murky events

 

Three Days Of The Condor is a movie I have always heard of but had not yet seen.  It's available to watch free on Amazon Prime now--it's good.

        (One critic said "there's plenty of underlying excitement about the way that the murky events unfold here...")

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News videos on You Tube Friday all seemed to have on an expert saying the same thing as the last expert -- "read the indictment."

_______________________

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

Case No. 23-80101-CR-CANNON / REINHART

____________________________________

18 U.S.C. § 793(e)

18 U.S.C. § 1512(k)

18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(A)

18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(1)

18 U.S.C. § 1519

18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(1)

18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2)

18 U.S.C. § 2

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v. DONALD J. TRUMP and 

WALTINE NAUTA,

                       Defendants

_____________________________/

INDICTMENT

The Grand Jury charges that:

GENERAL ALLEGATIONS

        At times material to this Indictment, on or about the dates and approximate times stated below:

Introduction

1.  

Defendant DONALD J. TRUMP was the forty-fifth President of the United States of America.  He held office from January 20, 2017, until January 20, 2021.  

        As president, TRUMP had lawful access to the most sensitive classified documents and national defense information gathered and owned by the United States government, including information from the agencies that comprise the United States Intelligence Community and the United States Department of Defense.

2.

Over the course of his presidency, TRUMP gathered newspapers, press clippings, letters, notes, cards, photographs, official documents, and other materials in cardboard boxes that he kept in the White House.  Among the materials TRUMP stored in his boxes were hundreds of classified documents.

3.

The classified documents TRUMP stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.  

The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods.

4.

At 12:00 p.m. on January 20, 2021, TRUMP ceased to be president.  As he departed the White House, TRUMP caused scores of boxes, many of which contained classified documents, to be transported to The Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he maintained his residence.  TRUMP was not authorized to possess or retain those classified documents.

5.  

The Mar-a-Lago Club was an active social club, which, between January 2021 and August 2022, hosted events for tens of thousands of  members and guests.  After TRUMP's presidency, The Mar-a-Lago Club was not an authorized location for the storage, possession, review, display, or discussion of classified documents.  

        Nevertheless, TRUMP stored his boxes containing classified documents in various locations at The Mar-a-Lago Club -- including in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.

6.

On two occasions in 2021, TRUMP showed classified documents to others, as follows:

          a. 

In July 2021, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey ("The Bedminster Club"), during an audio-recorded meeting with a writer, a publisher, and two members of his staff, none of whom possessed a security clearance, TRUMP showed and described a "plan of attack" that TRUMP said was prepared for him by the Department of Defense and a senior military official.  

        TRUMP told the individuals that the plan was "highly confidential" and "secret."  TRUMP also said, "as president I could have declassified it," and, "Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret."

          b.

In August or September 2021, at The Bedminster Club, TRUMP showed a representative of his political action committee who did not possess a security clearance a classified map related to a military operation and told the representative that he should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close.

7.

On March 30, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") opened a criminal investigation into the unlawful retention of classified documents at The Mar-a-Lago Club.  A federal grand jury investigation began the next month.  The grand jury issued a subpoena requiring TRUMP to turn over all documents with classification markings.  TRUMP endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents by, among other things:

          a.

Suggesting that his attorney falsely represent to the FBI and grand jury that TRUMP did not have documents called for by the grand jury subpoena;

          b.

Directing defendant WALTINE NAUTA to move boxes of documents to conceal them from TRUMP's attorney, the FBI, and the grand jury;

          c.

Suggesting that his attorney hide or destroy documents called for by the grand jury subpoena;

          d.

Providing to the FBI and grand jury just some of the documents called for by the grand jury subpoena, while claiming that he was cooperating fully; and

          e.

Causing a certification to be submitted to the FBI and grand jury falsely representing that all documents called for by the grand jury subpoena had been produced--while knowing that, in fact, not all such documents had been produced.

_____________________________

("The Indictment" -- to be continued)

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