Donald Trump Ominously Warns that He Has ‘INFO on Everyone’ in Early Monday Rant
The Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago document fallout has been extraordinary. After the FBI seized a number of improperly stored and highly
Tristan Green
The Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago document fallout has been extraordinary.
After the FBI seized a number of improperly stored and highly classified documents from the former POTUS’s home in Florida, his one repeated defense was that other presidents had done the same before him.
But until recently, it seemed like a lie.
Now, we know that current President Joe Biden did in fact take classified documents home as well – and they were likewise improperly stored.
Although there are key differences between the documents seized from the Bidens’ home and those taken from the Trumps’ home, a startling comparison remains.
Donald Trump took to Truth Social early Monday to point out the similarities between the current and former POTUS’s document situations.
But he didn’t stop there – he added a little warning at the end.
Donald Trump Issues Ominous Warning
Ever since it was revealed that Biden was also improperly storing classified documents (albeit far fewer), Trump has been crowing about the similarities between the two men’s situations.
However, early Monday, Trump took to Truth Social with a bizarre non sequitur warning.
Trump wrote, “The White House just announced that there are no LOGS or information of any kind on visitors to the Wilmington house and flimsy, unlocked, and unsecured, but now very famous, garage. Maybe they are smarter than we think! This is one of seemingly many places where HIGHLY CLASSIFIED documents are stored (in a big pile on the damp floor). Mar-a-Lago is a highly secured facility, with Security Cameras all over the place, and watched over by staff & our great Secret Service.”
But then he went on to ominously add, “I have INFO on everyone!”
If someone is looking to set the Department of Justice’s investigators at ease and reassure them that possessing the documents did not create a national security risk, warning that you have information on high-level government officials is probably not the best way to do that.
What info Donald Trump has and who “everyone” is remains anyone’s guess.
But it’s clear that Trump is entering Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and this week, swinging hard.
The Joe Biden / Donald Trump Document Fiasco, Explained
.@RepRaskin: "We were delighted to learn that the president's lawyers, the moment they found out about the documents that day, turned them over to the National Archives. […] That is a very different posture than what we saw with Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/WWTgEpsVvA
— The Hill (@thehill) January 16, 2023
Many have been wondering: what will happen now that both a current and former President are under investigation for mishandling classified documents?
Unfortunately, the answers are not forthcoming. Not yet.
Because this situation is unprecedented.
Never before have both a sitting and former President faced investigations into mishandling of classified info.
But it should be noted that there are key differences between the situations, even though Trump is trying to play it to his favor on Truth Social.
The New York Times broke down the way that the situations are similar – and how they’re different.
The NY Times writes, “At a basic level, both involve official files bearing classification markings that improperly accompanied Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden after they left office. Under the Presidential Records Act, White House records are supposed to go to the National Archives and Records Administration once an administration departs. Private citizens generally lack authorization to hold classified documents, and regulations require such files to be stored securely.
Special counsels — a type of prosecutor appointed to run sensitive investigations with some independence from day-to-day Justice Department control — are now scrutinizing both situations. In Mr. Trump’s case, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, in November. On Thursday, Mr. Garland named Robert K. Hur, a former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, as special counsel for the Biden investigation.”
They go on to point out the differences, reporting, “There are key gaps in the public record about both, but the available information suggests there were significant differences in how the documents came to light, their volume and — most important — how Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden responded.
Mr. Trump and his aides resisted the government’s repeated efforts to retrieve them all. Mr. Biden’s lawyers reported the problem, and the White House says it has fully cooperated.
These apparent differences have significant legal implications.”
There are also differences in both how the document mishandling came to light and how each camp responded once it happened.
In the case of Trump, the National Archives discovered the documents were missing in 2021 and asked Trump to return them. Trump’s team returned some – but lied about having returned all of them. It required an August FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago to retrieve what is believed to be the rest of the documents.
For Biden, the documents were discovered when aides were clearing out his former office in Washington, and they immediately alerted the National Archives. The White House then advised Biden’s team as to two other locations where documents may be stored, and more documents were found in one of the two locations. They were turned over immediately.
The documents held by Biden were not the subject of an investigation into missing documents by the Archives, in stark contrast to those found in Mar-a-Lago which the Archives was urgently seeking.
Although on the surface the situations seem to be the same, minor differences have huge legal implications.
It remains to be seen how this situation will wrap up for either team, but one thing is clear: when the National Archives comes knocking, one should answer – and not lie.