WHERE'S THE WARRANT? — It's been two days since the FBI searched Trump's Florida home, spurring loud calls for transparency at Justice. But Trump's lawyers have the warrant and a detailed manifest of what the FBI took away. Why haven't they been released? We asked Trump lawyer CHRISTINA BOBB, who was at Mar-a-Lago during the search, and will report back what we hear. MUST-READ — "Why the Trump search warrant is nothing like Hillary's emails," by Kyle Cheney: "The president has decried the FBI's search of his home. But legal experts say the agency is likely on firm ground. They note Trump could clear a lot of the mystery up himself." HOW IT HAPPENED — On Tuesday, we noted the understated quality of Florida Politics' publisher PETER SCHORSCH's tweet heard 'round the world breaking the Mar-a-Lago search story. "I feel like all-caps is loud," he tells WaPo's Elahe Izadi . While his offer to join the team here at Playbook is obviously rescinded, we enjoyed this profile of him. SAFE FOR WORK — N.Y. Mag's Olivia Nuzzi channels her inner Geraldo Rivera and tries to find out what's in Trump's safe. Some informed speculation from ex-aides: cash, guns, Trump's will, NDAs. THE LAWYERS SPEAK — Both Bobb and a second Trump lawyer, LINDSEY HALLIGAN, who was also present for the search, gave interviews on Tuesday and filled in some details. CBS News: "Halligan received a call at around 10 a.m. Monday that FBI agents were at Trump's Palm Beach home, Mar-a-Lago, and they had a search warrant. She was the second Trump attorney to arrive on scene, at about 11 a.m, after the search had begun. Christina Bobb, who used to be a TV host on the far right OAN Network, was already there. "Over the next eight hours, Halligan said 30-40 FBI personnel conducted the search. There were a handful dressed in suits, but most wore t-shirts, cargo pants, masks and gloves. Halligan estimates 10-15 FBI vehicles went in and out of the property, including a Ryder truck. … "Halligan says she and Bobb were barred from going inside the complex, forced to remain outside, between the ballroom and residence, on the grounds of Mar-a-Lago. According to Halligan, the FBI divided up the search into three areas: a bedroom, a storage area and an office. "She said she spoke with Trump, who expressed shock about the FBI search. He said he thought he'd complied with investigators' requests. … The search teams wrapped up their work at about 6:30 p.m." The Wall Street Journal: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation met U.S. Secret Service employees on Monday morning outside Mar-a-Lago to alert them they were executing the warrant. After the search, the federal agents hauled away roughly 10 more boxes, a person with knowledge of the operation said. … "Palm Beach County State Attorney DAVE ARONBERG , a Democrat who has spoken with local law enforcement about the incident, said it 'is a gross exaggeration' to call the search a raid. 'This was a very orderly, smooth search of a home conducted by plain clothes FBI agents, escorted by Secret Service agents,' he said. … "The warrant refers to the Presidential Records Act and possible violation of law over handling of classified information, according to Christina Bobb, a lawyer for the former president. The warrant hasn't been made public." POLITICO: "[Bobb] said that Florida magistrate Judge BRUCE REINHART signed off on the warrant that allowed FBI agents to search the Trump residence in Florida. Agents searched multiple areas of the property, Bobb told POLITICO, but she could not verify where the materials were confiscated from." Washington Post: "[Bobb] said [Trump's] lawyers engaged in discussions with the Justice Department this spring over materials held at Mar-a-Lago. At that time, the former president's legal team searched through two to three dozen boxes in a storage area, hunting for documents that could be considered presidential records, and turned over several items that might meet the definition, she said. "In June, Bobb said, she and Trump lawyer EVAN CORCORAN met with JAY BRATT , the chief of the counterintelligence and export control section at the Justice Department, along with several investigators. Trump stopped by the meeting as it began to greet the investigators but was not interviewed. The lawyers showed the federal officials the boxes, and Bratt and the others spent some time looking through the material. "Bobb said the Justice Department officials commented that they did not believe the storage unit was properly secured, so Trump officials added a lock to the facility. When FBI agents searched the property Monday, Bobb added, they broke through the lock that had been added to the door. … "One adviser who spoke to Trump after the search said the former president sounded buoyed by the development, bragging about how many Republicans were supporting him publicly , and said Trump thought the search would help him politically in the end." Lordy, NYT says there are tapes: "After Mr. Bratt and other officials visited Mar-a-Lago, they subpoenaed the Trump Organization for a copy of Mar-a-Lago's surveillance tapes , a person with knowledge of the matter said. The company complied, turning over the tapes to the government. "Mr. Trump's lawyers also sifted through his records at Mar-a-Lago to determine whether he still was holding onto anything classified or sensitive. In the course of that process, Mr. Trump's team made statements to the Justice Department about what Mr. Trump had returned. "But in recent weeks, officials came to question whether that information was entirely accurate — and whether Mr. Trump continued to store sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago, one of the people said. It is unclear whether the department conveyed that concern to Mr. Trump's team." MEANWHILE, AT THE WHITE HOUSE — "Biden, trying to tout his policies, faces a familiar intruder: Trump," by WaPo's Matt Viser POLITICAL VIOLENCE WATCH — The FBI search of Mar-a-Lago has been cast in increasingly apocalyptic terms by Trump's supporters. What is notable about the response is the narrowing gap between the violent rhetoric used on extremist pro-Trump forums and the language used by top Republican office holders. Extremely ugly in online fringes: "In the minutes after news of the search broke, users on pro-Trump forums like TheDonald, a Reddit-like website that was used to provide logistics before the Capitol riot, urged immediate violence, asking questions like 'When does the shooting start?' and calling upon Trump to summon militias," report NBC News' Ben Collins and Ryan Reilly . "The most popular comment responding to the news, upvoted over 1,200 times, was simply the words 'lock and load.'" But not much better from elites: "In mainstream GOP quarters, extremism trackers say, the nudges toward violence are more subtle, with statements delegitimizing the government as a 'police state' or a 'banana republic' that must be opposed, starting with the dismantling of federal agencies," WaPo's Hannah Allam reports . "Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS (R) called the search 'the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime's political opponents.'" Judge's safety at risk: Predictably, Magistrate Reinhart, the judge who signed the warrant, is being targeted. "Online pro-Trump groups spread his contact information and, as of Tuesday afternoon, the judge's official page was no longer accessible on the court's website," Allam notes. "I see a rope around his neck," read a comment under a picture of the judge on TheDonald, according to CNN's Donie O'Sullivan . More on Reinhart from Politico's Gary Fineout Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade , Eugene Daniels , Ryan Lizza .
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment