“ First, do we agree that PRA and NARA issues are not criminal?”
Yes.
“If so, what was the reason for a raid?
What was the criminal probable cause?”
According to the indictment, Trump returned 15 boxes to NARA in Jan 2022. Of those 15 boxes, 14 contained a total of 197 classified documents, including 98 marked secret and 30 marked top secret. Some were also marked SCI (Special Compartmented Information) and SAP (Special Access Program), both designations above Top Secret. NARA made a referral to DoJ upon discovery of the classified documents and DoJ opened a criminal investigation. A grand jury submitted a subpoena for all documents with classification markings. Trump and his attorneys submitted additional classified documents under the subpoena and certified that all boxes had been searched and all classified documents turned over. The FBI reviewed security surveillance videos from Mar-a-Lago that showed a lot of the boxes being moved around, with boxes apparently being removed before the attorneys could search them. Based on this video, the FBI claimed to have probable cause to believe Trump was hiding and retaining classified documents in defiance of the subpoena. It was on this basis they obtained the search warrant.
The criminal probe already existed even before the grand jury subpoena.
The double standard at play is painfully obvious, but a selective prosecution claim hardly ever prevails. Fair or not, as long as the prosecutor can make a facially reasonable argument as to why one was prosecuted and another was not, the courts are loathe to interfere with prosecutorial discretion.
And regarding who packed the boxes, it really doesn’t matter. As everyone agrees, Trump was the head of the Executive Branch and is ultimately responsible.
Thank you for that information.
As a side note, yes there is alot of misinformation on this topic. Kudos to you and Golden Eagle (even though we disagree on political topics) for posting what you have in this thread. I was not aware of these details.
Prior to knowing this, I’ve listened to others, namely Barnes, and their take made sense but was not thorough.
Now it seems, this is truly a quagmire. I know dems don’t care about the destruction of society but if this case goes against Trump, there will be civil unrest. And the GOP will go down with it. Voting for a replacement will not happen due to the deep anger. Again, dems don’t care but the GOP will collapse with it. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong but it will happen.