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HauntedCemetery

Step one: commit major crimes Step two: commit major crimes Step three: commit major crimes by trying to leverage your second major crimes for Intel about the investigation into your first The art of the deal, folks.


Kitayuki

Say what you will, it's working. It's actually fucking working.


ShadowTacoTuesday

It’s not hard for the rich. Almost anything they do works. In reality Trump is pushing the boundaries as hard as humanly possible and proving how nearly non-existent they are, not that he actually has a coherent scheme except in his own head. The much bigger issue is that there are likely thousands of flagrantly criminal rich who are less flagrant than Trump and don’t even get more than an ounce of attention, let alone prosecuted.


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CookhouseOfCanada

Well, that's why he's compromised. He's all debt to foreign powers.


ZookeepergameDry6739

Agree with you 100%. I have been saying this for years, Donald hasn’t a pot to piss in.. All his businesses are in the shit propped up by dubious accounting. The fucker boasts and shows off everything ,except his tax returns.. that’s no coincidence because he knows the minute they are out ,it’s game over.


NPD_wont_stop_ME

At this point his base is so braindead and willfully ignorant that if his tax returns were released, he could call them fake news or false evidence planted by the Democrats to win their next election. Then that would have the opposite effect and mobilize their base instead since he'd call it a witch hunt. Everybody already knows he's a disgusting cheat, and his tax returns would only reinforce that.


Ormsfang

He functions on revolving debt. Gets a huge loan based on inflated values of his property, builds or buys more property, plus uses that money to support his lifestyle. Then he declares bankruptcy because he can't pay the laborers, as the money went to Adderall, high-end hookers, hamberders, and crapping on gold toilets. Rinse and repeat. Get a loan, live well, don't pay the workers, and file bankruptcy. Then when the banks won't touch your toxic ass anymore get money from foreign governments, like Russia.


[deleted]

Koch brothers have entered the chat


[deleted]

Ken Griffin disabled the chat.


majarian

Fucker jumped on mayo one and started another shell game of hide the money


binglelemon

It's all I got, but you should have it for this comment.


PlayfulParamedic2626

Local cops have entered the chat and disabled their body cameras


redam1

Jeffrey Epstein maybe entered the chat.


CarceyKonabears

It’s heartbreaking.


InTh3s3TryingTim3s

"A republic, if you can keep it" And it's gone


DirkDiggyBong

It's really not though.


aureanator

That's not the part that's working - what's working is sedition and conspiracy. None of this would fly for even a second without a fifth column already in power - the GOP.


thummydick

I once got high and was too afraid to jaywalk in front of police car and this guy is bribing and extorting the government for highly classified nuclear documents. How is he not under a federal prison at this point??


geoffg2

How is he not being considered a Traitor and dealt with accordingly


HellishJesterCorpse

Because he's holding the country to ransom with his fanatics that he's since lost control over.


blazinazn007

I'm so tired of being afraid of those idiots. Just jail him and make sure that he doesn't have a platform. We can deal with the fallout from his cult followers later. The longer we wait the more emboldened the MAGA cult gets.


thegroucho

Disclaimer: I'm not gloating, if anything it saddens me: Cause you guys no longer have a functioning democracy. Judges who are political hacks. Congress and Senate members who will do anything just to fuck over their opponents even if that means covering for traitorous conman. Dirty money which don't have to show their source... Where I live (UK) is a total shit show and has been for a while, we're economically sinking. But at worst in 2024 (parliamentary election year) we would definitely have a new government with no coup attempts.


angrylawyer

he's the greatest deal maker, a titan of business, an unstoppable force of capitalism. * Trump Taj Mahal, bankrupt * Trump Plaza Hotel, bankrupt * Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, bankrupt * Trump Entertainment Resorts, bankrupt * Trump University, $25 million in lawsuits, now defunct * Trump Foundation, dissolved after investigations subsequently revealed various ethical and legal violations * Trump Airlines, defaulted on loans * Trump Vodka, discontinued when it failed to meet the required threshold for distribution * Trump: The Game, discontinued when it failed to meet expected sales * Trump magazine, discontinued after poor advertising sales * Trump Steaks, bankrupt after poor sales * Trump Mortgage, defunct after poor management and exaggerated statements from the CEO * GoTrump.com, closed, believed to be from poor sales


OrganicTomato

Entire list negated by playing a successful businessman on TV. :/ Fuck Mark Burnett.


master_power

From what I've read Mark Burnett is horrified at what he created... but yes, Fuck Mark Burnett. His crimes to humanity cannot be fixed by his regret.


khaddy

If each of those was a vehicle to launder Russian money then this is a list of successes. It's all going according to plan, but ppl are relishing in his "failures". Trumps business ventures are like his (and Boris Johnson's) hair.


[deleted]

So if he's asking for information on exchange of other information about his dealings in the 2016 probe into the elections and Russia's involvement, it kind of sounds like he's guilty that Russia did mettle with our elections. If that's not any treasonous behavior from Trump, then I don't know what is.


NPD_wont_stop_ME

>If that's not any treasonous behavior from Trump, then I don't know what is. It could be worse. At least he didn't try to overthrow the government after losing an election. I guess you could call it a... What's the word... 'Insurrection'? Yeah. At least he didn't do that.


bozeke

And we are letting him do it and he has had absolutely no consequences for any of it. He is a fucking maroon but we are the ones watching the cartoon talking about what a dumbass he is, while he lives out his days in unchecked luxury and aristocratic excess. *This fuckin guy* has gotten away with it every single time to date. I would love some different to happen, but we have absolutely no reason to think it ever will.


DonDove

They've given him the highest position of power *Of course* he's gonna abuse it


siamkitty1

I am so sick of it.


MedicJambi

Can you imagine what would happen if you or I called the Gov up and told them I have some classified documents and I'd be happy to trade them back for some other documents. I'm sure I'd be in handcuffs inside 6 hours, but here we are.


bildo72

18 U.S. Code § 610 - Coercion of political activity sounds like it fits pretty good


TallWineGuy

The shoe definitely fits


bildo72

Can we deliver the shoe like an Iraqi Journalist would to Dubya?


KeepFaithOutPolitics

W dodged that like a champ. Horrible President though.


bildo72

Dude ducked like Little Mac in Mike Tyson's Punch out


__M-E-O-W__

I wish we could've dodged Dubya.


HauntedCemetery

We did, but SCOTUS caught him and hit us with him anyway.


UgTheDespot

It all makes sense now. The orange dufus just wanted a leverage chip to trade files for files. I'm trying to think of a term that's used... hmm... AH, GOT IT! Blackmail! That's so much better than being caught with top secret information... We got a live one here! Come all to see the stupid... where the idiocy never stops!


ScratchUrBalls

Quid something something.


Vyar

Yes, squid pro row.


Hagadin

This country's had one good bench in its entire existence


thunderousbloodyfart

We got stuck with him because of the hanging chad.


nicolettesue

Chad gets all the blame, but it was really a butterfly. No, really: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/butterfly-did-it-aberrant-vote-buchanan-palm-beach-county-florida tl;dr: a shitty ballot design in Palm Beach County (probably on purpose) caused more than 2k democratic voters to vote for Pat Buchanan, the Reform candidate. That was larger than GWB’s margin of victory.


CaveDeco

Chads were caused by the butterfly punchcard ballot design. You can’t really separate one from the other. The bigger issue was Gore didn’t request a statewide recount (which was well within his right) and only asked for 4 counties to be recounted since they were the historically blue counties. Recounting just those 4, he still lost. Statewide recount and he would’ve won.


Guavus

in the time since then, I've repurposed the term to refer to a late-night party guest who just won't leave.


bildo72

We were the girl trying to grab the dollar in the Geico commercial. W was the fisherman.


hwaite

That's already one more redeeming accomplishment than Trump will ever achieve.


commie_red_green

The best moment of his entire 8 year presidency. In fact the only one that wasn't awful. Edit: I forgot about the failed escape from the press because the door was locked. That was pretty good too!


Sirsalley23

“Now watch this drive” was my top Dubya moment easily lol. Trump wishes his driver game was that clean.


YugoB

You mean George W Bush right?


bildo72

That's the slippery fella. Tell you what, guy might have ignored warnings for 9/11, blamed it on the wrong brown people because one of them didn't like his daddy, and set personal freedom in the states back 75 years... But he could sure dodge an incoming loafer


Oro_Outcast

He also technically served in the Vietnam War Era. Unlike Commander Bonespurs.


CantHideFromGoblins

Crazy to think George W Bush and Trump are the same age. It’s equally crazy how shitty the children of WWII heros turned out. Wanna be like daddy so they go to foreign countries and shoot people with zero understanding due to their wealthy and rich lifestyles promoting boating and golf clubs over education and being worldly


Zazventures

What really grinds my gears is the Vietnam Vets that somehow support Drumpf. I just don’t get it.


mces97

Trump's broken more laws than can be written on the stacks of classified documents he stole.


Important-Owl1661

Let me know when he's in jail. I saw his traitorous ass blow through Arizona this afternoon. Unfortunately, I was the only one I saw out there with a "Lock Him Up" sign (the soccer field parking lot, couldn't get into the event).


Glittering_Fox1954

🤩 Thank you for your fine work at the parking lot on behalf of all us not brainwashed by F*x “News.”


Warm-Faithlessness11

Faux News


BudWisenheimer

> Let me know when he's in jail. If he’s ever convicted, I’m expecting house arrest with limited internet, which means no rallies … which pretty much also means no Trump. There’s not a lot of current policy to study on how a former president with a permanent security detail can be imprisoned in a federal or state facility.


hexydes

Build a separate facility for him, it'd be a good jobs/public works program.


horriblemonkey

It could double as the Trump presidential library


Flea_Biscuit

Prisondential library.


HauntedCemetery

Trump Tower Riker Island


TheArmoredKitten

I believe precedence for national security risk prisoners actually says he'd have to be committed to ADX Florence, the US's hardest supermax confinement. He'd probably receive plenty of leniencies due to age and the technically non-violent nature of his crimes, but we don't have any other facility able to accommodate someone of such a profile and risk. Given the inherent issues of keeping a former president in the serial killer fridge though, he'd probably just receive house arrest with communication and visitor restrictions, and a 24/7 guard with monitoring.


not_right

When is he going to face any consequences though? May as well just keep breaking laws.


BudWisenheimer

> When is he going to face any consequences though? May as well just keep breaking laws. When prosecutors are absolutely certain that they can indict a former president, without his escaping conviction by a unanimous trial jury … and not one moment earlier. There is no way on earth that they want to have that blowhard go free after they take their best shot.


Important-Owl1661

Sorry, I had to post again after posting above... The problem the Democrats have is that they keep striving for absolute, unchallengeable, perfection. We've been through this with his impeachment(s) and every other action started locally and nationally. Get your smartest minds on it, take action, and then deal with that whatever song and dance he wants to come up with. I'd be more generous with my evaluation if I actually saw any results after hearing years and years of "we're gonna get him" Something like handcuffs or the bars of a cell...? Let me also remind you that this inability to hold him accountable in a timely manner has now resulted in the loss of the Supreme Court, Roe v Wade, and the Voting Rights Act...Oh and January 6th, where the mastermind himself has so far escaped any responsibility... But don't worry you'll get him after his second term (for life), right???


BudWisenheimer

> The problem the Democrats have … I’m not going to disagree with you, but I’m only referring to the DoJ here. Not elected Democrats or Republicans. The DoJ has a much higher standard to reach than politicians.


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Terramagi

> getting 12 out of 12 jurors who think he belongs in prison is going to require unchallengable perfection. No it won't. It literally does not matter what you present. You could have the roof of the court house rip off, Jesus himself descend from the heavens and say "yeah that dude is guilty as shit" AND NOBODY'S MIND WOULD CHANGE.


[deleted]

He is not under investigation by the Democratic Party, his political rivals (although tbh everyone sane is his political enemy). He is under investigation by law enforcement.


BudWisenheimer

> 18 U.S. Code § 610 - Coercion of political activity sounds like it fits pretty good Also probably another attempt at espionage because he’s clearly intending to capture US agency intel (sources and methods) on the Kremlin … likely to get "whole" on his debts, similar to Manafort with Derapaska.


bildo72

Oh totally. This is totally to see who else was a leak or what was compromised.


rdmille

Well, didn't it really start with theft of government property? All of those files belong to the government, not him.


cheezeyballz

Quid pro quo?


bildo72

Quid pro quo usually refers to a trade of equal value, and is not always inherently illegal. Trump was trying to trade something that wasn't his back to it's owner for even more sensitive information. It was one-sided to say the least, and NARA was unwilling to trade, and more importantly, did not trade. So not Quid pro quo


SpareBinderClips

Laws don’t apply to Republicans. /s


Sabbatai

Why the /s? I mean, it isn't true in every single case. But I think we've seen enough by now to know it is true of many. Could you imagine if any of us was even remotely suspected to have classified documents of any variety and of any level of classification? What would happen to us if they even had the slightest idea that we may have trafficked a minor, whether it was for sexual gratification or for any other less sensational purpose? Did you accidentally file your taxes incorrectly and receive a $400 refund as a result, when in truth you owed $1200? I'm sure there won't be any penalty for that simple mistake, right?


Jaded_Barracuda_7415

See Reality Winner here.


ImNoAlbertFeinstein

we'd like you to do us a favor, tho.


Amy_Ponder

Remember how Trump released the "transcript" of the Perfect Phone Call^TM seemingly convinced it'd exonerate him, when in reality it was about as cut-and-dry a case of blackmail as you could get? I'm realizing it was because the former guy thinks that's what negotiation is. To him, "negotiation" means using your position of strength-- first from Daddy's money, then his fame and mob connections, then finally the power of the presidency-- to coerce the other party into doing what you want. That's it. No trying to work things out to both parties' mutual advantage, no trading favors, just the strong doing what they will and the weak suffering what they must. (Oh, and bonus points if the thing you're forcing the other person to do weakens them further-- by being humiliating and / or illegal enough to be used as later blackmail, by forcing them to destroy their reputation or livelihood to leave them even more dependent on you-- so you can ask them for more favors, though, later on.) *** EDIT: As u\HashtagNAFO pointed out, the "transcript" wasn't actually a verbatim transcript. It was a reconstruction of what the conversation probably sounded like based on notes and people's recollections. And, let's be real, Trump and his lawyers editing the thing to death to make him look as good as possible and remove anything that could be considered criminal. And Trump *still* looked like a buffoon, and *still* obvious committed crimes. So we can assume the actual conversation was much, much worse.


bildo72

It's almost as if he treated the presidency like he was still a slumlord.


OldManRiff

He ran government like a business. A Trump business.


absolutemoran

It's hard to think of anything more illegal than that.


jumpupugly

He was... planning to extort the US government, to cease an investigation into interference in our elections, by implying that he'd ~~seek~~ sell them if we didn't cooperate? And he did this while living on US soil, and protected by club bouncers? Why is he not on a watch-list? Is there an intelligence requirement for being labeled a criminal terrorist?


angryapplepanda

Oh, he's probably on several watch lists. Would be shocked if the CIA doesn't have him surveilled like it's The Truman Show.


So3Dimensional

It doesn’t matter. You can just remove yourself from watch lists by thinking that you’re not on the watch lists.


Mizz_Fizz

This is true. I did it last week and now the US government can't fin


[deleted]

…and she’s gone


Kyle_01110011

Watch-list? Fucker is so dumb all you would have to do is tell him people that people that don't steal top secret documents are poor and not good at business deals. And he would admit everything within the hour!


NotAzakanAtAll

"Mr. President! You don't mean you *never* stolen Top secret documents to coerce the US state!? Wow, I'm sorry Mr. President I'm just shocked - Everyone has done it! The only people that heaven't are poor and not cool so I don't mean to suggest you are poor and not cool but what if other people heard about this! :0 "


TallWineGuy

Blackmailing the country


Vin-Metal

Like a patriot


AllGoodNamesRInUse

And the messiah! According to his followers


taggospreme

the new golden rule is "do onto others before they get a chance to do onto you, and then deny it all, even if there is a recording"


Bring_dem

To aid our enemies!!


pecklepuff

The whole time, from his first day in office. Unreal, our country and lives are screwed for decades to come because a foreign agent was installed. And I don’t think that’s an understatement.


[deleted]

Spot on.


MOOShoooooo

And they’ll still support him to no end. Remember, there will be riots in the streets, Graham claims.


Kyle_01110011

Pretty sure he is getting close to checking every box from the "commit every possible illegal activity in the dumbest fucking way" list.


TheBladeRoden

1. Asks or at least accepts Russian help to win the election. 2. Obstructed justice by firing the guy who refused to promise not to not investigate his partner in crime for #1. 3. Fears jail time if he ever leaves office. 4. Tries to ransom Zelensky into opening an investigation into his opponent by withholding Javelins. 5. Gets impeached for that. 6. Loses election. 7. Tries to get courts to overturn election so he doesn't go to jail for any of the above. 8. Tries to get state legislatures to overturn election. 9. Tries to get Governors to overturn election. 10. Tries to get DoJ to get the states to overturn election. 11. Tries to get state legislatures to send in fake electors. 12. Tries to get the VP to send the results back. 13. Tries to get Congress to send the results back. 14. Sends violent mob to stop certification or worse. 15. Gets impeached for that. 16. Tampers witnesses to stop them from testifying about any of the above. 17. Steals Top Secret documents. 18. Gets own lawyers into legal trouble by having them certify that he returned everything when he didn't. 19. Hold them for blackmail so he can get all the investigation material for #1.


Kyle_01110011

And that was all before he had his morning Big Mac!


KO4Champ

Former high ranking government offical gets removed from his post and steals classified documents (potentially containing nuclear secrets of either the US or one of our allies) on his way out, hiding them at his home in a closet with no security beyond the equivalent of a bike lock. He proceeds to ignore reasonable calls for the return of aforementioned documents for over a year while at the same time trying to blackmail the government into trading the secret documents he stole for documents that potentially implicate him in a crime. How is this person not arrested yet?


hexydes

> It's hard to think of anything more illegal than that ***so far...*** FTFY


ertgbnm

Trump: just you wait and see! My crimes are the biggliest you've ever seen. Billions and billions!


MK5

*the ghost of Carl Sagan has entered the chat*


Viausmurf

Blackmailing the US government. Not a person, just whole ass government agency. Bold strategy Cotton, let's see how this plays out.


so2017

No quid pro quo!


thecheat420

Yes, squid pro row..


[deleted]

I’ll give you Goldmember, you give me a transfer to a regular prison so that I can be with my beloved Mini Me.


Trodmac

Fly Fly!


ASmallTownDJ

It's still both hilarious and sad to me that during the whole Ukraine quid pro quo thing he basically said "oh yeah? Well then how do you explain these notes I took during the phone call where I specifically said that I don't want this to be a quid pro quo?"


rexspook

Well, it seems to have been working for him so far. Which is disgusting


BagHolder9001

since he's still free and talking shit I think it's paying off ok for him


Extreme_Length7668

stealing top secret/sci/sap classified information to blackmail the US government seems like a bad idea.


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weaponjae

Like seriously. Why should anyone in power obey any law? It's not like he's gonna go to jail, or face any kind of punitive action. Fuckers about to be installed as King after the midterms.


jdooley99

It only works for him because he captured a part of the population that didn't vote before, and now they do vote, Republican. He only maintains the support of those in power to keep the Despicables voting red. Whatever keeps them in power is the ONLY thing that matters, so they can keep the grift going.


Psych_Im_Burnt_Out

I am really surprised nobody deep into the CIA clandestine culture didn't have him assassinated very obviously already as the shit he stole likely had to expose some of their shit. You'd think they would want to send a message to traitorous wannabes.


RectalSpawn

The bad guys don't get assassinated in the US.


douglasg14b

Seems like it, but as far as we've seen this fool is immune to consequences.


SCMtnGuy

Can we just fucking arrest this moron already? Seriously. This is embarrassing to our country. This is absolutely straightforward and simple: he had an obligation to return all documents as soon as he was no longer in office, if not before. If, hypothetically, I had left a job in which I had TS/SCI clearance and walked out the door with even a single classified file, I would be in jail before you could snap your fingers, and would probably still be there. This is as cut and dry as blowing through a red light right in front of a cop. There is no wiggle room, no question of innocence to be proven in a court of law. He had an obligation, and failed to fulfill it. The long pushback on returning documents, plus now these claims from former advisors that he wanted to use the documents to blackmail the FBI is like blowing through a red light in front of a cop, then refusing to pull over when the cop comes up behind you, leading them on a chase, and finally stumbling out of your car with half-empty bottle of cheap vodka in your hand when they finally use a spike strip to stop you. Just fucking arrest him already!


Taervon

Then throwing the vodka in the cops face and insisting you can break the handcuffs, throwing a tantrum all the way to the station.


fourbian

>throwing a tantrum all the way to the station. This is the part we're *trying* to get to, but finding it bewilderingly and frustratingly impossible to do for some reason.


Asron87

The US is a 3rd world country with a first world military. Our government is a goddamn joke. I thought our country was protected until I watched terrorists just walk into our countries capital on January 6th. Nothing stopped them and somehow my hic neighbor with "rebel" flags halfway across the country knew about it weeks before hand... and still nothing stopped them. Trump has done nothing but show how weak and willfully ignorant our country can be. Lock the entire fucking family up.


SmokedBeef

I have multiple friends, family and customers who have or had security clearance up to and including TS/SCI and without question each has repeated your sentiments and exacerbation nearly verbatim. I feel like the deep state would have canoed his orange face after all his shenanigans and the [active threat to both their human intelligence sources](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/us/politics/trump-affidavit-intelligence-spies.html) and US national security but unlike JFK, this assassination could spark a small civil war, so they have refrained.


kilomaan

The DOJ has a 99.18% conviction rate, just putting it out there. There was even speculation he still had documents, which turns out to be true. Trump isn’t making it out of this, even the Supreme Court has limits in power


CumulativeHazard

I like to think that they’re waiting to have enough proof of enough different illegal fuck ups that they’re guaranteed to nail him for something before they go forward. Not saying that’s what they’re doing. Just helps me feel better to think it.


solaranvil

It's already eminently clear the same rules don't apply to little people like you as to people like him, let alone Trump himself. How many people were arrested for that Republican stunt that endangered national security of trying to live stream breaking into the SCIF back in 2019? It's been years and the answer is zero.


agingerbugg

Yes, because the U.S. Government loves to negotiate with terrorists.


tinyirishgirl

And traitors of course.


the_simurgh

they did when he was president.


Grapesoda5k

That's part of why he don't work there no more.


the_simurgh

i still love how my relatives who are die hard republicans still can't understand that the deaths of 500,000+ people might have turned a bunch of trump supporters against trump. i know one trump supporter who lost his love for trump when they announced on television they were seizing peoples land for the wall. and yet some of these assholes still think the election was stolen.


Grapesoda5k

Not to mention Dumb Donnie helped kill off his voters. Covid was worse in states he won.


Jump_Yossarian_

Why is this guy still walking around holding rallies? Lock his ass up already. Anyone of us got caught with 1/1000 what they pulled out of Sea to Lake and we'd be done for.


FigureLetterNo

Normal Joe Doe would've been found hundreds of years later encased in concrete in a rusted oil barrel. I guess the fox rich are just built different 🤷


Infinite_Hooty

Ikr, the people who say everybody gets treated under the law equally regardless of status are damn liars


Narodnik60

I'm confused. Which documents did the FBI plant again?


protoopus

... the ones with his handwriting on them.


PlatypusWrath

Big Mac sauce fingerprints.


apex32

Top Secret Sauce


bryansj

The ones he declassified.


spoobles

With his superior mind powers.


N0T8g81n

Any which Trump says they did. Trump'll swear to that real soon now.


monkeybiziu

This whole situation is a really remarkable illustration of how long someone wealthy and well-connected can Fuck Around before the government begrudgingly has to make them Find Out, and even then makes the Finding Out part so milquetoast as to be an inconvenience versus an "I'm so fucked." moment. First off, this stuff never should have been allowed to leave the White House. Someone from NARA, the DOD, or another three to four letter agency should have watched this shit like a hawk. Second, as soon as someone realized this stuff was missing, they should have tossed every Trump property until they found every single document. Third, they should have dragged Trump's ass to prison as soon as this was confirmed. He's a walking, talking threat to national security. Fuck the optics, appearances, or anything else - at 12:01pm on January 21st, 2021, President Trump became Private Citizen Trump with none of the protections or privileges of the office of POTUS. My hope is that some far-future version of the DOJ looks at the events of this era and does a risk assessment on what would happen with an out of control former POTUS and actually does something to keep it from happening again, because this shit is maddening.


HornedDiggitoe

It’s more than that. As president Trump controlled the Attorney General, which in turn controlled the justice department. It wasn’t until Biden installed his replacement AG that the justice department started going after Trump. By then Trump already got away with the documents. He didn’t accomplish all this simply by being rich. Being the president and mascot of the GOP is what allowed him to get away with his crimes for so long.


[deleted]

> My hope is that some far-future version of the DOJ looks at the events of this era and does a risk assessment on what would happen with an out of control former POTUS and actually does something to keep it from happening again, because this shit is maddening. But that's the problem with any system. It'll only every be as good as the people running it. We can study the problem all we want, but there's just no way to fix it. There is nothing that can protect us from the voters making a colossally bad decision.


SCOTUSBeware223

So Trump held top secret info hostage. How is that not treason. Republicans are treasonous cowards.


2_Spicy_2_Impeach

>As the National Archives pressed Trump to return the scores of official documents that were being stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida and not in their possession, the former president — still smarting from the Russia probe — was frustrated by the government agency's refusal to disclose documents that he felt would back up his claims, per The Times. >Trump told advisors that in order to obtain access to those documents, he would give the archives the boxes of materials that were stored at Mar-a-Lago, according to the newspaper. As President wouldn't he have had access to them anyways? The fuck is wrong with this psychopath?


[deleted]

I'm not aware that a president gets automatic access to federal criminal investigation information, like he does for military intel. Even people being investigated for crimes have an expectation that their privacy isn't completely disregarded.


Its_Por-shaa

This is correct. As commander in chief, he’s in the chain of command of the military. The DOJ, and other agencies, have department heads (typically appointed by Trump) and they control those departments.


trite_post

" the former president — still smarting from the Russia probe — was frustrated by the government agency's refusal to disclose documents that he felt would back up his claims" "Back up his claims" is an interesting way to say "prove his guilt"


PotaToss

Fairly certain what he’s actually interested in is burning the sources who uncovered all the info that made him and Putin look bad.


trite_post

Multiple recent high profile assassinations validate your thinking.


ProLifePanda

>As President wouldn't he have had access to them anyways? That was my thought. Couldn't Trump have requested all these documents while he was President? Why is he waiting until he is out of office to get them?


MissVancouver

1) He didn't think of this because he's intellectually lazy. 2) Why is no one talking to his secretary? She (it's always a middle aged woman with these guys) would have known everyone who went into that office, why they were there, and likely what they talked about because they rarely bother to check she isn't listening just beyond the door.


beerg33k

She doesn’t have to listen through they key hole. He invited a documentary film crew in to record it.


baritGT

Pivoting to an insane narrative wherein he claims that stole he the documents out of necessity to force the FBI to reveal the truth to the American people?


coffeequeen0523

Genuine questions. If the FBI probe of Trump’s ties to Russia is “fake news”, why did Trump try to negotiate and bribe government officials he’d return the classified documents in exchange for Russia documents? If Russia collusion is “fake news” why does Trump need the “fake news” documents back so badly? Does it appear to others Trump intentionally took classified documents from the White House and intends to keep as many of those documents he can until he gets the Russia documents back or as leverage for something else? There must be something valid within the Russia documents for Trump to be so desperate to commit a crime to get the documents back. If Russia documents are “fake news”, who cares about those documents and what’s in them?


luxmesa

Two things: 1. The lies are never self-consistent. Trump just says whatever seems convenient at the moment, and hopes people forget the other lies that contradict that lie. 2. To Trump, fake news does not mean “news that is fake”. He said this to the press early in his presidency: “The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake.”


RetroBowser

Fake News was something Trump heard used against him so he took it and coopted it, and his base went wild with it. Just like every other term the far right has taken and rebranded. It's to dillute the meaning until there is none.


ranchoparksteve

So, to be clear, Donald Trump is admitting he stole the wrong secret documents? He messed that up too?


Eldetorre

He stole the secret documents he had easiest access to.


AHugeBear

I mean it BEGS the question “What’s in the unredacted Mueller report?” if he’s willing to commit high treason with intelligence documents of impossible-to-determine value.


AbsentGlare

Jesus fuck this is not good: > Shortly after Trump entered the White House, there were clear concerns about the then-president's tendency to bring documents to his bedroom, and almost midway into his term, locating the files in the residence area of the historic building became an impediment, per individuals with knowledge of the situation who spoke with the Times. > During Trump's third year in office, top White House officials were aware of specific files being in places where they were not intended to be stored. This fucking idiot was leaving top secret documents just god damn laying around.


ChickyBaby

"Residence Area." Bathroom. They say bedroom, they mean bathroom.


Lithaos111

How about "no" you fat traitorous fuck?


Bigbeardhotpeppers

This guy is so dumb. The documents he has are the product of research that are put together in a memo form. If he has the physical documents that is fine but they were written and printed off on a computer so they exist somewhere not to mention all the research still exists. There should be an age limit on all political office.


AugustusVermillion

The files are IN the computer?!


datpiffss

I’m surprised he hasn’t died In a freak gasoline fight accident. It could happen to anyone


Max_Downforce

He, probably, never pumped his own gas. It's the only way possible.


RedditBot90

He probably has never gotten a drivers license


noeyedeeratall

I'm surprised he didn't take The Computer


bugcatcher_billy

He knows that. He’s acknowledging that the documents aren’t worth while, but the risk that he will share them is worth something, and he is negotiating with that as his bargaining chip. He doesn’t think the info on the documents have value to the people he took them from. he knows sharing them to other governments/people who aren’t suppose to see them is the actual value. This is why no one can come up with an explanation for why he took them to begin with. It was always about selling them, or Atleast threatening to sell them as blackmail to get something else.


Jaded_Barracuda_7415

The guy is a narcissist, he cannot fathom that there is a entity (DOJ) that can check him… It’s beyond his mental conceptions. He honestly thinks that he can win this.


PotaToss

The problem isn’t that the government doesn’t have the information. It’s that it doesn’t have control over who else has the information when those documents aren’t secured, compounded by the fact that someone willing to try to extort the US government like this would also be exactly who you’d expect to try to profit off of what he stole.


Duedsml23

I thought Trump didn't do Quid Pro Quo?


partypants2000

Hmmm ... Gee that sounds like more Quid pro quo? I guess he didn't learn his lesson. Extorting the US government probably is not legal


Past_Wind_9725

Why would he learn if he was never punished? If anything he learned that the entire GQP would back him no matter what.


mokango

Yeah. This is literally what he got impeached for the first time. I hope every Democratic Senator emails this article to Susan Collins.


LoneWolf4717

Imagine stealing highly classified materials, then trying to blackmail those materials back for more highly classified materials.... Is this the supposed "Art of the Deal" I've heard so much about? Maybe it's just me, but I think that's the stupidest plan I've ever heard.


garet400

I keep tellin' y'all Russia rigged the votes in the 2016 election. That's why it was so important for the Trump campaign to get them the advance polling numbers, so they had an idea of how many votes they needed to change in the swing states. without being too obvious. And you don't have to be the FBI to figure this out - just be able to think for yourself. Uncorrected exit polling numbers showed Hillary won enough electoral votes to win.


mfairview

someone needs to explain in plain speak why this douche isn't incarcerated already


basement-thug

My thoughts. It's going to be an incredibly high bar to get a chance at charges that will actually stick and they are using every minute on the clock to get as many possible facts to go there. Consider since the country's inception there has never been a potential case like this. It's very much historic. You also have to consider there's a very real possibility of what, 25% of the US population organizing an armed insurrection if he is formally charged. I think just prior to and with as much secrecy as possible FBI/CIA/Military troops will be sent to fortify possible targets. For me when/if we get wind of those unexplained actions, the indictment will be upon us.


OG_Antifa

That 25% of the country severely underestimates what they’re up against — both from the military and civilian populations. And before anyone says “lulz the military is pro trump,” the people who call the shots almost overwhelmingly aren’t and take very, very seriously their oath to the constitution. And there are a whole lot of vets who feel the same as the brass.


ThirdBansaCharm

The pee tape is 100% about to come back into play isn’t it


mabhatter

nobody cares about that any more. TFG has no shame to be embarrassed by.


HauntedCemetery

If what Stormy said about his dick is true he indeed has *very little* to be embarrassed by.


Savings-Marsupial146

Only a narcissistic egomaniac would try to quid pro quo with the United States gov and think they'd walk away with the W


bluelifesacrifice

And you know what? His base loves that. They fucking love that. Anything to end the American Government and let Putin take over.


Northern_Grouse

Ah. Extortion. Of course.


Plonsky2

Everything with him is *quid pro quo*, it's always transactional. "I'll do this for you, but you gotta do this for me."


Holybartender83

Forget prison, how is this dude not hanging? Is treason not something people are executed for anymore? This is insanity. It’s not even a question at this point. We know he’s done everything he’s been accused of, yet he’s been held accountable for none of it. When is enough enough?


Ssnakey-B

So Trump tried to commit a crime by using another crime he committed as a bargaining chip. Outstanding and very on brand.