Help, explain this: Trump lawyers hire outside team to search four properties for classified info

[viva la]

What happens if they find something classified?
Did Trump authorize this?
Can any of this be trusted?


CNN https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/07/politics/trump-lawyers-properties-search/index.html
 — 
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump recently hired a team to search four of his properties for any potentially remaining classified materials, according to a source familiar the matter.

The team of two searched Trump Tower in New York, the Bedminster golf club and two other properties amid lingering concerns from the Justice Department that not all documents had been returned to the federal government.

The four searches, which were carried out in recent weeks, were overseen by Trump’s legal team, the source said. Trump’s attorneys offered to let federal investigators observe the search at his Bedminster properties, but that offer was declined. Given the Justice Department’s response, Trump lawyers did not make a similar offer for the search of the other properties.

It would be highly unusual for the Justice Department to observe searches that aren’t conducted by law enforcement. The department declined to comment.

[underpants]

1. Is it the same crack crew that looked for the birth certificate?

[Effete Snob]

2. Naw, this is the one still looking for 11,000 votes in Georgia

They retired from government work after looking for WMD in Iraq.

[underpants]

5. 👍

[Ray Bruns]

3. Even his own damn lawyers don't trust him.

[twodogsbarking]

4. Something smells fishy.

[Beastly Boy]

6. The lawyers covering their asses, probably with Trump's covert consent.

If the search team claims they found nothing, and the lawyers state in court that the search team found nothing, and later it turns out the search team "missed" a few classified documents, trump's lawyers don't have to worry about facing any consequences (like lying under oath) themselves. They can always blame the search team for being incompetent, and paint themselves as victims of their incompetence.

The search team may lose their credentials, if they have any, and/or pay a fine. A criminal case against them is very unlikely: this is a contractual matter between Trump's lawyers and the search team which is covered under civil jurisprudence, where the aggrieved party in this case would be Trump's lawyers, and they could easily decide not to press charges. And that would likely be a civil offense, not criminal one anyway.

Bottom line: Trump gets to yap about witch hunt on the basis of this search for months, and a delay. His lawyers can claim in court that there are no classified documents found with impunity. And the search team gets fined with no jail time as the worst case scenario. I can't see the fine schedule for incompetence being too taxing.

It's a stunt. I would guess FBI has their own search warrants ready and will put them to good use regardless of how this stunt gets carried out.

[global1]

7. Fox In The Hen House....

Does this outside team have clearance to review classified info?

Seems like one can't have just anyone looking for and at classified documents.

This to me is just another Tr**p stunt to delay.

[chriscan64]

8. I think his lawyers are covering their asses.

Trump himself would never call for this. He would say something stupid like, "I don't have any classified documents left and the ones I have are MINE!" The legal team probably wants to stop the bleeding and avoid non-compliance with the subpoena. This will help Trump in a small way, and for their efforts they will be yelled at for not just saying they didn't find anything.

[republianmushroom]

9. 22 months and counting DoJ

[republianmushroom]

10. I think they (DoJ) did.

The department declined to comment.
And that 2 man team was as good as an FBI team. You are pulling my leg are you not.
What a joke.

[Martin68]

11. I suspect this is a last ditch effort to protect Trump from some really serious federal charges.

From another point of view, it could be his lawyers covering their own asses, as they had to sign off on whether Trump has returned all classified and other files he illegally removed from the WH.

[live love laugh]

12. IOW he's investigating himself?