BREAKING: Court Halts Trump-Requested Special Master Review of Seized Mar-a-Lago Documents

No more special master

DOJ gets all the documents

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s order appointing the special master to look through the 11,000 documents taken from Mar-a-Lago, in order to determine what documents should not be handed over to investigators. Trump’s legal team had requested the special master, which was approved by a Trump-appointed judge in a widely panned ruling many legal observers did not expect to stand.

“The law is clear,” the appeals court wrote. “We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.”

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ElwoodBlues · M

Then:
"In my administration, I'm going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information," — Candidate Donald J Trump, Aug. 16, 2016, West Bend, Wisconsin

"On political corruption, we are going to restore honor to our government. In my administration, I'm going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law." — Candidate Donald J Trump, Aug. 18, 2016, Charlotte NC

"One of the first things we must do is to enforce all classification rules and to enforce all laws relating to the handling of classified information." — Candidate Donald J Trump, Sept 7, 2016, Philadelphia

The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by "intelligence" like candy. Very un-American!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017

Now:

The affidavit used a handful of acronyms when describing the sensitivity of the documents that were recovered from Mar-a-Lago earlier in the year. This alphabet soup is probably confusing to most Americans, but national security experts have said it reveals the horrifying scope of this security breach.

Some of the classified documents that Trump brought with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago contained markings for “HCS, FISA, ORCON, NOFORN, and SI,” according to the FBI affidavit.

“HCS” indicates that the material is about human sources, or spies, that often work with the CIA. “FISA” relates to court-ordered surveillance collecting foreign intelligence, including wiretaps. “ORCON” means the document is so sensitive that its originator must approve any request to share it. “NOFORN” means the material can’t be shared with any foreign entities, even allies, without permission. “SI,” short for Special Intelligence, relates to signals intercepts, which are typically handled by the National Security Agency.

These phrases confirm what many feared – that the documents that may have been illegally mishandled at Mar-a-Lago contained some of America’s most sensitive secrets.

And what of the 48 EMPTY classified folders? Where in the world did THOSE documents wind up??

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.

The coup de grace, and two of the three judges were appointed by Trump. Can't wait to see the Branco cartoon illustrating this piece of justice. Perhaps Trump as Caesar, stumbling, grasping the sword, and screaming "Et tu, you brutes?"

Graylight · 51-55, F

It was a delay tactic at heart. He's trying to slow the wheels of justice, but he's running out of road very quickly. A federal courtroom isn't a boardroom filled with sycophants.

ron122 · 41-45, M

🤣OMG!!!!!!

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