Some Republicans Make a More Restrained Case for Defending Trump - The New York Times
By: Luke Broadwater (nytimes)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
When some G.O.P. members of Congress attacked the nation's top law enforcement agencies immediately after the F.B.I.'s search of Mar-a-Lago, it underscored deep fissures within the party.
Republicans have struggled to coalesce around a unified strategy to respond to the F.B.I.'s search of Donald J. Trump's home in Palm Beach, Fla.Credit...Saul Martinez for The New York Times
By Luke Broadwater
Aug. 14, 2022, 9:31 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — As Republicans continued on Sunday to defend former President Donald J. Trump after an unprecedented F.B.I. search of his residence in Florida, deep fissures were visible in the party's support for law enforcement amid a federal investigation into Mr. Trump's handling of top secret documents.
Immediately after the search, congressional Republicans, including members of leadership, reacted with fury, attacking the nation's top law enforcement agencies. Some called to "defund" or "destroy" the F.B.I., and others invoked the Nazi secret police, using words like "gestapo" and "tyrants."
On Sunday, more moderate voices in the party chastised their colleagues for the broadsides against law enforcement, making a more restrained case for defending Mr. Trump while also carrying out oversight of the Justice Department.
Many Republicans called for the release of the affidavit supporting the search warrant that was executed last Monday, which would detail the evidence that had persuaded a judge there was probable cause to believe a search would find evidence of crimes. Such documents are typically not made public before charges are filed.
"It was an unprecedented action that needs to be supported by unprecedented justification," Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania and a former F.B.I. agent, said on CBS's "Face the Nation. But he added, "I have urged all my colleagues to make sure they understand the weight of their words."
The calls for a more cautious tone came as threats emerged against law enforcement. A gunman on Thursday attacked an F.B.I. office in Cincinnati, and on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security distributed an intelligence bulletin to law enforcement around the country that warned of "an increase in threats and acts of violence, including armed encounters, against law enforcement, judiciary and government personnel" after the search.
"The F.B.I. and D.H.S. have observed an increase in violent threats posted on social media against federal officials and facilities, including a threat to place a so-called dirty bomb in front of F.B.I. headquarters and issuing general calls for 'civil war' and 'armed rebellion,'" said the bulletin, which was obtained by The New York Times.
Adding to the sense of alarm, another gunman crashed a car into a barricade outside the Capitol around 4 a.m. on Sunday. After he exited the car and it became engulfed in flames, he shot into the air several times before killing himself, the Capitol Police said.
Mr. Fitzpatrick said he had begun checking in with his former colleagues at the F.B.I. "to make sure they were OK."
ImageRepresentative Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, said he had urged his colleagues "to make sure they understand the weight of their words."Credit...Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times
"We're the world's oldest democracy, and the only way that can come unraveled is if we have disrespect for institutions that lead to Americans turning on Americans," he said, adding, "A lot of that starts with the words we're using."
Republicans have struggled to coalesce around a unified strategy to respond to the F.B.I.'s search of Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's home in Palm Beach, Fla., amid daily revelations and quickly shifting explanations, excuses, defenses and false accusations by the former president.
On Friday, a federal judge unsealed the warrant authorizing the search and an inventory of items removed from the property by federal agents. The list showed that the F.B.I. had retrieved 11 sets of classified documents as part of an inquiry into potential violations of the Espionage Act and two other laws.
Some of the documents were marked "classified/TS/SCI" — shorthand for "top secret/sensitive compartmented information." Such information is meant to be viewed only in a secure government facility.
Mr. Trump and his allies have argued that former President Barack Obama also mishandled documents (an allegation quickly dismissed as false by the National Archives); that the judge who signed the warrant authorizing the search must have been biased; that the F.B.I. might have planted evidence; that the documents were covered by attorney-client or executive privilege; and that Mr. Trump had declassified the documents.
The former president has worked to cash in on the search.
Mr. Trump's political action committee has been furiously fund-raising off the F.B.I. search, sending out at least 17 text messages to donors since Tuesday. "The Dems broke into the home of Pres. Trump," one read. "This is POLITICAL TARGETING!" another alleged. "THEY'RE COMING AFTER YOU!" a third said.
Donald Trump Jr., the former president's son, wrote another fund-raising email on Sunday: "The witch hunt continues…The FBI's raid of Mar-a-Lago was a DISGRACE. In fact, it's UNFATHOMABLE."
On Saturday, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, also called for the repeal of the Espionage Act, one of the statutes that prompted the investigation.
But the shifting explanations have made it difficult for Republicans, many of whom are eager to please the former president, to come together with a unified defense. They are divided about whether to attack the nation's top law enforcement agencies and how aggressive to be in those attacks.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican whom the National Republican Congressional Committee is featuring in fund-raising appeals, has begun selling merchandise that says "Defund the F.B.I."
That is a much different approach from Representative Michael R. Turner of Ohio, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, who defended Mr. Trump on Sunday.
Republicans on the committee have said they continue to support law enforcement. Still, they said that tough questions remained for Attorney General Merrick B. Garland about his decision to take the bold step of ordering a search of the former president's home, and they promised to hold the Justice Department accountable.
"Clearly, no one is above the law," Mr. Turner said on CNN's "State of the Union." "Donald Trump is not above the law. And Attorney General Garland is not above the law, either. And Congress has the powers of oversight. He needs to comply."
Mr. Turner said he had not been convinced "whether or not this actually is classified material and whether or not it rises to the level of the highest classified material," despite the documents released by the court.
"I'd be very surprised if he has actual documents that rise to the level of an immediate national security threat," Mr. Turner said.
Two of the laws referred to in the search warrant, however, make the taking or concealment of government records a crime regardless of whether they are related to national security. The third, which bars the unauthorized retention of material with restricted national security information, applies whether or not the material is classified.
The Republican leaders in the Senate and the House, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, have also said that Mr. Garland needs to provide answers.
Mr. Garland, for his part, held a news conference on Thursday defending the way the Justice Department has handled the case.
"Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear or favor," he said. "Under my watch that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing."
The White House, trying to avoid the appearance of partisan interference, has been reluctant to comment on the investigation. "We do not interfere. We do not get briefed," Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said on ABC's "This Week," adding, "We're going to let Merrick Garland speak for himself and his department."
But other Democrats immediately seized on Republicans' anti-law enforcement statements.
"I thought in the old days the Republican Party used to stand with law enforcement," Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "And I hope some of them do today because this kind of rhetoric is very dangerous to our country."
She pointed out that when she reviews classified documents she must do so in a secure room. "I can't even wear my Fitbit," she said.
Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, has called for the director of national intelligence to conduct an "immediate review and damage assessment" and provide a classified briefing to Congress about the potential harm done to national security by Mr. Trump's handling of documents.
"The fact that they were in an unsecure place that is guarded with nothing more than a padlock or whatever security they had at a hotel is deeply alarming," he said on "Face the Nation."
Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, the top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, called on his panel to scrutinize Mr. Garland's actions.
"Never has a former president and potential political opponent to the sitting president been subject to such a search," Mr. Portman said in a statement. "The attorney general and the F.B.I. should now demonstrate unprecedented transparency and explain to the American people why they authorized the raid."
Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, took a similar approach.
"I'm not one of the individuals out there that says that, you know, 'Immediately attack the F.B.I. or the Justice Department,'" he said on "Meet the Press."
"But," he added, "I think it's very important long term for the Justice Department, now that they've done this, that they show that this was not just a fishing expedition."
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I found this article completely depressing.
We are seeing the result of years and years of apathy about Trump and the result of the continuous attempt to normalize his behavior by various aspects of the national media.
We have allowed him to play the victim, and the country is in a serious downward spiral for it.
How in hell can any reasonable or sensible person accept Donald Trump as a "potential political opponent" to anyone? He tried to overthrow our government.
The FBI forged evidence and used misinformation provided by his opponent to spy on his campaign without any accountability.
That, as any sane person has been saying, will have repercussions lasting decades. Not everyone forgets as fast as progressives.
Trump and Co engaged in about a hundred documented secret meetings with clandestine agents of Russian State Intelligence Services that the FBI and CIA were aware of in the lead up to the 2016 Presidential election. Should the CIA and FBI not notice it?
bullshit.
Trumps campaign welcomed Russian interference in the 2016 election. That is why he was investigated and it was totally appropriate.
You saw with your own eyes what he did on Jan6. His behavior was unforgiveable. Yet people like you forgive him. This country is fucked.
Donald Trump asked Russia to help him win the election in 2016, tried to extort Ukraine into helping him in the 2020 election, and earlier this year asked Putin (during a war no less) to help him discredit the likely 2024 Democratic nominee, Joe Biden. Do you need to have a ton of bricks fall on you to see the pattern?
Same thing with the voting. In 2016 Trump said if he lost it would be because the Democrats cheated. Then he said the same thing in 2020, and he will say it again in 2024 if given the chance. What in the world is wrong with the American people that they tolerate this crap? Come to your fucking senses.
Of course it's not. Don't deny reality. What the FBI did is well documented and can't be erased because it was directed at Trump.
n. That is why he was investigated and it was totally appropriate.
So forging evidence is okay if you think someone is guilty. That's your argument?
et people like you forgive him
Not at all, it has nothing to do with Trump. I'd be happy if I never heard the name again. But what the FBI doesn't go away because Trump is an ass. Credibility is hard to win back, and the FBI has lost theirs.
Cool. Document them and explain what was illegal about each one.
You dont get it. Trump is a worthless , criminal human being who wants to lead our country again. If that is allowed to happen it will be the end of America as we know it.
People like you have enabled all this to happen.
What evidence do you think was forged?
Robert Mueller identified ten instances of Donald Trump obstructing justice. The only reason he wasnt indicted then is because he was the sitting president. Since then of course there have been so many new scandals with Trump that no one cares about the 10 instances of obstruction of justice anymore. It is way beyond bizarre what this man has been allowed to get away with.
I don't have to document it. It is old news, public knowledge!
If mueller had actually developed a solid case for obstruction, Biden’s DOJ could have indicted him. But what happened during the mueller investigation which occurred After the fbi lied to the courts and forged evidence, is completely irrelevant.
Take trumps name out of it and anyone who cares the least bit about civil liberties will understand how much damage the fbi did to our system.
The email the fbi lawyer plead guilty to forging.
first, read your source. It doesn’t say what you claim it did.
Second, you realize even your own source doesn’t claim these “contacts“ were illegal. How many contacts do you think people associate with Biden had with Russians or Chinese nationals? A Thousand? 5 thousand?
hunter alone….
He's probably referring to this
But there was no forging,
The Justice Department has concluded that two of the four court orders allowing the FBI to conduct secret national security surveillance on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page were not valid because the government made "material misstatements" in obtaining them,
"the FBI's applications to spy on Page were rife with "factual misstatements and omissions,"
Every professional intelligence agency in the world including the CIA, Interpol and MI6 took notes when Trump and Co sought out, met with, communicated with and established relationships with dozens of Vlad Putin's secret agents who were known agents of Russian State Intelligence Services...
Only if the Democrats impeaching Trump was "Doing Nothing"...
Each step of the way Merrick Garland has been a step ahead.
He is just playing Trump along now before setting the hook...
Very little of the Mueller investigation had to do with FBI misconduct. Probably because there wasnt any on an organizational basis. You turn a blind eye to the Trump campaign activity that led to the investigation (Russian help to the Trump campaign) but focus totally on one FBI lawyer making a false statement.
Your stance is ridiculous. Basically you excuse everything wrong Trump has ever done because the FBI wanted to surveil one individual by mistake.
Of course. That's not what he was investigating. The IG report details it.
ut focus totally on one FBI lawyer making a false statement.
Lol. The forged evidence is just one piece of it.
When the subject is the credibility of the FBI, the focus is on the FBI.
You lead the league in no value comments. If you ask dumb questions incessantly in my group I am going to delete them. If you have something to say about the topics themselves you are more than welcome to.
You generally find it depressing that Trump has not been executed by firing squad.
The DOJ has indeed taken unprecedented action. That doesn't mean it was wrong, but it is certainly not unfair to ask for unprecedented justification.
Trump made unprecedented actions when he moved the classified material to his private residence. Then his lawyer misled the DOJ into believing that Trump handed over all the documents earlier this year. When they received a tip that this was false they went back with a court order. Nothing wrong with that at all.
People like you give Trump the benefit of every doubt when in truth he hasnt earned the benefit of any doubts.
Oh dear. Look at me. Here again without my torch or pitchfork. *eyeroll*
[deleted]
This country is bigger than Trump.
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Long after Trump, you, I, and everyone we know has moved on to meet our maker, the processes this nation uses to govern itself will be at work in the lives of those who come after us.
An FBI raid of a former president's home has never happened in the nearly 250 year history of this nation. We are walking new ground here, and only [{deleted}] would think we do not need to tread very carefully.
Your pitiful attempts to insult me notwithstanding (my IQ is way above average) , let me ask you how many times in the nations history have we had a president as dysfunctionally evil as Trump? That answer would be never.
You want to take the perspective that is most kind to him, instead of the perspective that best reflects our problem , to wit, we have a cult of personality at the top rung of one of the two major political parties, and the beneficiary of that cult of personality is a liar, crook, bigot, moron , and cheat.
Yes, yes, we all know about your whole Trump thing you have, and how you have a tantrum anytime anybody doesn't want to join your little lynch mob.
Let's not forget that Nixon actually hired burglars, and Jackson organized a genocide. We've had some complete bastards in the WH. We survived them, just as we survived Trump.
Our larger problem is people like you, who are so utterly controlled by their emotions that they refuse to consider the ramifications of any course of action.
Notice this conversation. All I've said is that it is fair to ask Merrick Garland to completely and publicly justify the raid of a former president's home....something I suspect he plans to do. You immediately interpret that as some sort of defense of Trump.
It's not about Trump. It's about us. It's about the nation we will be 20 years from now. I would ask you to think about how badly things could go if this unprecedented action became a not-all-that-unusual action, but I know you won't because it will interfere with sticking pins in your little Trump doll.
I'm not controlled by emotions at all. There is a vast amount of reporting, over many years, that more than proves Trump never belonged within a million miles of the White House. He was elected largely on the basis of racial resentment felt by enough whites to make a fool like him a viable contender.
He does not belong in American politics and we are now a degraded country because of the cult that has flourished around him.
If you cant see that, that is your problem not mine.
I'm sure you think so.
Nevertheless, he won the election.
I have voted against him multiple times, and will do so again if I am unfortunate enough to have the opportunity.
You, and others like you, confuse condemnation of your brand of batshittery as an endorsement of his. Just because he is a terrible excuse for a human does not mean our nation should abandon our own checks and balances.
Regardless of what you may think of him, he held the office. The office must be protected.
I suspect that Garland did not approve the raid capriciously. I suspect it was probably the hardest decision of his life. I give him the benefit of the doubt. But in this moment, it is still only a suspicion and there is still doubt.
It is absolutely not unreasonable to expect an unprecedented level of justification for his actions. Rather, it is utterly unreasonable not to.
www.newsweek.com /donald-trump-labeled-flight-risk-after-saying-fbi-took-his-passports-1733798
Donald Trump Labeled a 'Flight' Risk After Saying FBI Took His Passports
Social media users began labeling former President Donald Trump a "flight risk" after he said Monday that the FBI seized three of his passports during their raid at his Mar-a-Lago home last week.
Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform that the FBI "stole" the passports, one of which he said was expired, during the search on August 8. "This is an assault on a political opponent at a level never seen before in our Country. Third World!" he wrote.
While Trump did not offer any details on why the FBI may have wanted the passports, some Twitter users suggested that it was because the ex-president was viewed as a flight risk. Attorney Seth Abramson wrote in a Twitter thread on Monday that if the news was true, "the FBI is acknowledging what I've long said, which is that as a factual matter Trump is a flight risk."
When the warrant authorizing the FBI's raid became public days after the search, it listed three potential violations of federal law, including one part of the Espionage Act . Collectively, those violations could result in Trump seeing fines and decades of prison time if he was ever indicted, prosecuted and convicted.
The warrant showed that agents were authorized to search Trump's residence and seize any governmental and presidential records created during his presidency, physical documents with classification markings, and information related to the "retrieval, storage, or transmission of national defense information or classified material." It also allowed for the seizure of any evidence that government or presidential records and documents marked as classified were altered, destroyed or concealed.
The property receipt describes the various items seized during the raid as secret documents, top secret documents, a potential presidential record, various boxes, and something referred to as "Info re: President of France." The receipt did not list any passports, though it was not immediately clear if they could have been included in the various boxes whose contents were not described.
U.S. Legal defines a "flight risk" as a term used by courts to describe someone likely to flee the country, state or area to avoid criminal prosecution.
While no charges have been announced against the former president and there have been no official indications yet that Trump has been designated a flight risk by a court, the news that the FBI allegedly seized the passports left some wondering why.
Independent journalist Aaron Rupar tweeted a picture of Trump's Truth Social post and asked: "Is the former president a flight risk?"
Mike Sington, a former senior executive at NBCUniversal, also responded to Trump's post by tweeting: "FBI just doing their job, you're a flight risk."
Last Thursday, days before Trump said that his passports had been seized, human-rights activist and attorney Qasim Rashid had already labeled Trump with the term.
"Frankly speaking, Trump is a flight risk," he tweeted. "The judge should require he surrender his passport and his jet should be grounded."
Newsweek reached out to the FBI for comment and confirmation that Trump's passports were seized in the raid. A Trump spokesperson was contacted for comment as well.