Backing Trump into a corner, the Special Master believes documents marked classified by the government probably are

Nice! A much better summary than mine. It’s almost like you were there.

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It is hard to know what that creature thinks. I would try to get into his head but it’s so tiny. However, whatever he does, his first impulse is probably not far away.

So, why did super-spy Agent Orange have the paper documents at all? If he sold the contents, scans or photos of it would be so much better and safer. He could really get into the role, wear a dinner jacket and bow tie, and take photos with a Minox camera like the one I wanted as a kid, while humming the James Bond theme. If someone insisted on the original documents, this suggests that they wanted the option to shaft him with the evidence later. Or, and much more likely, Agent Orange does not know how to work a scanner.

This is all so mad, his defence could have argued “Look, it makes no sense for him to keep the original documents. The only reasonable explanation is they must had been planted.” But they didn’t, because Agent Orange promptly provided more samples of his epic stupid.

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I have to agree since my foray into reading many declassified documents (old radio spec and military docs) tend to be awful when titling them as to give you a proper idea what they’re about. I assume this a government-wide kind of pattern?

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They are starting to learn.

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I think at the end of the day I’m not fixated on the “he wants to LARP still being president” because I think selling state secrets is to complicated for him. I think it is one part “he is enough of a dope that if he attempted to sell them chances are he would actually sell them to an undercover FBI agent or something”, and six parts “I think the biggest loser move is to commit a major felony just so he can play make-believe, and even lamer he would already be pretending a disused maralargo shed is the Oval Office, so he may as well pretend a bunch of random documents are the real deal and have never stolen anything int he first place”.

So really, I have to admit I’m mostly doing it because I’m imagining him to be the most pathetic loser, not the most corrupt loser.

I could very obviously be wrong about which type of loser he is.

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This is not some complicated shit, though, is my point. It doesn’t take much smarts to see that a document can be valuable, especially if you have people around you who have a vested interest in selling those secrets (probably Jared and the Saudis). We already know that operatives working for the CIA were killed in the field - people whose identities SHOULD have been protected.

But let’s keep giving him a pass and see how that works out for us.

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What’s complicated about it?

Are we picturing some super secret dark web site that’s only accessible via some special computer system with a magic USB key plugged in? Dead drops in night clubs? Transactions where the seller and buyer don’t trust each other and do not want to actually know who each other is? A secret auction searching for the highest bidder?

Or, something like a phone call, an envelope, and a forever stamp dropped in a blue box?

The man ran a casino into bankruptcy because of money laundering (allegedly). The man ran many tax and loan schemes with fraudulent property valuations and the paperwork to back it up (allegedly).

He’s clearly an international real estate developer and knows how to use a phone to make a call (allegedly). His kids/son in-law made millions while “working for the government for free”.

I’m failing to see how this would be any more difficult than any of those tasks.

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I think his talk with Putin beforehand let Putin put ideas into his head… just so Russian spies can get their hands on them at Mar-whatever. Much easier to penetrate Mar-blah-go than the Whitehouse or any secure facility. How else would he know what to ask for and keep?

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Here you go, all he has to do is think it and they are declassified. Oh, and they were looking for Hillary’s email. He claims he declassified everything, everything.

And Biden is suffering from dementia?

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The ego can do things id could never condone. And we all know which side dominates in Trumpie. It was clear Trump took Fitton’s argument 100% without asking his own lawyers if the idea was actually sound.

I personally think Trump’s ego was so inflated that he really believed he can bluff and threaten everybody to keep the presidency, thus all the calls to “find me more votes!” and when that didn’t work, insist the election was stolen and incited Jan 6th to disrupt the transition. Maybe he thought he get to declare martial law? I doubt he ever really understood the political and ideological machine he was driving, i.e. the GOP, MAGA, and Qanon. They are just tools he can play with to satisfy his ego, and being POTUS is the ultimate power trip for an egomaniac, and he must have chaffed at all the rules he had to live with. “What do you mean we can’t just nuke Syria?” and so on. It must be a sad day for him to realize he had to vacate the Whitehouse.

Now he’s realizing all that stuff comes with consequences, and he may sincerely believe getting elected again may save him from all that.

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Judge Cannon has now backed off her original order in light of the 11th Circuit calling out her bullshit ruling.

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So Dearie is now out of a job? Darn it. Just when I look forward to more waffling from Trump Lawyers!

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I think there’s still more in that order that still appoints the special master. This just limits a lot of what he’s covering. Namely, the documents marked “Classified” are no longer in his gaze, and he can’t start yet.

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Here’s her modified order

  1. The term “seized material” in the Court’s Order Appointing Special Master [ECF No. 91]
    is modified to include all materials seized on August 8, 2022, except the approximately
    one-hundred documents bearing classification markings [ECF No. 91 ¶ 2].

That basically excludes the obviously classified stuff from Deerie’s remit, but leaves in the rest of the haul

  1. Paragraph 5(b)(i)(bb) of the Order Appointing Special Master is hereby STRICKEN
    [ECF No. 91 ¶ 5].

That originally read as follows

bb. Make available for inspection by Plaintiff’s counsel, with controlled access conditions (including necessary clearance requirements) and under the supervision of the Special Master, the documents marked as classified and the papers attached to such documents; and

  1. Paragraph 6 of the Order Appointing Special Master is hereby STRICKEN [ECF No. 91
    ¶ 6].

That read

  1. The Special Master and the parties shall prioritize, as a matter of timing, the documents marked as classified, and the Special Master shall submit interim reports and recommendations as appropriate. Upon receipt and resolution of any interim reports and recommendations, the Court will consider prompt adjustments to the Court’s orders as necessary.

Here’s a link to the full docket

BTW, “We the people claim” is still entering stuff on the docket.

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That’s par for the course for these folks, though. There’s a definite Humpty Dumpty feel to their interpretation of everything.

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Correct. But the Eleventh Circuit’s decision puts the writing (ketchup?) on the wall. It found TFG did not satisfy the first factor for equitable jurisdiction, because he never even alleged the DOJ acted in “callous disregard” of his rights (and couldn’t considering the kid gloves they treated him with over several months).

Anyways, the “callous disregard” factor applies to everything that is the subject of TFG’s civil suit with Cannon, and the Eleventh Circuit found that factor by itself was dispositive. So when they get around to the DOJ’s full appeal of the September 5 order, most likely we will see another decision just like this one. I’m not sure if it will go to the same panel, but I expect the same result.

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i agree with everything you said except this. narcissist gets thrown around too much these days, however in his case it fits.

he’ll never ever understand his actions have negative consequences. he will always believe it’s someone else’s fault or that someone hates him. he’ll die someday never having changed that fundamental personality trait because it’s clear he doesn’t want to

not that it matters per se. we can still hold him accountable even if he’s incapable of understanding why

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Realize it doesn’t mean he’s going to accept it. He probably just thinks it’s something he can “negotiate” away.

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No, Judge Cannon making these changes is likely a way to try and stall or prevent an appeal of the rest of the order, keeping the special master in place.

My understanding of the situation is that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled essentially that one small part of the ruling has the risk of being so damaging that it needs to be stopped even before an appeal of the full ruling can be started. Judge Cannon by striking out just the part that was stayed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is a way to try and reduce arguments that will be made in a full appeal later.

Without a doubt one argument in the appeal would have been that giving an unindicted suspect the ability to all but totally suspend an investigation is setting a dangerous precedent. By removing that from the ruling that can’t be brought up later in the actual appeal.

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The DOJ already filed a notice of appeal as to the entirety of the September 5 order. The Eleventh Circuit’s decision yesterday signals they will vacate the entire order which will result in dismissal of the case before Cannon. The biggest question is how long it will take that full appeal to be briefed and decided. Appellate courts are notoriously slow, so the Special Master’s work may well be done before then.

The alacrity with which Cannon complied with the Eleventh Circuit is amusing, as if she knew what was coming. Hopefully all parties move full speed ahead, since TFG’s strategy isn’t to win any battle but to win the war by delaying.

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