Bill Straub: No raid there, as all players were notified, but FBI retrieved documents from old guy in Florida

No one, other than the FBI and Trump and his lawyers, at this point know exactly what was involved in the hunt. The most popular theory holds that our boy was retaining public documents he was no longer supposed to be privy to, since he no longer, fortunately, holds high public office. The feds were therefore dispatched to retrieve them.

If, by off chance, this all proves true, Trump could be in dutch. During the long four years he held office, the Orange Ogre signed legislation making it a felony to remove and retain classified documents without authorization, a crime now punishable by up to five years in prison.

Perhaps even worse, to Trump’s way of thinking, at least, one statute under the U.S. Code holds that anyone who “willfully and unlawfully conceals (or) removes” such documents “shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States,” basically rendering any Trump plan to regain the presidency moot.

This isn’t the first time the issue has risen in recent years. In 2003, Sandy Berger, former national security adviser in the Clinton administration, removed from the National Archives documents that he hid in his clothing relating to his participation in matters involving Osama bin Laden, a subject of interest to the 9/11 Commission. Berger was charged with removing the records and he ultimately pled guilty to a misdemeanor, fined $50,000, sentenced to two years probation, 100 hours of community service, and stripped of his security clearance for three years.

As noted, reaction to this sordid mess has been fast and furious.

“The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Louisville, said in a tweet. “Attorney General (Merrick) Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately.”

Now, one needn’t view 20 years of Law & Order reruns to arrive at the conclusion that law enforcement agencies are not in the habit of babbling about ongoing investigations. If you hold to the principle that no one, including the president, ex or otherwise, is above the law, there’s no good argument to be made that the FBI and the Department of Justice should lay their cards in the table until they’re good and ready.

There is a general argument to be made, and a decent one, that law enforcement and prosecutors should be more open about their activities, thus providing the public with at least a little oversight. But the case falls flat if you’re just trying to cut out an exception for one individual regardless of how powerful he or she is or once was.

Nonetheless, in a surprising move, Garland has moved to file a motion in federal court to unseal the warrant for all the world to see. The move places the ball in Trump’s court. He can oppose the release of the information contained in the search warrant if he so chooses, keeping the details in the dark, or let it go.

Garland’s move further establishes, perhaps, that under the American system of justice, some people do get special treatment. On the other hand, in this instance, it might also show you better be careful what you ask for.

Regardless, McConnell’s response was one of the more blasé reactions among members of the Kentucky congressional delegation. Sen. Rand Paul, a Bowling Green Republican, called the property search “outrageous and unjust, but predictable,” and then, as is his weirdo wont, went from zero to 120 mph in no time flat to suggest the possibility that the FBI planted evidence.

“Do I know that the boxes of material they took from Mar-a-Lago, that they won’t put things in those boxes to entrap him?” Paul innocently asked during a Fox News appearance.

“How do we know that they’re going to be honest with us about what’s actually in the boxes?” Paul asked. “How do we know that was in the box before it left the residence if the lawyers weren’t allowed to see everything?”

Paul, who went on to assert that Garland is using his office to attack Trump “for political purposes” and could possibly face impeachment, has done more than just about any politician to sow discord within the general population for the country’s democratic form of government. From efforts to defame Dr. Anthony Fauci who led the federal campaign to combat COVID-19 to thumbing his nose at veterans suffering from exposure to toxic burn pits, Paul is a primary cause for the nation’s disaffection. Now he’s trying to expand his franchise to suggest FBI agents might be planting evidence.

And Rep. James Comer, R-Tompkinsville, or Frankfort, or DC, or wherever he’s hanging his hat these days, is doing the old, GOP three card monte job to divert attention from the real issue at hand – Trump shenanigans – to the role of the National Archives.
Comer, ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, who considers himself a Trump pal, and several other Republican House members sent a letter to Debra Wall, acting archivist of the United States, demanding information regarding coordination between the agency and the FBI on the subpoena.

“Committee Republicans are concerned that the NARA would utilize the FBI to gather documents that the president by the very nature of his constitutional role could declassify himself, if this was indeed the case as the media reported,” Comer wrote.

“The Biden administration is continuing to weaponize the FBI against political rivals,” Comer added. “To better understand the circumstances and the NARA’s role, if any, in the FBI raid, Oversight Republicans request an immediate briefing on this matter.”

Exactly what Comer means by “weaponize” – is he suggesting Wall was provided with an AK-47 or a rocket launcher? – is unclear. Perhaps he can shed light on this “weaponization.”

Regardless, this line of attack is, well, kind of dumb. Trump is no longer president, though morons beg to differ, so he can no longer declassify documents even if he wanted to. Furthermore, if he declassified documents during his term in office, it might be advisable to advise someone of same.

Under the Presidential Records Act, Trump and his staff were required to relinquish documents to the National Archives before departing the White House. Instead, under Trump’s interpretation of the statute – meaning that the nation’s laws pertain to everyone but him – he took classified material with him to Mar-a-Lago.

According to The New York Times, the archives tried for months to negotiate with Trump and his attorneys to get more documents placed in the federal government’s custody. Failing that, the agency contacted the FBI, which informed him of its intent to travel to Florida to retrieve the records.

There was no raid – Trump’s folks were told ahead of time.

Comer’s silly reaction is just one attempt to distract the public from the real issue roiling beneath the surface. It involves Occam’s Razor – the simple answer is generally the correct one.

Rather than blame the FBI for planting evidence or the National Archives for coordinating with the FBI, maybe, just maybe, Donald John Trump, 45th president of the United States, is simply a cheap crook.