What The Fbi Raid On Mar A Lago Might Mean For Donald Trump

The US Department of Justice is accusing Trump of obstructing its investigation into the recovery of sensitive documents by taking the extraordinary step of releasing a photo of files marked “Top Secret” and “Top Secret” seized from his Florida home. The Justice Department says it has evidence that “government records were likely withheld and removed” and that “efforts were made to obstruct the government’s investigation.” The depositions suggest criminality, but do not prove it. No legal action has been announced. “The former president and several of his lawyers … have a lot of exposure to crimes here,” Bradley Moss, a national security attorney in the Washington, D.C., area, told CTV National News Washington correspondent Richard Maddan on Wednesday. “Primarily for making false statements to the FBI and NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration), as well as trying to keep these documents at Mar-a-Lago and conceal them from the government.” Earlier this month, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, seizing several classified documents. Trump and his lawyers claim the documents discovered at the Palm Beach, Florida resort were previously declassified when he was in office. But legal documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s filings say that argument was never raised in the months NARA tried to get the former president to return the documents, with the details pointing to a new possible charge: obstruction of justice. Moss, who deals primarily with employees within the government, military or intelligence community and has experience in security clearance disciplinary actions, said he was stunned when he read the files late last night. “Antenna! That crossed my mind,” he said. “Ovida. This was a complete obliteration of the Trump team’s legal arguments.” He said that because the government was able to file documents about the raid itself, it was able to be more transparent with details the public likely wouldn’t have seen for months. “The government was allowed to describe many facts that otherwise would not have been disclosed at this pre-indictment stage during a criminal investigation,” he said of what is alleged in the documents. “They were allowed to walk you through a lot more detail about how this investigation unfolded, what the problems were with the Trump team’s responses as they tried to resolve the records problem, and how the obstruction angle came about.” The filings described how the government said it learned the records were being moved and tried multiple times to get those records returned, only to receive only a few of the missing documents each time. “After they went in June with the subpoena and got the affidavit from Trump’s lawyers saying this is it, there’s nothing else, the government found evidence that there were actually still documents on the property, located in areas other than the warehouse . Moss said the documents suggest. “And sure enough, that’s what the search warrant found.” He said Trump is essentially “putting himself in these situations. “It could have been written off as a minor mistake if, after being told those records were still at Mar-a-Lago, he had returned everything to the records in 2021. It would have been ‘no harm, no foul.’” But the That’s not how Donald Trump works.” The filings claim that Trump’s lawyers fought to delay the return of the documents, battling with NARA and the FBI for months, only to provide only some of the documents when subpoenaed. According to the filing, a Trump lawyer said at the time that all the documents were stored in a warehouse and were not in any private space. “Finally, it took a search warrant to retrieve the remaining 100 classified files that were sitting in places like Donald Trump’s office in his personal office,” Moss said. “It is an important criminal report. There are people who have gone to jail for less with the act of espionage. And as for obstruction – to what extent did Donald Trump lie to his lawyers? To what extent did the lawyers act irresponsibly or possibly lie to the FBI? That’s the kind of information we don’t know for sure yet.” While the criminal element is suggested, it is not proven in the depositions and has not been tested in court. Trump’s lawyers “absolutely” need their own lawyers now, he said. “And as I have said for many years and others coined it before me, ‘MAGA’ in my view stands for ‘Make Lawyers Get Lawyers.’ He’s not the first Trump lawyer to run into trouble and he probably won’t be the last, but yes, if I were Christina Bobb, if I were Alina Habba, if I were Evan Corcoran, I’d hire a lawyer right now to protect myself from possible criminal report, because everyone witnessed material events in this ongoing criminal investigation.” Whether Trump will be charged with obstruction — after avoiding charges in an obstruction investigation related to an investigation into whether his 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia — remains to be seen. “It is my view, based on the information we already have, that Donald Trump could be indicted, and in my professional view, he should be indicted,” Moss said. “Although I don’t think it will happen before the midterm elections in November.”

title: “What The Fbi Raid On Mar A Lago Might Mean For Donald Trump Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-11” author: “Glen Brown”

The US Department of Justice is accusing Trump of obstructing its investigation into the recovery of sensitive documents by taking the extraordinary step of releasing a photo of files marked “Top Secret” and “Top Secret” seized from his Florida home. The Justice Department says it has evidence that “government records were likely withheld and removed” and that “efforts were made to obstruct the government’s investigation.” The depositions suggest criminality, but do not prove it. No legal action has been announced. “The former president and several of his lawyers … have a lot of exposure to crimes here,” Bradley Moss, a national security attorney in the Washington, D.C., area, told CTV National News Washington correspondent Richard Maddan on Wednesday. “Primarily for making false statements to the FBI and NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration), as well as trying to keep these documents at Mar-a-Lago and conceal them from the government.” Earlier this month, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, seizing several classified documents. Trump and his lawyers claim the documents discovered at the Palm Beach, Florida resort were previously declassified when he was in office. But legal documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s filings say that argument was never raised in the months NARA tried to get the former president to return the documents, with the details pointing to a new possible charge: obstruction of justice. Moss, who deals primarily with employees within the government, military or intelligence community and has experience in security clearance disciplinary actions, said he was stunned when he read the files late last night. “Antenna! That crossed my mind,” he said. “Ovida. This was a complete obliteration of the Trump team’s legal arguments.” He said that because the government was able to file documents about the raid itself, it was able to be more transparent with details the public likely wouldn’t have seen for months. “The government was allowed to describe many facts that otherwise would not have been disclosed at this pre-indictment stage during a criminal investigation,” he said of what is alleged in the documents. “They were allowed to walk you through a lot more detail about how this investigation unfolded, what the problems were with the Trump team’s responses as they tried to resolve the records problem, and how the obstruction angle came about.” The filings described how the government said it learned the records were being moved and tried multiple times to get those records returned, only to receive only a few of the missing documents each time. “After they went in June with the subpoena and got the affidavit from Trump’s lawyers saying this is it, there’s nothing else, the government found evidence that there were actually still documents on the property, located in areas other than the warehouse . Moss said the documents suggest. “And sure enough, that’s what the search warrant found.” He said Trump is essentially “putting himself in these situations. “It could have been written off as a minor mistake if, after being told those records were still at Mar-a-Lago, he had returned everything to the records in 2021. It would have been ‘no harm, no foul.’” But the That’s not how Donald Trump works.” The filings claim that Trump’s lawyers fought to delay the return of the documents, battling with NARA and the FBI for months, only to provide only some of the documents when subpoenaed. According to the filing, a Trump lawyer said at the time that all the documents were stored in a warehouse and were not in any private space. “Finally, it took a search warrant to retrieve the remaining 100 classified files that were sitting in places like Donald Trump’s office in his personal office,” Moss said. “It is an important criminal report. There are people who have gone to jail for less with the act of espionage. And as for obstruction – to what extent did Donald Trump lie to his lawyers? To what extent did the lawyers act irresponsibly or possibly lie to the FBI? That’s the kind of information we don’t know for sure yet.” While the criminal element is suggested, it is not proven in the depositions and has not been tested in court. Trump’s lawyers “absolutely” need their own lawyers now, he said. “And as I have said for many years and others coined it before me, ‘MAGA’ in my view stands for ‘Make Lawyers Get Lawyers.’ He’s not the first Trump lawyer to run into trouble and he probably won’t be the last, but yes, if I were Christina Bobb, if I were Alina Habba, if I were Evan Corcoran, I’d hire a lawyer right now to protect myself from possible criminal report, because everyone witnessed material events in this ongoing criminal investigation.” Whether Trump will be charged with obstruction — after avoiding charges in an obstruction investigation related to an investigation into whether his 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia — remains to be seen. “It is my view, based on the information we already have, that Donald Trump could be indicted, and in my professional view, he should be indicted,” Moss said. “Although I don’t think it will happen before the midterm elections in November.”

title: “What The Fbi Raid On Mar A Lago Might Mean For Donald Trump Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-25” author: “Jennifer Welch”

The US Department of Justice is accusing Trump of obstructing its investigation into the recovery of sensitive documents by taking the extraordinary step of releasing a photo of files marked “Top Secret” and “Top Secret” seized from his Florida home. The Justice Department says it has evidence that “government records were likely withheld and removed” and that “efforts were made to obstruct the government’s investigation.” The depositions suggest criminality, but do not prove it. No legal action has been announced. “The former president and several of his lawyers … have a lot of exposure to crimes here,” Bradley Moss, a national security attorney in the Washington, D.C., area, told CTV National News Washington correspondent Richard Maddan on Wednesday. “Primarily for making false statements to the FBI and NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration), as well as trying to keep these documents at Mar-a-Lago and conceal them from the government.” Earlier this month, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, seizing several classified documents. Trump and his lawyers claim the documents discovered at the Palm Beach, Florida resort were previously declassified when he was in office. But legal documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s filings say that argument was never raised in the months NARA tried to get the former president to return the documents, with the details pointing to a new possible charge: obstruction of justice. Moss, who deals primarily with employees within the government, military or intelligence community and has experience in security clearance disciplinary actions, said he was stunned when he read the files late last night. “Antenna! That crossed my mind,” he said. “Ovida. This was a complete obliteration of the Trump team’s legal arguments.” He said that because the government was able to file documents about the raid itself, it was able to be more transparent with details the public likely wouldn’t have seen for months. “The government was allowed to describe many facts that otherwise would not have been disclosed at this pre-indictment stage during a criminal investigation,” he said of what is alleged in the documents. “They were allowed to walk you through a lot more detail about how this investigation unfolded, what the problems were with the Trump team’s responses as they tried to resolve the records problem, and how the obstruction angle came about.” The filings described how the government said it learned the records were being moved and tried multiple times to get those records returned, only to receive only a few of the missing documents each time. “After they went in June with the subpoena and got the affidavit from Trump’s lawyers saying this is it, there’s nothing else, the government found evidence that there were actually still documents on the property, located in areas other than the warehouse . Moss said the documents suggest. “And sure enough, that’s what the search warrant found.” He said Trump is essentially “putting himself in these situations. “It could have been written off as a minor mistake if, after being told those records were still at Mar-a-Lago, he had returned everything to the records in 2021. It would have been ‘no harm, no foul.’” But the That’s not how Donald Trump works.” The filings claim that Trump’s lawyers fought to delay the return of the documents, battling with NARA and the FBI for months, only to provide only some of the documents when subpoenaed. According to the filing, a Trump lawyer said at the time that all the documents were stored in a warehouse and were not in any private space. “Finally, it took a search warrant to retrieve the remaining 100 classified files that were sitting in places like Donald Trump’s office in his personal office,” Moss said. “It is an important criminal report. There are people who have gone to jail for less with the act of espionage. And as for obstruction – to what extent did Donald Trump lie to his lawyers? To what extent did the lawyers act irresponsibly or possibly lie to the FBI? That’s the kind of information we don’t know for sure yet.” While the criminal element is suggested, it is not proven in the depositions and has not been tested in court. Trump’s lawyers “absolutely” need their own lawyers now, he said. “And as I have said for many years and others coined it before me, ‘MAGA’ in my view stands for ‘Make Lawyers Get Lawyers.’ He’s not the first Trump lawyer to run into trouble and he probably won’t be the last, but yes, if I were Christina Bobb, if I were Alina Habba, if I were Evan Corcoran, I’d hire a lawyer right now to protect myself from possible criminal report, because everyone witnessed material events in this ongoing criminal investigation.” Whether Trump will be charged with obstruction — after avoiding charges in an obstruction investigation related to an investigation into whether his 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia — remains to be seen. “It is my view, based on the information we already have, that Donald Trump could be indicted, and in my professional view, he should be indicted,” Moss said. “Although I don’t think it will happen before the midterm elections in November.”

title: “What The Fbi Raid On Mar A Lago Might Mean For Donald Trump Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-15” author: “Crystal Gillock”

The US Department of Justice is accusing Trump of obstructing its investigation into the recovery of sensitive documents by taking the extraordinary step of releasing a photo of files marked “Top Secret” and “Top Secret” seized from his Florida home. The Justice Department says it has evidence that “government records were likely withheld and removed” and that “efforts were made to obstruct the government’s investigation.” The depositions suggest criminality, but do not prove it. No legal action has been announced. “The former president and several of his lawyers … have a lot of exposure to crimes here,” Bradley Moss, a national security attorney in the Washington, D.C., area, told CTV National News Washington correspondent Richard Maddan on Wednesday. “Primarily for making false statements to the FBI and NARA (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration), as well as trying to keep these documents at Mar-a-Lago and conceal them from the government.” Earlier this month, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, seizing several classified documents. Trump and his lawyers claim the documents discovered at the Palm Beach, Florida resort were previously declassified when he was in office. But legal documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s filings say that argument was never raised in the months NARA tried to get the former president to return the documents, with the details pointing to a new possible charge: obstruction of justice. Moss, who deals primarily with employees within the government, military or intelligence community and has experience in security clearance disciplinary actions, said he was stunned when he read the files late last night. “Antenna! That crossed my mind,” he said. “Ovida. This was a complete obliteration of the Trump team’s legal arguments.” He said that because the government was able to file documents about the raid itself, it was able to be more transparent with details the public likely wouldn’t have seen for months. “The government was allowed to describe many facts that otherwise would not have been disclosed at this pre-indictment stage during a criminal investigation,” he said of what is alleged in the documents. “They were allowed to walk you through a lot more detail about how this investigation unfolded, what the problems were with the Trump team’s responses as they tried to resolve the records problem, and how the obstruction angle came about.” The filings described how the government said it learned the records were being moved and tried multiple times to get those records returned, only to receive only a few of the missing documents each time. “After they went in June with the subpoena and got the affidavit from Trump’s lawyers saying this is it, there’s nothing else, the government found evidence that there were actually still documents on the property, located in areas other than the warehouse . Moss said the documents suggest. “And sure enough, that’s what the search warrant found.” He said Trump is essentially “putting himself in these situations. “It could have been written off as a minor mistake if, after being told those records were still at Mar-a-Lago, he had returned everything to the records in 2021. It would have been ‘no harm, no foul.’” But the That’s not how Donald Trump works.” The filings claim that Trump’s lawyers fought to delay the return of the documents, battling with NARA and the FBI for months, only to provide only some of the documents when subpoenaed. According to the filing, a Trump lawyer said at the time that all the documents were stored in a warehouse and were not in any private space. “Finally, it took a search warrant to retrieve the remaining 100 classified files that were sitting in places like Donald Trump’s office in his personal office,” Moss said. “It is an important criminal report. There are people who have gone to jail for less with the act of espionage. And as for obstruction – to what extent did Donald Trump lie to his lawyers? To what extent did the lawyers act irresponsibly or possibly lie to the FBI? That’s the kind of information we don’t know for sure yet.” While the criminal element is suggested, it is not proven in the depositions and has not been tested in court. Trump’s lawyers “absolutely” need their own lawyers now, he said. “And as I have said for many years and others coined it before me, ‘MAGA’ in my view stands for ‘Make Lawyers Get Lawyers.’ He’s not the first Trump lawyer to run into trouble and he probably won’t be the last, but yes, if I were Christina Bobb, if I were Alina Habba, if I were Evan Corcoran, I’d hire a lawyer right now to protect myself from possible criminal report, because everyone witnessed material events in this ongoing criminal investigation.” Whether Trump will be charged with obstruction — after avoiding charges in an obstruction investigation related to an investigation into whether his 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia — remains to be seen. “It is my view, based on the information we already have, that Donald Trump could be indicted, and in my professional view, he should be indicted,” Moss said. “Although I don’t think it will happen before the midterm elections in November.”