longer working on the matter after he (Evan Corcoran) appeared before a federal grand jury last month, according to people familiar with the move. Prosecutors investigating Trump taking classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago Club after leaving office won a court fight that allowed them to question Corcoran when judges ruled that he could not use attorney-client privilege to avoid disclosing information about his communications with Trump. Prosecutors cited an exception to the legal principle that lawyers must keep confidential what they are told by their clients when there is evidence that a client used the attorney’s legal services in furtherance of a crime. The move comes as the Justice Dept. is increasingly focused on possible obstruction by Trump in the investigation into the documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home & whether Trump took or directed others to impede government efforts to collect all the sensitive records. Trump & his legal team failed to comply with a May subpoena demanding he return all documents with classified markings. Smith’s team has amassed new evidence pointing to potential obstruction by Trump & Smith is seeking to determine if there is enough evidence to ask a grand jury to charge him with obstructing the investigation. Corcoran played a lead role in communicating with the Justice Dep.t in response to the subpoena & attested to investigators in June, 2022 that a diligent search had been conducted to collect secret documents. Corcoran was forced to answer questions about Trump & his legal team’s response to the subpoena & regarding the communications he had with Trump about returning the documents. Corcoran’s recusal may be temporary, as the witness advocate rule doesn’t become mandatory until the case goes to trial, according to a person familiar with the matter.
5/4/23 Update: Longtime Trump Organization executives Matthew Calamari Sr. & his son Matthew Calamari Jr. are expected to appear Thursday, 5/4/23 before the grand jury investigating possible mishandling of classified documents brought to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, sources said. Prosecutors are expected to ask them about the handling of the surveillance footage & Trump employees’ conversations following the subpoena, according to the sources.
5/15/23 Update: Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Trump who played a key role in the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation & once testified before the grand jury, is leaving the former president’s legal team. Parlatore’s departure became official Tuesday, though it had been rumored for several weeks among the former president’s inner circle. The high-profile departure comes as special counsel Jack Smith appears to be in the final stretch of investigations into the possible mishandling of classified documents & efforts to obstruct the 2020 election. Parlatore’s exit is notable given he was the attorney who organized searches for additional classified documents last year at Trump Tower, Trump’s properties in Bedminster, Mar-a-Lago, an office in Palm Beach & a Florida storage unit. He also testified before the grand jury as Trump’s team & the Justice Dept. were embroiled in a dispute in which the Justice Dept. unsuccessfully sought to hold Trump in contempt for failing to hand over all classified documents after receiving a subpoena in May 2022. Parlatore appeared before the grand jury for roughly seven hours in December.
5/22/23 Update: Federal prosecutors have evidence Trump was put on notice that he could not retain any classified documents after he was subpoenaed for their return last year, as they examine whether the subsequent failure to fully comply with the subpoena was a deliberate act of obstruction by the former president. The previously unreported warning conveyed to Trump by his lawyer Evan Corcoran could be significant in the criminal investigation surrounding Trump’s handling of classified materials given it shows he knew about his subpoena obligations. At issue for DOJ in the notes: — Trump’s valet had advance knowledge about subpoena, bc he had keys to storage room — Storage room may have been left unattended during the search when lawyer took breaks — Trump’s facial reactions to subpoena discussions. The notes revealed how Trump & Nauta had unusually detailed knowledge of the botched subpoena response, including where Corcoran intended to search & not search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, as well as when Corcoran was actually doing his search. In particular, prosecutors have fixated on Trump’s valet Walt Nauta, after he told the justice dept. that Trump told him to move boxes out of the storage room before & after the subpoena. The activity was captured on subpoenaed surveillance footage, though there were gaps in the tapes.
5/23/23 Update: Federal prosecutors overseeing the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents have issued a subpoena for information about Trump’s business dealings in foreign countries since he took office. The subpoena — drafted by the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith — sought details on the Trump Organization’s real estate licensing & development dealings in seven countries: China, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates & Oman, according to the people familiar with the matter. The subpoena sought the records for deals reached since 2017, when Trump was sworn in as president. The Trump Organization swore off any foreign deals while he was in the White House & the only such deal Trump is known to have made since then was with a Saudi-based real estate company to license its name to a housing, hotel & golf complex that will be built in Oman. He struck that deal last fall just before announcing his third presidential campaign. Collectively, the subpoena’s demand for records related to the golf venture & other foreign ventures since 2017 suggests that Mr. Smith is exploring whether there is any connection between Trump’s deal-making abroad & the classified documents he took with him when he left office.
5/23/23 Update: Trump's attorneys John Rowley & James Trusty have written to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland requesting a meeting to discuss the ongoing injustice that is being perpetrated by your Special Counsel & his prosecutors.
6/1/23 Update: Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran, undercutting his argument that he declassified everything. The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records. The July 2021 meeting was held at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with two people working on the autobiography of Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows as well as aides employed by the former president, including communications specialist Margo Martin. The attendees, sources said, did not have security clearances that would allow them access to classified information. Meadows didn’t attend the meeting.
6/2/23 Update: Attorneys for Trump turned over material in mid-March in response to a federal subpoena related to a classified US military document described by the former president on tape in 2021 but were unable to find the document itself. Prosecutors issued the subpoena shortly after asking a Trump aide before a federal grand jury about the audio recording of a July 2021 meeting at Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. On the recording, Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran. Trump boards his airplane, known as Trump Force One, in route to Iowa at Palm Beach International Airport on Monday, March 13, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump captured on tape talking about classified document he kept after leaving the White House. Prosecutors sought “any and all” documents materials related to Mark Milley, Trump’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Iran, including maps or invasion plans. A similar subpoena was sent to at least one other attendee of the meeting. prosecutors made clear to Trump’s attorneys after issuing the subpoena that they specifically wanted the Iran document he talked about on tape as well as any material referencing classified information – like meeting notes, audio recordings or copies of the document – that may still be Trump’s possession. The subpoenas were issued immediately after Trump aide Margo Martin, who attended the meeting, appeared before the grand jury in Smith’s investigation & was asked about it. That’s also when Trump’s legal team found out prosecutors had the recording.
6/4/23 Update: Turning on his iPhone one day last year, lawyer M. Evan Corcoran recorded his reflections about a high-profile new job: representing former President Donald Trump in an investigation into his handling of classified documents. In complete sentences & a narrative tone that sounded as if it had been ripped from a novel, Corcoran recounted in detail a nearly month long period of the documents investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter. The decision by the judge, Beryl Howell, pierced the privilege that would have normally protected Corcoran’s musings about his interactions with Trump. Those protections were set aside under what is known as the crime-fraud exception, a provision that allows prosecutors to work around attorney-client privilege if they have reason to believe that legal advice or legal services were used in furthering a crime. Judge Howell, in a sealed memorandum that accompanied her decision, made clear that prosecutors believe Trump knowingly misled Corcoran about the location of documents that would be responsive to the subpoena, according to a person familiar with the memo’s contents. The level of detail in the recording is said to have angered & unnerved close aides to Trump who are worried that they contain direct quotes from sensitive conversations.
6/4/23 Update: The federal grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the Justice Dept.’s investigation of former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents is expected to meet again this coming week in Washington. Prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith have been presenting the grand jury with evidence & witness testimony for months, but activity appeared to have slowed in recent weeks based on observations at the courthouse & sources. It’s unclear whether prosecutors are prepared to seek an indictment at this point. The Justice Dept. would not comment on the status of the investigation.
6/6/23 Update: FLORIDA: A federal grand jury will meet this week in Florida to hear evidence in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation of rump’s handling of classified documents. It is not clear how the court proceedings in Florida relate to the work of a separate grand jury in Washington, where prosecutors had been presenting evidence & witness testimony for months. Why prosecutors are using multiple grand juries & whether they are ready to seek an indictment in either jurisdiction is unknown. The Justice Dept. declined to comment on the investigation.
6/7/23 Update: FLORIDA: Trump aide Taylor Budowich is scheduled to testify before the Florida grand jury on Wednesday, 6/7/23 & questioning is expected to be led by Jay Bratt, the Justice Dept.’s Counterintelligence Chief detailed to the special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation. The previously unreported involvement of Bratt could suggest the questioning could focus on potential Espionage Act violations, particularly whether Trump showed off national security documents to people at his Mar-a-Lago resort – a recent focus of the investigation. But the underlying reasons as to why prosecutors in the special counsel’s office impaneled the new grand jury in Florida & whether it is now the only grand jury active in the case after the Washington grand jury has sat dormant for weeks, remains an open question. For more info on this see post #142 page 8.
6/8/23 Update: D.C.: The Dept. of Justice is preparing to ask a Washington, DC grand jury to indict Trump for violating the Espionage Act & for obstruction of justice as soon as Thursday, adding further weight to the legal baggage facing Trump as he campaigns for his party’s nomination in next year’s presidential election. The prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defense”. The use of Section 793, which does not make reference to classified information, is understood to be a strategic decision by prosecutors that has been made to short-circuit Trump’s ability to claim that he used his authority as president to declassify documents he removed from the White House & kept at his Palm Beach, Florida property long after his term expired on 20 January 2021. Trump had been notified by letter that he was the subject of a criminal investigation.
6/9/23 Update: FLORIDA: Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate. His lawyers have been informed that he needs to report to federal court in Miami on Tuesday, 6/13/23 @ 3pm. 38 counts — related to his handling of classified documents & obstruction of justice. Trump attorney James Trusty said the indictment includes charges of willful retention of national defense information - a crime under the Espionage Act, which polices the handling of government secrets - obstruction, false statements & conspiracy. Prosecutors have said that Trump took roughly 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, including some 100 that were seized by the FBI last August in a search of the home that underscored the gravity of the Justice Dept.'s investigation. Trump has repeatedly insisted that he was entitled to keep the classified documents when he left the White House & has also claimed without evidence that he had declassified them. Though the bulk of the investigative work had been handled in Washington, with a grand jury meeting there for months, it recently emerged that prosecutors were presenting evidence before a separate panel in Florida, where many of the alleged acts of obstruction scrutinized by prosecutors took place.
In the Mar A Lago affidavit. In the first 15 boxes that were taken from Mar A Lago, 14 boxes contained classified documents. "184 unique documents bearing classification markings, including 67 documents marked as Confidential, 92 documents marked as Secret & 25 documents marked Top Secret".
6/9/23 Update: FLORIDA: Walt Nauta, an aide to Trump, has been indicted in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House. The specific charges against Nauta have not been revealed. Nauta’s involvement in the movement of boxes of classified material at Trump’s Florida resort had been a subject of scrutiny of investigators. Nauta, with the help of a maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago, moved the boxes before the FBI executed a search warrant on the Palm Beach property last August. Investigators obtained surveillance footage showing Nauta & the worker moving boxes of the classified documents around the resort. Nauta had spoken to investigators repeatedly in the probe, at first telling them he hadn’t handled boxes or sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago. Once the surveillance footage was turned over, however, Nauta changed his story & after changing attorneys, the aide stopped talking to investigators all together last fall. Arraignment hearing on 6/13/23.
6/12/23 Update: Press Coalition Motion regarding the arraignment of former president Donald Trump. Motion just filed: Press Coalition asks the Court both to permit limited, prehearing photographs & video recordings & to deploy its integrated audio equipment to record & release same-day official audio recordings of the proceedings in this case, beginning with the arraignment currently scheduled for June 13, 2023.
6/12/23 Update: Chief U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga for the Southern District of Florida issued order prohibiting "journalists" from being phones or any electronic device into courthouse for Trump arraignment.
 
Puzzles8 said:
This really scares me

"Some people are surprised to learn that there's no constitutional bar on a felon running for president, but there's no such bar," said Kate Shaw, ABC News legal analyst and professor at Cardozo School of Law. "Because of the 22nd Amendment, the individual can't have been twice elected president previously," Shaw said.

abcnews.go.com

Can Trump still be elected president after being convicted in hush money case?

Former President Donald Trump can still be elected president despite being found guilty, experts tell ABC News.
abcnews.go.com abcnews.go.com
Click to expand...
Hasn't he said he has been elected twice? Has he gone back on that?
 
Trump has also seemingly been unable to find a specialist national security lawyer, eligible to possess a security clearance, to help him navigate the Espionage Act charges…

Among the Florida lawyers who turned down Trump was Howard Srebnick, who had discussed defending the former president at trial as early as last week in part due to the high fees involved, but ultimately turned down the representation after conferring with his law partners, the person said.

The other prominent lawyer who declined to work with Trump was David Markus, who recently defended the Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum against charges that he lied to the FBI and funnelled campaign contributions into his personal accounts, the person said.

Trump and his team have interviewed the corruption attorney Benedict Kuehne, who was indicted in 2008 for money laundering before the charges were dropped, the person said. But he has his own baggage as he faces disbarment for contempt of court in a recent civil suit he lost.



www.theguardian.com

Trump finds no new lawyers for court appearance in Mar-a-Lago case

Exclusive: Trump is expected to be represented by existing lawyers Todd Blanche and Chris Kise
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
TootsieFootsie said:
www.ctpost.com

'If you want to die in jail, keep talking' – two national security law experts discuss the special treatment for Trump and offer him some advice

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary...
www.ctpost.com www.ctpost.com


'If you want to die in jail, keep talking' – two national security law experts discuss the special treatment for Trump and offer him some advice​

Click to expand...

"Under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the consequences for Trump under this indictment are serious. My quick calculations indicate that you’re talking about 51 to 63 months in the best case and in the worst case, which I’m not sure would apply, 210 to 262 months."

:)
 
www.theguardian.com

Trump finds no new lawyers for court appearance in Mar-a-Lago case

Exclusive: Trump is expected to be represented by existing lawyers Todd Blanche and Chris Kise
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

The lawyers making an appearance with Trump on Tuesday will be the top former federal prosecutor Todd Blanche and the former Florida solicitor general Chris Kise, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump’s co-defendant, his valet Walt Nauta, will be represented by Stanley Woodward.

After interviewing a slate of potential lawyers at his Trump Doral resort, the former president settled on having Kise appearing as the local counsel admitted to the southern district of Florida as a one-off, with Blanche being sponsored by him to appear pro hac vice, one of the people said.

Blanche and Kise had dinner with Trump and other advisers on Monday at the BLT Prime restaurant at the Doral.

The other concern for the top lawyers in Florida being contacted by Trump’s advisers has been the perceived reputational damage that could come from defending the former president, the people said, not just because of his politics but also because of the strength of the indictment.

By using Trump’s own taped admissions about retaining national defense information and the witness accounts of his employees, the indictment gave compelling evidence of Trump’s efforts to hoard the country’s most sensitive secrets and obstruct the government’s attempts to get them back.

The other interviews are understood to have been with William Barzee, Howard Srebnick, Benedict Kuehne, David Markus, as well as Bruce Zimet, the former chief assistant US attorney in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 182 more.
Total: 1,665 (members: 183, guests: 1,482)

Online statistics

Members online
183
Guests online
1,483
Total visitors
1,666
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
599,750
Messages
18,099,143
Members
230,920
Latest member
LuLuWooWoo
Back
Top