Cries of "civil war" reach fever pitch after FBI search of Mar-a-Lago | Salon.com
By: Abigail Goldberg-Zelizer (Salon)
grab your AR's and walkers and cross the rubicon! survival bucket instant mac and cheese when victorious!
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
In the hours following the Federal Bureau of Investigation's search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, his supporters began rallying around the cry of "civil war."
The search, which took place Monday night, was carried out as a part of an investigation into Trump's mishandling of classified documents from his time in office. The FBI was reportedly searching the estate for boxes of federal documents that they believe Trump brought back from the White House, although federal authorities have not confirmed. The act of taking classified documents from the White House is considered a violation of federal law.
Trump immediately released a statement claiming that the search was comparable to the Watergate Scandal of 1972, when former President Richard Nixon's political operatives broke into the Democratic National Convention.
"My beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach Florida is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents," Trump said in a statement. "Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe!"
In the moments following the search, MAGA world erupted.
Far right extremist groups, like QAnon, immediately called for a violent response to the search and classified it as a political attack by the Biden administration. Hundreds of Trump supporters gathered outside Mar-a-Lago to protest the investigation.
Simultaneously, the term "civil war" started trending on Twitter.
Vocal far-right conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, called the search an act of "political persecution."
"This is the rogue behavior of communist countries, NOT the United States of America!!!," Greene tweeted. "These are the type of things that happen in countries during civil war."
Stephen Miller, a former senior adviser to Trump, hopped on Fox News to call the FBI an agent of an imperial government.
"We are truly living in a situation where the FBI has become a praetorian guard from Rome where they take it unto themselves to decide who wields power in this country," Miller said.
GOP congressional candidate Laura Loomer agreed that the FBI search was an act of war.
"Time to take the gloves off. It's been time. If you're a freedom loving American, you must remove the Words decorum and civility from your vocabulary. This is a WAR!," Loomer wrote on her Telegram channel. Loomer has been banned from Twitter since 2018 when she posted racist tweets about Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
The cries of "civil war" fall in line with a shocking survey published in July that half of Americans believe the United States is headed towards a civil war.
Researchers from the University of California-Davis Violence Prevention Research Program and the California Violence Research Center found that 50.1 percent of survey respondents at least somewhat agree that a civil war will happen soon. About 14 percent said that they either "strongly" or "very strongly" agree.
The researchers said that the study was sparked by the United States' current political climate and Trump's perpetuation of "The Big Lie."
"The motivating premises for this survey were that current conditions in the US create both perceived threats and actual threats to its future as a free and democratic society," they wrote. "The findings bear out both premises."
Whether people see it in terms of an impending "civil war" or not, the study found that ultimately two thirds of Americans believe that democracy is facing a "serious threat."
"We are now closer to civil war than we have been at any time since 1865," reporter Tim Alberta wrote on Twitter.
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meh, I'll give them the first move...
Wasn't that what 1-6 was all about?
IMO it was. xtian nationalists versus a couple US alphabet agencies and a few patriotic underground groups would be pretty funny. insurrectionists fighting a guerilla war, bwah ha ha ha. see you on sunday mornings. bring your own marshmallows.
Fucking hateful lunatics defending a fucking moron hateful lunatic.
I didn't even know she had died
You didn't know Ivana trump died?
It wasn't too too long ago.
I googled it and found out she died July 22. I've been so busy with work and other stuff that I just don't pay attention to what's going on
Yeah, with everything else going on in the world today too, I can see how that could have been missed.
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So, the “Law and Order” people are mad that FBI agents, working for a director appointed by Trump, got a legal search warrant to search his property.
you really think searching the home of a former President and contender for the Presidency for archival documents is just another day?
Even George Conway said the FBI crossed the Rubicon with this.
He also said he hated the metaphor and was only using it because Donald's fans were.
warning, the topic is about trumpster wacko's calling for a civil war over constitutional due process.
What do you think? Did I say that? Or did I say something else?
I have no idea what you think. I know you seem surprised that people who like law and order could possibly be upset that a DOJ that has lied and otherwise abused the law and order process has engaged in an unprecedented action. I don't know how anyone could be surprised that this caused a reaction.
So you have absolutely no problem with donald taking boxes of documents.
Are these documents not for we the people?
Or are they only for donald himself.
All you all are cheering him on, doing whatever the fuck he wants and then throwing a fit when called on it.
Quick, donald is asking for donations again. Give everything you have and own to him.
I think they should have been subpoenaed to start with.
[deleted] This isn't about Trump.
Nixon begs to differ.
The question is did the DOJ lie and otherwise abuse the law and order process (which we do not know) in this instance to complete this unprecedented action? Or was it a justified unprecedented action? In your conflationary world it cannot be, just because you say so.
We aren't. We have seen the absurd lengths that some people will go to to defend their their great, orange haired Fuhrer whose lies are only eclipsed by his ego. Foolish people defend him, and if they are stupid enough to run around saying things like
then they just might, unfortunately, receive the same attitude from the US Armed forces.
Not at all. The DOJ and FBI have abused the legal process to "Get Trump" in the past, and searching a former President's home is unprecedented. Those are facts.
It's of course possible the FBI had reason to believe it would discover evidence of serious felonious behavior by Trump, in which case they'd be vindicated. If, however, this was a fishing expedition using a dispute over archival documents as a pretext, then we've entered a whole new world.
The conflationary argument is believing that because a Judge signed the warrant it's somehow beyond criticism. As we've seen before, the FBI has no problem lying on warrant applications to go after Trump.
We aren't
Then why is it noteworthy that people who've objected to the FBI abusing it's power in the past would be skeptical of yet another unprecedented action by a leaders who give no cause to believe in their good faith?
Is not an ex president stealing documents unprecedented?
Why do you wash that over and go after the people trying to get the documents back?
Unlike myself? Unlike you I don't gloss over potential criminal activity.
Do you actually think him taking documents is ok?
... the warped version of law and order they seem to like. what law has the FBI and DOJ broken with the execution of this warrant?
so do I. trump supporters trying to instigate a civil war need to be held accountable.
So, let me get this straight: If the FBI finds what they were looking for when they exercised the warrant, then they are vindicated, but if the documentation they believed was there is not, then they are demonstrably foul and partisan? I am not convinced. Sounds like a false dichotomy to me.
Why is the first grounds for approval and the second condemnation? They think that something is there that will incriminate him. They go through the process of gaining a search warrant. They execute the warrant.
What if he moved/destroyed the specific documents which would incriminate him? I know that the man is arrogant, but even he cannot be, well, perhaps he can, so haughty as to believe that he is above reproach and above the law. I realized after typing that that yes,that sounds just like him....
The not finding of anything incriminating will not mean that the FBI did anything wrong in executing the warrant. You need proof of malfeasance before the action and in specific relation to the obtaining and execution of the warrant before I will believe that the FBI is out of bounds legally. It is not enough to say that the breaking of precedent makes their actions wrong.
Now, that is not the way this will be viewed by Trump et.al. He will play, as he always does, the victim, right up until and through causing more people to do violence and more people to die.
Disgusting.
Well, here’s a tip. Try reading my words instead of just using your imagination. Nowhere did I say this was just another day. It’s obviously a moment of historical significance that a search warrant would be served on a former president’s property.
What I did say was that the search appears to have been based on normal, legal procedures as required by law.
How about, for starters, that - as I pointed out - law enforcement officers executed what appears to be a legal warrant and we have no evidence that there was anything unusual about that process? If a person has respect for law and order - as Trump and MAGA folks are fond of declaring - then it would seem to be pretty hypocritical to immediately assume that Trump’s rights, or the law, were violated.
Second, how about that Trump himself appointed the current FBI director? That makes it kind of weird to assume that the FBI would be going after him for political reasons as many are insisting.
I, for one, am going to wait for the evidence to be revealed before I conclude that Trump is guilty, or conversely, that the FBI did something inappropriate. To me, that is what respect for the law looks like.
say was that the search appears to have been based on normal, legal procedures as required by law.
The exact same argument that was made about the FISA wiretaps.
Lol. Sure. Let's ignore the last few years and pretend Wray has been a Trump stooge. Did the fact Trump appointed Wray stop his FBI agents from lying to the FISA Court?
tIf a person has respect for law and order - as Trump and MAGA folks are fond of declaring - then it would seem to be pretty hypocritical to immediately assume that Trump’s rights, or the law, were violated.
You seem to believe it's incongruent for people who support law and order to be skeptical of people who've abused the legal process for political purposes. That's bizarre.
for one, am going to wait for the evidence to be revealed before I conclude that Trump is guilty, or conversely, that the FBI did something inappropriate.
Great. Then we are on the exact same page.
It’s not the same argument because they are different courts. It’s a different system. I have been saying the FISA courts are bullshit for years - before they went after Trump.
Unless you have evidence the warrant was obtained via a FISA court. Do you?
No, you’re changing what I said again. Skeptical? I’m all for skepticism. Note that I said I am reaching no conclusions about the case one way or the other. That’s an open mind. What I am saying allows for skepticism, but that’s not what Trump’s supporters are doing.
For example, Ron DeSantis compared what happened to a “banana republic.” Marco Rubio likened it to “something we have seen many times from 3rd world Marxist dictatorships.” Rick Scott said, "This is 3rd World country stuff.”
That’s not skepticism. That’s judgment in the extreme. That is a total lack of respect for law and order.
Isn't that MAGA?
A lot of hate and incivility and lack of decorum?
Who are these freedom loving Americans they're referring to? It's certainly not them. I just hear a lot of hate and rage
All for an orange buffoon that could care less about them.
Well, he does want their cash. Simpletons hand it over too.
That's something I meant to include, thanks Ender - these lunatics defending a lunatic who doesn't give one shit about them.
He's the never ending grifter and his supporters are endlessly lining his pockets.
Who are these 'perfectly rational' 'people'?
Trump sends out email fundraising off of Mar-a-Lago raid
On The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell Tuesday, the MSNBC host kicked off the show by sharing an email he’d received from former President Donald Trump ’s fundraising team. This email was asking for donations in response to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home being raided by the FBI Monday, executing a lawful search warrant, reportedly looking for classified material Trump took when he left the White House, which is against the law. O’Donnell read the email aloud as it appeared on the screen.
“Mar-a-Lago was raided,” the email began. “The radical Left is corrupt. We must return the power to the people. Please rush in a donation immediately to publicly stand with me against this never-ending witch hunt.”
This is nothing out of the ordinary for Trump. Just a few weeks ago, he posted online announcing the death of his ex-wife, Ivana. The statement included a donation link at the bottom.
O’Donnell continued, stating that the email came with a donation suggestion and a deadline.
Rational people on the right? Haven't seen many of them...
The ones that are rational get ostracized from the party.
I've never heard of another billionaire constantly asking for donations. Like everything else about this turd, his billions are a fantasy.
Mike Lindell? Rudy Giuliani? Sidney Powell? Rational enough?
I concur.
I'd also like to point out Trump and his lawyers have a copy of the warrant. They could make that public. It doesn't have all the information the court was presented with to issue the warrant, but it would shed more light on the subject. Is there any reason Trump hasn't made it public other than it makes him look worse than usual?
How would any of us know? Seriously. How the heck would any of us plebes know what ex=presidents take home? For all any of us know, they all take lots of stuff.
Strawman.
Do YOU really think that it's just another day when a former POTUS steals documents?
Trump's actions are unprecedented and therefore require unprecedented action to mitigate.
And?
How DARE you add context! /s
You, me, nor ANYONE outside of the FBI know what they hell they found. Steals documents? And some of your fellow travelers here think they were top secret classified on top of that. Laughable as hell. Talk about conspiracy theories.
Letters to the Editor: For Trump and his supporters, the Mar-a-Lago search was just the start
To the editor: The FBI search at Mar-a-Lago is just the beginning of Department of Justice enforcement actions against former President Trump. His behavior will likely result in a multiple-count indictment including, but not limited to, charges of seditious conspiracy, obstruction of congressional proceedings, incitement, attempting to overthrow the government of the United States, treason, bribery, fraud and other high crimes and misdemeanors. If the DOJ limits the charges against him to the mishandling of classified documents, Trump will deny, delay and count on his three Supreme Court justices and the Republican Party to save him from prison.
Harry Litman's concern about a Trump candidacy in 2024 is well-founded, but if it is the only complaint against Trump, it will be a mere slap on the wrist.
..
Craig Simmons, Northridge
Bill Fado, Pacific Palisades
..
To the editor: I am thrilled that the Department of Justice is moving forward on various prosecutions of Jan. 6 participants, following the committee hearings. However, I am also nervous about the violence some on the far-right are calling for once again. It's not surprising — it is expected — but it must not be tolerated and we must be ready for it with all hands on deck to immediately squelch it and bring any violators of the law to justice.
All relevant communications should be monitored closely so that we are ready for any possible violent actions from the far right in protest of the DOJ's search of Mar-a-Lago or against other potential law enforcement actions toward the former administration.
Joshua Finkel, Studio City
..
To the editor: Reports that Donald Trump wished his generals had been as loyal to him as Hitler's generals were to Hitler are revealing.
First, Trump should consider that maybe it's disturbing he was comfortable comparing himself to Hitler. And second, he should reread his history texts — assuming he ever read them in the first place — and learn that Hitler's generals attempted to kill him at least 10 times . There's a moral here: Be careful what you wish for .
Mike Barrett, Ashburn, Va.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .
Lol. A simple subpoena would have sufficed. Fights over archiving aren't a national emergency.
Bingo. And the thing that many seem to overlook is the fact that Trump himself didn't pack up those boxes. That was done by the GSA
when has a simple subpoena ever compelled trump? why won't trump turn over the document he received listing what was seized? who inside the trump inner circle informed?
Subpoenas aren’t optional.
See, that's a problem Sean.
There is already abundant evidence that Trump committed a felony. 15 boxes of documents had already been retrieved from Mar-a-Largo. Some of those documents were clearly marked classified. They were NOT kept in a secure area. Trump's own lawyer admitted that only recently did they install a 'padlock' to the room where they were storing the documents.
You seem to want to equivocate and insist that Trump's 'behavior' has to meet your standard of a 'serious' felony.
My position is that ALL felonies are 'serious'.
One would think that criticism should be based on FACTS. Since there is very little information about the content of the warrant, the only easily available FACTS are the documents/items on the inventory the FBI furnished Trump upon completing their LEGAL search. I encourage you and yours to ask Trump to release that inventory. I'd love to review it.
Oh, and BTFW, I'm sure that Trump's lawyers are filing to demand that the FBI release the full warrant with its attached affidavit so we can all see the evidence used to get the warrant. /s
You and yours keep rinsing and repeating that same bullshit. The FISA court warrant had NOTHING to do with 'going after Trump'. Just stop.
For one, the hypocrisy it illustrates.
'People who've objected to the FBI abusing its power' are the same ones that insist that the behavior of one LEO shouldn't reflect on the whole force. Yet they insist that the behavior of ONE FBI agent reflects on the entire Agency, as you just did.
BTW Sean, the FBI was a 'fiefdom' for decades, so historically, there isn't much that's 'unprecedented' in their actions.
it's hilarious hearing trumpsters complain about how partisan and weaonized the FBI and DOJ have become.
Oh but MANY outside of the FBI already know that the content of the 15 boxes ALREADY retrieved from Trump did include classified documents. Those that live outside of the RW bubble have known that fact for MONTHS. There were a plethora of reports about it.
Why is it 'laughable as hell' Jim. You JUST admitted that you don't know what the FBI found. It's a FACT that Trump illegally removed classified documents from the WH. It isn't a stretch to speculate that the new trauch contains 'top secret' documents.
Trump committee a federal crime by removing documents covered by the Presidential Records Act. The fact that some of them were classified is an ADDITIONAL crime.
So, while you're laughing, Trump is waiting for the other shoe to drop.
trump has a list of what was seized, but he and his sycophants will get a lot more mileage by demanding the DOJ release it, after all, trump is fund raising on the executed FBI search warrant.
Oh, and BTFW, for the edification of the willfully ignorant:
Response to 02.09.2022 Maloney Letter.final_Signed.docx (archives.gov)
oops. sucks being trump.
Trump was responsible for the content of the 15 boxes retrieved by the NARA in Jan. 2022 and for content of 12 boxes retained in his basement.
When will you stop defending Trump's crimes?
That's hilarious.
Most excellent! You are so good at handing some folks their ass! On a silver platter!
Sean, officials subpoena documents which are rightfully held. Trump has NO RIGHT to hold those documents. NONE. NADA.
Dismissing the underlying federal felony is pure deflection.
The NARA has asked Trump 'nicely' for over a fucking year to give them the documents. Trump has refused, drug his feet and dismissed them at every turn. Trump, the privileged prick, doesn't deserve even one more second of time to comply with the LAW.
Oh and let's add to that the FACT that the Minority Leader of the House has threatened the AG. McCarthy told the AG to clear his calendar. That doesn't give Garland much time to work the problem before they come after him.
It appears that they did subpoena Trump, but, as usual, he stonewall'd them
Trump could always release a copy of that subpoena. Alas...
Why is Lawrence O'Donnell on that email list?
Still laughing Jim?
11 TOP SECRET tranches of documents.
for some, as meaningless now as their oath that was taken to defend the constitution...
No I don't, which makes me believe that he did some other shit. Otherwise the FBI wouldn't waste their time and a judge wouldn't sign off on it.
And I hope they did, I hope they have finally sent the message that not even presidents are above the law.
OMG, we're going to fight the Civil War again. Mar a Lago is in Florida which was a Confederate state during the Civil War...
History will repeat it self.
The nutjob repub running for MD governor is saying he would mobilize all the state resources including police to go after Biden.
Another nutcase ready to be committed.
And so are you. Do you think you might have to return to Table Rock Lake?
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That would be cool! I was just there on Wednesday doing some work
The complete blind worship of trump is fucking scary.
And then they wonder why people call them a cult.
A cult of high school dropouts with very bad wiring.
From little Marko...
Are where are the clowns...
Apparently in Florida.
"This needs to stop and the people responsible for this decision, [Attorney General] Merrick Garland , the director of the FBI [Christopher Wray], need to be held to account for going along with something so undemocratic, unconstitutional, and flat out destructive and dangerous to our republic." msn
Again, isn't that trumpturd and MAGA?
Is it any wonder that the once Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln is now known merely as the gop? Those mired in the gop should get out of it!
There is nothing civil about what right wing extremists believe. They rest easy knowing that no libs are going to march on them with guns. So whenever they see their fantasy world start to crumble they spread fear thinking that is strength.
They used to campaign with guns when Obama was running for office, spreading the lies that Obama was going to take their guns away. Which did NOT happen, they spread lies about FEMA camps and all sorts of fear mongering nonsense.
They don't want their Trump bubble to burst the exact same way they did not want their Bush bubble to burst which brought on the right wing think tank funded fake grassroots "Tea Party" which has only devolved into every crazier more violent behavior and rhetoric.
We need to build them a fantasy theme park of all white people, all Christians, filled with patriotic memes and put Trump as their dictator so they will stop threatening the rest of the country with their hateful ideas which are truly un-American.
Then they're idiots. I own guns and if I hear that the shooting has started I'm a gonna march on THEM and start shooting at THEM
fuck yeah, I've got a 9mm or .380 always within 2 feet of my hands 24/7 because of those crazy fucks and I don't plan on missing any meals over them.
I have a .380. Mr G wants to get me an AR-15 like he has and another hand gun. Since I don't have a lot of strength in my right hand due to arthritis I just want something small. I can't wait to try out the new shot gun
stick with the .380 and use hollow points. I'd be changing magazines by the time any insurrectionist lover could swing his AR up to fire.
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