DOJ, Donald Trump and a Special Master report & review status.
Any preconceived notion that Judge Dearie wouldn’t be fair & impartial. I think have been solidly dismissed as uninformed malarkey. Nonetheless seeing him repeatedly call Trump out -it brings me life
In early September 2022 I attempted to explain the “if and this” scenarios that the Department of Justice contemplated, in advance of their filing for a Motion to Stay, and narrowly tailored their appealed to the classified documents.
Meaning I’m confident that the DOJ anticipated appeals, Trump’s various arguments and his adeptness of using the judicial system for his self betterment. In short when the DOJ did file their notice of appeal for a brief moment I might have said: “bejesus don’t be greedy —focus on the classified documents because enjoining investigators to cease using the classified documents was unconsciously asinine” —So I wasn’t being flippant when I explained that strategically the Government was on much stronger footing by bifurcating the classified versus nonclassified documents. Moreover as previously explained (not only accurately predicting one would likely be granted) I then tried to explain the benefits of the appointment of a special master (ICYMI you can read more here)
Which bring us to the “other” SDFL Civil Case & the special master…
It appears the special master review is on an expedited schedule track;
Part of the SOW concerning the special master is setting schedules. And while the parties initially had a large canyon between how long the Government and how long Trump thought this matter would take (you can read more here) it appears Judge Dearie isn’t wasting any time. That said there are two relatively important deadlines to watch:
September 26, 2022 the Government must submit a declaration and/or affidavit regarding the Detailed Property Inventory of items seized on August 8th
September 30, 2022 Trump must also submit an affidavit or declaration which includes any item not listed, specifically which privilege on which documents and
“A detailed list and description of any item that Plaintiff asserts was seized from the Premises on August 8, 2022, but is not listed in the Detailed Property Inventory.
This submission shall be Plaintiff’s final opportunity to raise any factual dispute as to the completeness and accuracy of the Detailed Property Inventory.
Trump’s “everything” is privilege assertion
In the nearly five years of covering Trump and the copious litigation —it’s safe to assume that what Trump might publicly say —I suppose in Trump’s never ending quest for the dopamine fix he constantly craves —he rarely if ever makes those same arguments in his court filings.
Because and I can not emphasize this enough; assuming arguendo Trump did have a “magical and mythical” declassification process that required solely on Trump’s brain power —then give that deluded dotard a gold star. The factually based reality is to date Trump has offered zero, not one scintilla of evidence that any of the classified documents had undergone the mandatory declassification review.
As you’ll note the Special Master review is being conducted in a fair and orderly process. Again this is something I had previously explained, read more here —so that silly notion that Judge Dearie is in the tank for Trump. I think we can factually conclude that assertion was hogwash.
No later than September 26, 2022, the government shall make available to Plaintiff and the Special Master copies of all Seized Materials in electronic format with each page bearing a unique Bates number. The government shall also provide an electronic spreadsheet that: (1) correlates the Bates numbers of each document with the pertinent item in the Detailed Property Inventory; (2) for each document, specifies whether the Privilege Review Team has designated the document as potentially privileged; and (3) for any such potentially privileged document, identifies the nature of the potential privilege.
The special master might have backfire on Trump…
Again if you read the September 22nd filing (or via my Scribd Account) there’s zero doubt that Trump’s imaginary & mythical powers would pull the wool over Judge Dearie’s eyes. The fatal problem with that narrative is, by all outward appearances Judge Dearie is being fair but “by the book”
I believe this is the second request from Judge Dearie to Trump and his absurd executive privilege claims. Repeat after me: specificity on specific documents and what “kind of” privilege are you asserting? Certainly Judge Dearie does not appear to subscribe to Trump’s absolute-immunity, absolute power to declassify docket, everything it’s covered by attorney client privilege.
No I’d say Judge Dearie is doing exactly what a lot of us hoped he would. Clearly throughout the recent filing, Special Master Dearie takes pains to articulate said expectation, specifically concerning scheduling of briefs. Perhaps I’m naive in giving Judge Dearie a very wide berth. But I’m genuinely exhausted by partisan arguments and continual ascribing of politics into the Federal Judicial system. Lady Justice has always been blind to politics. Yet her fidelity to the laws and facts are without equal.
As previously noted and this is pretty important, to date Trump has failed to provide any and I mean any evidence which would contemporaneously confirm Trump had initiated the “declassification” process. That fact was noted in the 11thCCOAS Ruling —which Held:
—the record contains no evidence that any of these records were declassified. And before the special master, Plaintiff resisted providing any evidence that he had declassified any of these documents.
When you read the aggregate list contained in the September 22, 2022 filing —one thing you’ll note Special Master Dearie zero appetite for Trump’s notorious jurisprudence-beclownment. If you do a word search you’ll note Dearie used “shall” some 23 times. While most might ignore that fact nugget -allow me to provide you with the subtext:
Judge Dearie is a serious pragmatic guardian of the Court
in reading past rulings (of which I’ve read 16 different cases) Judge Dearie has a no nonsense style. Meaning if you attempt to use tactics like Roy Cohn —well Judge Dearie will have exactly none of your subterfuge.
when I say no appetite to indulge Trump’s novel arguments. In the context of legal filings: “novel” is akin to “new, never tested”
Of course I’m not stating that Trump will win any of the legal arguments. I mean I think we can all agree that the 11thCCOAS roundly and wholesale rejected Trump’s arguments but they don’t call Trump: Mr. Vexatious Litigant for nothing.
I’m not saying that Trump can’t appeal the appeal. He might simply do that via an “en banc” the entire 11thCCOAs bench would hear the appeal “de novo” —which could add several months to the process. Especially if Trump ultimately]}}}decides to appeal to the SCOTUS. Since I’m feeling a little bit spicy, I’m comfortable saying if Trump ran all the way to SCOTUS, the ruling would likely be in the ballpark of a 7:2 ratio, in favor of the relief sought by the Government.
The ugly reality is Trump’s litigation strategy has always been the Triple D-dotard strategy. Occasionally he might get a judge to side with him —but on the issues he raised and the issues Trump has failed to raise. Particularly “on the merits” Trump’s current standing is at best untenable, or ar worst a complete disregard for our criminal justice system. I for one am glad the DOJ sought to narrowly appeal the craptastic district court’s order. Generally speaking the government appears to have been forthcoming with the Special Master.
“there was no evidence of declassification.”
Whereas Trump defers to; obfuscation, the predictable use of Trump’s ubiquitous “privileges” argument. Trump uses that as a cloak to shroud otherwise public documents, and when all else fails —just insinuate violence will happen if Donald J Trump is indicted. In a direct Question about a possible indictment. Trump responded “big problems" if he is indicted over his mishandling (and the unlawful retention & unlawful storage) of classified documents prior to his departure from the White House. Again it’s one thing to predict political violence —it’s a totally different thing when you fail to condemn political violence.
"I think if it happened, I think you’d have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before. I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it,"
“You know that the legacy media will say you're attempting to incite violence with that statement," Hewitt replied.
“That's not, that's not inciting. I'm just saying what my opinion is…I don't think the people of this country would stand for it."
Trump sure likes to say: “the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before…”
For Example a preliminary search of Trump’s (suspended) Twitter account, from 2018 to October 31, 2020 Trump tweeted that specific phrase some 15 times. Whereas the partial phrase: “never seen before” invoked some 34 times —but damnit I should have immediately sought to copyright my Triple D litigation strategy. See the December 8, 2021 article here , even more recently Time Magazine concurs.
My point is those falsely spreading both disinformation and misinformation concerning Special Master Dearie. They need to stop. The narrative about Trump declassifying the documents is (per the 11th CCOAS) a “red herring” but the 11thCCOAs at the time of publication stated unequivocally, Trump has failed yo produce any evidence that the classified documents had been properly declassified review. Also did you happen notice on page 5, Special Master Dearie explicitly stated (in writing) that his review requires “the assistance of the Honorable James Orenstein” —who also holds the prerequisite top secret security clearance.
For now the next date to look for is Separate 24 & 26 respectively. Not that my opinion matters but I was relatively delighted by the following paragraph on page 6 this is why I’ll always bristle at individuals who tend to consistently amplify harmful disinformation and/or misinformation. Ethics, something, something. Honor and Integrity, something something… as noted page 5 reads in part;
As a United States District Judge in active service, the undersigned will seek no additional compensation for performing the duties of Special Master in this action. The undersigned proposes that Judge Orenstein be compensated at the hourly rate of $500. The undersigned further proposes that the Special Master will provide the parties with monthly invoices, starting on October 1, 2022, setting forth the hours worked and expenses to be reimbursed
If Trump truly declassified the documents, where is the DC machine’s paper CYA trail…
In the past I think I’ve done a decent job explaining the various mandatory CFRs and Federal Laws concerning classified documents (see here, for additional info regarding PRA and/or FRA here, the NARA’s notifications) in short I was attempting to help you understand the review process of any classified document. Again a declassification review is largely predicated by the Agency’s own CFR and/or other legislation. There’s always a paper trial. Like always. Yet one has yet to be proffered as an affirmative defense aka
Trump’s ever evolving explanations, all of which strains credulity…
I think some might be confused by what is an affirmative defense, in short the target admits to the unlawful/wrongdoing but the target proffers any logical explanation or justification for Trump having some 100+ classified documents in his procession (read more about the types of procession, found here). In his various court filings Trump has proffered none
For Example, when highly classified documents are part of the official declassification review there’s a log of who’s viewed the documents, how many times was the document opened (assuming arguendo) the classified documents are also in electronic form. My point is Trump appears to become more and more detached from reality. For a split second I *almost* felt sorry for Trump. Almost.
The desperation and absolute fear spewing from Trump’s eyes and mouth are both equally delicious and concerning. But even for Trump his recent Fox “news” interview is completely unhinged. This interview was on a different stratosphere for defending the indefensible. For nearly twenty minutes, Trump tries (in vain) to somehow explain why he retained the classified documents, or why Trump has refused to proffer up the tiniest scintilla of evidence that ‘Trump just needed to think about the secret documents and then declassified, in accordance with the PRA, the Espionage Act.
Certainly at no point in time has Trump ever lied to or about the FBI agents…” (please note my dripping sarcasm) —but the rhetorical question, previously asked: “has the DOJ obtained additional search warrants for Trump’s other properties” or more recently here —we can observe the elusive burnt-umber house-hippo in its natural environment. Colloquially known as the tacky & out dated Mar-A-Largo-shithole honey pot. Laura Ashley called and told the Donald;
“1986 called and they want their tacky interior designs back”
Additionally we can further observe the house-hippo’s increasingly agitated state. Coupled with the increased erratic behavior, wild yet unpredictable mood swings. And further compounded by Trump’s own body language trying to fast talk his way through a highly coordinated ‘exclusive interview’… although I continue to be amused by Trump’s talking about himself in 3rd person. The detachment from actual reality might be lost on Trump
And lastly, I opted to schedule publication for September 23, 2022 at 7AM so the Instagram post isn’t ocean or sound sunset. Nope it’s the speculator Blue Ridge mountain/foothills sunset from the backside of my neighborhood. It’s hard to describe the color, it was more like a dark fuchsia and deep purples with the foothills as a backdrop.
Again it’s unlikely that I’ll have time to publish a second article today. However I’ve been working on a pretty large research project. To the point that I believe I am now in need of a tilt-table to tabulate the financial findings. But one thing that sticks in my craw is the prolific amount of despair disinformation. With no end in sight. Perhaps it’s because that I’m really not that engrained in, on the various social media platforms, but then again it’s probably a good idea that my self worth isn’t intertwined with a sadistic cesspool of the various social media platforms.
I think I read somewhere that the 11th Circuit does not allow en banc appeal on a stay type situation. So he'll have to go to SCOTUS
Thank you. I especially appreciate your notice of the use of the term "shall". Not everyone may appreciate the particular importance of that word.