THIEF: New evidence in Trump espionage case emerges
Yet again, Trump finds himself in a box, this time in the Special Counsel’s espionage case.
New details provide a better “bird’s eye view” of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Donald Trump’s withholding of records with national security information from the grand jury, or at least a more comprehensive timeline with greater specificity.
Last June 2, the twice-impeached ex-president had workers round up some boxes and papers to reorganize a bit.
But the date of the move is both telling and damning.
Indeed that Thursday evening, Trump’s lawyer called the FBI to welcome them to come pick up their materials the next day, June 3rd, 2022.
The following Friday morning, FBI agents and a federal prosecutor arrived in exclusive Palm Beach, Florida.
Donald Trump’s legal team gave them a folder containing 38 classified documents and an affidavit saying that a diligent search had been made and nothing remained.
It is a little too perfect, and the FBI views the matter with entirely justified suspicion.
This “move” could be further evidence of obstruction of justice, or even a basis for espionage act charges, even though the FBI already has a “big box” of evidence as to obstruction.
But the already indicted Trump has another large problem.
The FBI also has evidence that he used to keep certain records in his office and show them to people who, well – happened to find themselves in his office. His box of classified records shell game wasn’t an accident, according to the Washington Post:
Trump and his aides also allegedly carried out a “dress rehearsal” for moving sensitive papers even before his office received the May 2022 subpoena, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive ongoing investigation.
Unlike his strongest GOP opponent for the 2024 presidential nomination Ron DeSantis, this looks likely to prove that Donald J. Trump actually “practiced” something.
Well, that’s more than can be said for the Florida Governor after last night’s disastrous campaign launch
Now, everyone knows that moving those boxes quickly must have been very important to Trump.
It certainly wasn’t the first time he’s had problems with boxes.
There are precious few “innocent” reasons to practice moving boxes quickly after subpoenas have flown. The Espionage Act makes is a crime to remove or knowingly retain national defense information, such as the documents Smith is investigating.
Unfortunately for the Manager of Mar-A-Lago, that means that the charges will be that much easier to prove.
When prosecuting an ex-president, one never has too much evidence, especially when it comes to proving that Trump absolutely intended to obstruct this investigation.
Perhaps the most succulent morsel in the Post’s report is about the grand jury’s activity:
The grand jury working on the investigation apparently has not met since May 5, after months of frenetic activity at the federal courthouse in Washington. That is the panel’s longest hiatus since December, shortly after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to lead the probe and coinciding with the year-end holidays.
Grand juries only meet when there is evidence to examine or whether to take a vote to indict or not.
The timeline indicates that either Jack Smith has presented all his evidence or may have an indictment he’s carrying around while meeting with officials at DOJ.
Given that the grand jury hasn’t been dismissed, it means that Smith knows he may want to add a few things here and there.
It certainly excludes a frenetic analysis of new evidence happening this week.
Donald Trump must think that an indictment is imminent.
His “lawyers” wrote a letter, clearly demanded and dictated by Trump himself, to ask to meet Merrick Garland.
Trump’s always looking for a deal.
Maybe Jack Smith or Merrick Garland will give him one, but in this case, it’s going to be a deal to plead guilty.
I can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com, and @JasonMiciak
