ship of dreams

 

Last week I learned a new word:  submersible.

It's the name for that tube-thing that five people got into, to go down in the ocean to see the wreckage from the Titanic.

reader comment:

Len

Pennsylvania

A submersible that can only be opened from the outside.

Experts warned of problems that could lead to death.

The sub never went through a certification process.

What could go wrong?

_______________________________

("The Indictment" -- Continued)

66.

TRUMP and Trump Attorney 1 then discussed what to do with the Redweld folder containing documents with classification markings and whether Trump Attorney 1 should bring them to his hotel room and put them in a safe there.  During that conversation, TRUMP made a plucking motion, as memorialized by Trump Attorney 1:

        He made a funny motion as though - well okay why don't you take them with you to your hotel room and if there's anything really bad in there, like, you know, pluck it out.  And that was the motion that he made.  He didn't say that.

67.

That evening, Trump Attorney 1 contacted the Department of Justice and requested that an FBI agent meet him at The Mar-a-Lago Club the next day, June 3, so that he could turn over the documents responsive to the May 11 Subpoena.

68.

Also that evening, Trump Attorney 1 contacted another TRUMP attorney ("Trump Attorney 3") and asked her if she would come to The Mar-a-Lago Club the next morning to act as a custodian of records and sign a certification regarding the search for documents with classification markings in response to the May 11 Subpoena.  Trump Attorney 3, who had no role in the review of TRUMP's boxes in the Storage Room, agreed.

69.

The next day, On June 3, 2022, at Trump Attorney 1's request, Trump Attorney 3 signed a certification as the custodian of records for The Office of Donald J. Trump and took it to The Mar-a-Lago Club to provide it to the Department of Justice and FBI.  

In the certification, Trump Attorney 3--who performed no search of TRUMP's boxes, had not reviewed the May 11 Subpoena, and had not reviewed the contents of the Redweld folder--stated, among other things, that "[b]ased upon the information that [had] been provided to" her:

        a.     "A diligent search was conducted of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Florida";

        b.     "This search was conducted after receipt of the subpoena, in order to locate any and all documents that are responsive to the subpoena"; and

        c.     "Any and all responsive documents accompany this certification."

70.

These statements were false because, among other reasons, TRUMP had directed NAUTA to move boxes before Trump Attorney 1's June 2 review, so that many boxes were not searched and many documents responsive to the May 11 Subpoena could not be found--and in fact were not found--by Trump Attorney 1.

71.

Shortly after Trump Attorney 3 executed the false certification, on June 3, 2022, Trump Attorney 1 and Trump Attorney 3 met at The Mar-a-Lago Club with personnel from the Department of Justice and FBI.  Trump Attorney 1 and Trump Attorney 3 turned over the Redweld folder containing documents with classification markings, as well as the false certification signed by Trump Attorney 3 as custodian of records.  

        TRUMP, who had delayed his departure from The Mar-a-Lago Club, joined Trump Attorney 1 and Trump Attorney 3 for some of the meeting.  TRUMP claimed to the Department of Justice and FBI that he was "an open book."

72.

Earlier that same day, NAUTA and others loaded several of TRUMP's boxes along with other items on aircraft that flew TRUMP and his family north for the summer.

The Court-Authorized Search of The Mar-a-Lago Club

73.

In July 2022, the FBI and grand jury obtained and reviewed surveillance video from The Mar-a-Lago Club showing the movement of boxes set forth above.

74.

On August 8, 2022, the FBI executed a court-authorized search warrant at The Mar-a-Lago Club.  The search warrant authorized the FBI to search for and seize, among other things, all documents with classification markings.

75.

During the execution of the warrant at The Mar-a-Lago Club, the FBI seized 102 documents with classification markings in TRUMP's office and the Storage Room, as follows:

TRUMP's Office          27 documents

        Top Secret (6); Secret (18); Confidential (3)

Storage Room          75 documents

        Top Secret (11); Secret (36); Confidential (28)

COUNTS 1-31

Willful Retention of National Defense Information

(18 U.S.C. § 793[e])

76.

The General Allegations of this Indictment are re-alleged and fully incorporated here by reference.

77.

On or about the dates set forth in the table below, in Palm Beach County, in the Southern District of Florida, and elsewhere, the defendant,

DONALD J. TRUMP,

having unauthorized possession of, access to, and control over documents relating to the national defense, did willfully retain the documents and fail to deliver them to the officer and employee of the United States entitled to receive them; that is--TRUMP, without authorization, retained at The Mar-a-Lago Club documents relating to the national defense, including the following:

[long list -- to continue tomorrow]

--------------------------------------------------

-30-