[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

Rep. Mike Turner, the dumbf*ck who's the representative for Dayton, OH and the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, just held a press conference where he defended Trump by saying "There are a number of things that are 'classified' that fall under the umbrella of nuclear weapons but that are not necessarily things that are truly classified. Many of them you can find on your own phone."

The ranking Republican--the party of national security--on the freakin' House Intelligence Committee is going with the "well, there's 'classified' and there's 'CLASSIFIED' and clearly Trump only had the stuff you could Google," defense. That's one heck of a snapshot of how far the Republican party has fallen.

Stele wrote:

While all of this is interesting it's certainly not news. Go make a government theory crafting thread.

I'm not a mod but good grief. This post was 4 pages and 2 days ago. Give it a rest y'all.

self modification.

All I can say is that I was, in retrospect, a pretty beneviolent dictator.

Now carry on, comrades.

I'll take a benegesserit dictator over a benetleilax one any day, personally.

The news raises questions for Republicans and could undercut those who didn't wait for details before slamming the search

The account in The Washington Post could also undercut Republican lawmakers, who didn’t wait for details of the case before criticizing a search they claimed was more typical of a tyrannical state.
maverickz wrote:

I'll take a benegesserit dictator over a benetleilax one any day, personally.

One of them is a lot more likely to have sex with you, so I'll back this.

I mean, he’s not wrong. I suspect there exist pieces of information that fall into that category. It’s irrelevant unless he knows that those pieces of information are a) what justified the search and b) what was found.

No surprise here; it’s not like I was expecting a good faith argument.

farley3k wrote:

Someone is being hurt or at least made unhappy when the majority makes a decision.

For example, when they decide they're going to Denny's.

farley3k wrote:

The news raises questions for Republicans and could undercut those who didn't wait for details before slamming the search

The account in The Washington Post could also undercut Republican lawmakers, who didn’t wait for details of the case before criticizing a search they claimed was more typical of a tyrannical state.

I read that article earlier, actually, and the quote I remembered was this one:

But the attorney general is also trying a strategy that has perpetually failed with Trump -- wielding facts and legal norms to shatter his wall of lies and falsehoods.

Some Trump allies have already floated another conspiracy theory -- that the FBI planted documents in the ex-President's residence.

FBI Recovered Eleven Sets of Classified Documents in Trump Search, Inventory Shows

WSJ wrote:

FBI agents who searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home Monday removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to be only available in special government facilities, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took around 20 boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump’s ally Roger Stone, a list of items removed from the property shows. Also included in the list was information about the “President of France,” according to the three-page list. The list is contained in a seven-page document that also includes the warrant to search the premises which was granted by a federal magistrate judge in Florida.

The list includes references to one set of documents marked as “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” an abbreviation that refers to top-secret/sensitive compartmented information. It also says agents collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents. The list didn’t provide any more details about the substance of the documents.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers argue that the former president used his authority to declassify the material before he left office. While a president has the power to declassify documents, there are federal regulations that lay out a process for doing so.

The search and seizure warrant, signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, shows that FBI agents sought to search “the 45 Office,” as well as “all storage rooms and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by [the former president] and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate.”

They didn’t seek access to search private guest rooms, such as those of Mar-a-Lago members, according to the document.

The former president and his team don’t have the affidavit, which would provide more detail about the FBI’s investigation, according to people familiar with the process. His lawyers have asked for a more specific account of what was removed from Mar-a-Lago.

Sensitive compartmented information is some serious sh*t. It is extremely restricted and can only be accessed, viewed, or discussed in specialized facilities.

Also included in the list was information about the “President of France,” according to the three-page list.

Why is my first thought about Trump having this is because he's jealous of Macron's looks?

Cheeto couldn't crush his hand in a handshake, so he was a clear enemy.

There are some things that have been classified that don’t need to be. But anyone who believes that they can mishandle the classified documents that contain that information should not try it at work, or at home for that matter. Legally classified is entirely separate from “I can find the same info online” and must be treated that way.

This can happen, for instance, when a previously classified program is revealed in the press, but not actually declassified (at least not right away). Anyone with access to the real deal has to remember that they are bound by the existing, actual classification and not discuss it. That’s a good way to lose a job or worse.

Robear wrote:

There are some things that have been classified that don’t need to be. But anyone who believes that they can mishandle the classified documents that contain that information should not try it at work, or at home for that matter. Legally classified is entirely separate from “I can find the same info online” and must be treated that way.

This can happen, for instance, when a previously classified program is revealed in the press, but not actually declassified (at least not right away). Anyone with access to the real deal has to remember that they are bound by the existing, actual classification and not discuss it. That’s a good way to lose a job or worse.

Yep. I had a TS/SCI clearance when I served in Army intelligence 30 years ago. I spent lots of time in SCIFs. It didn't matter what the general public was aware of. If it's classified, it's classified. Junior soldiers and NCOs were terrified of accidentally breaching protocol with material or discussions, lest we get court-martialed and imprisoned.

It's infuriating to see the callous contempt for rule of law and those who serve to uphold it constantly on display by these neo-fascists, that is somehow seen as patriotic by the MAGA masses.

So I had an IT job where I had TS clearance. I couldn't move a computer with our TS image between floors without notifying security and doing it with a 2nd person because we had to pass through un-SCIF'd(unsecure space) to do it.

There wasn't even anything classified on them, what made them classified was their configuration info about our network.

You sure as sh*t didn't take stuff home with you and you certainly didn't keep anything once you were out. I watched many videos describing the consequences for the folks who got caught doing that.

Warrant's been made public. Here's what they removed:

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZ_DI3LWYAArDDh?format=jpg&name=large)

Read in scribble scribble, read out scribble scribble, read in...

"I may have committed some light espionage (and obstruction of justice)."

"Dear MBS, IOU 1 nucular warhead."

I’m sure he’ll wriggle out of any repercussions just like he does everything else, but it’s fun watching him flail.

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/vT6GP8dM/66-BB7200-043-E-485-F-95-BB-CA367-AF5-B5-E4.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/v8WY6BXL/9-ACAE28-A-F57-D-4-C75-B4-C6-8-A9409-CD7-D67.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/HLyDDZh4/1-AD3-E59-A-AA0-D-40-E9-A252-5-CA5-B6-E78-F73.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/HLH4djSZ/FC04112-C-E58-B-40-E5-9199-DEB98-FC428-DA.jpg)

(the “33 million pages of documents” he keeps referencing are the documents Obama took for his presidential library under the approval and supervision of the National Archives. Fox News has been trying to paint that as equivalent to Trump’s theft)

ruhk wrote:

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/HLyDDZh4/1-AD3-E59-A-AA0-D-40-E9-A252-5-CA5-B6-E78-F73.jpg)

Trump's "I declare bankruptcy" argument holds no water, especially when it comes to classified nuclear information because there are loads of laws and EOs that specifically spell out who can declassify that information and it sure as sh*t isn't him.

And Trump was asked multiple times to turn the documents over. Hell, they were f*cking subpoenaed and he ignored that. He literally left the government no other option than to physically search for and confiscate them.

ruhk wrote:

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/HLH4djSZ/FC04112-C-E58-B-40-E5-9199-DEB98-FC428-DA.jpg)

(the “33 million pages of documents” he keeps referencing are the documents Obama took for his presidential library under the approval and supervision of the National Archives. Fox News has been trying to paint that as equivalent to Trump’s theft)

Yeah, the National Archives isn't having any of that bullsh*t:

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/o0gJAfH.png)

That is a rapid acceleration of the Trump response timeline:
I didn't do it
I did it but it wasn't bad
I did it but it wasn't that bad.
I did it and it was bad, but I am allowed to.
The other guys did it.
The other guys did it worse
Why are you not going after the other guy who did it much worse.

And all in one speech...

fangblackbone wrote:

That is a rapid acceleration of the Trump response timeline:
I didn't do it
I did it but it wasn't bad
I did it but it wasn't that bad.
I did it but I am allowed to.
The other guys did it.
The other guys did it worse
Why are you not going after the other guy who did it much worse.

And all in one speech...

It's like watching the world record speed runner beat his own speedrun record.

hbi2k wrote:
maverickz wrote:

I'll take a benegesserit dictator over a benetleilax one any day, personally.

One of them is a lot more likely to have sex with you, so I'll back this.

The Honored Matres are inviting you to hold their cosmos.

Turns out that back in June a lawyer for Trump signed a letter attesting that there were no more classified materials being held at Mar-a-Lago.

The two lawyers that were involved in discussions between Trump and the DOJ in June were Evan Corcoran, a former Assistant US Attorney who's recently been representing Steve Bannon's legal troubles with the J6 Committee as well as several other J6 morons, and Christina Bobb, a former OAN anchor who's been helping Trump with "election integrity." She was also one of Trump's attorney subpoenaed by the J6 Committee.

I have to imagine they're spending the weekend figuring out how many decades they're going to spend in jail because Trump wanted to something he could sell to a foreign government or, much more likely, something he could show the sad people that visit Mar-a-Lago to prove how cool and powerful he was.

Some reports say that one document was a file containing salary information and names of American intelligence workers... With Saudi Arabia paying Kushner $2B recently, I wonder if they won the bidding... Or maybe they were just the first buyers.

Looks like an armed man crashed and set fire to his car in front of the Capitol, then shot several times with a rifle before shooting himself.

Dollar says it’s more Trump trash taking itself to the curb.

Dream wrote:

And you... who call yourselves "collectors," until now, you have sustained fantasies in which you are the victims, comforting daydreams in which you are always right. But no more. The dream is over. I have taken it away. For this is my judgment upon you, that you shall know from this moment on exactly how craven and selfish and monstrous you are. That you shall feel the pain of those you have slaughtered. And the grief of those that mourn them still, and you shall carry that pain and grief and guilt with you until the end of time.

Trump's now claiming the FBI confiscated his three passports (one of them expired [again, his claim]) during the search last week. I guess somebody thinks he's a flight risk.

Rat Boy wrote:

Trump's now claiming the FBI confiscated his three passports (one of them expired [again, his claim]) during the search last week. I guess somebody thinks he's a flight risk.

Moscow. Calling Moscow. This is Trump Force One requesting emergency landing and asylum.