Just in case anyone missed it...

Former President Donald Trump late last year floated the idea of swapping the files that he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago in exchange for "sensitive" documents about the FBI investigation of his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia, according to The New York Times.

As the National Archives pressed Trump to return the scores of official documents that were being stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida, the former president — still smarting from the Russia probe — was frustrated by the government agency's refusal to disclose documents that he felt would back up his claims, per The Times.

Trump told advisors that in order to obtain access to those documents, he would give the archives the boxes of materials that were stored at Mar-a-Lago, according to the newspaper.

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ElwoodBlues · M

Here's an excerpt from the NY Times Oct. 8, 2022 article:

Late last year, as the National Archives ratcheted up the pressure on former President Donald J. Trump to return boxes of records he had taken from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago club, he came up with an idea to resolve the looming showdown: cut a deal.

Mr. Trump, still determined to show he had been wronged by the F.B.I. investigation into his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia, was angry with the National Archives and Records Administration for its unwillingness to hand over a batch of sensitive documents that he thought proved his claims.

In exchange for those documents, Mr. Trump told advisers, he would return to the National Archives the boxes of material he had taken to Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla.

. . .

Concern about Mr. Trump’s habit of bringing documents to his White House bedroom began not long after he took office. By the second year of his administration, tracking the material he had in the residence had become a familiar obstacle, according to people familiar with his practices, and by the third year, there were specific documents that West Wing officials knew were not where they should be.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

Trump stole the documents as his get out of jail free card. He has almost certainly copied them and hidden them in multiple locations. The government is never getting them all back.

Graylight · 51-55, F

@windinhishair Precisely, which is why it's time for all the nonsense chatter around this to stop. We're getting lost in the minutia when all that ever had to be established was that he knowingly stole classified documents to use as leverage and used subterfuge to conceal the act.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Graylight Trump is scared shitless which is why he is throwing around so many claims and counterclaims and theories to try to obfuscate the fact of his theft. At some level, he realizes he has been caught red-handed.

OggggO · 36-40, M

Extortion like that only works if the other party can't just take the goods you are offering to exchange on their own. I'm willing to bet the idea of the Feds just showing up at his residences and serving a warrant either never crossed his mind or was quickly dismissed because he didn't think they'd have the guts. He's so used to operating from the protected position his wealth and then office gave him that he doesn't understand he's not actually the biggest kid on the playground.

Northwest · M

I have not seen the story in the NYT (I subscribe), but I did see it in the Washington Examiner (I do not subscribe), and when the Washington Examiner reports it...

Graylight · 51-55, F

@Northwest It ran in the NYT, which is currently making rounds discussing it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/us/politics/trump-documents-lawyers.html

ilikeitlikethat23 · 61-69, M

What a bum, sounds like an art of the deal loser to me. Just because the russia investigation was tainted it doesnt mean some of it was untrue.

PTCdresser57 · 61-69, M

Another obstruction and delay...for him it is always CYA!

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