1. The case against President Donald Trump might look bad on paper, because that is what the case against Donald Trump was designed to do.
Lawfare, by design, is for media and political consumption.
2. However, ultimately this case is on a trajectory to go up to a much higher court in discovery and pre-trial argument, because eventually these definitions are going to become an issue for the prosecution.
3. THE TELL – Here’s the “tell” that every pundit, analyst and litigation expert will pretend they don’t notice. It’s the funniest part of the entire thing and yet no one, again except us, is noticing it....
4. ... The DOJ has already predicated the baseline of their claim by saying they cannot tell anyone, even the court, what the nature of the documents are that underpin their assertion. Remember, they wouldn’t even let a court appointed “special master” review the documents.
5. Stop and think about that for a moment. NO ONE knows what the documents are, and the DOJ has stated they will never say what the documents are.
6. The DOJ is filing a case about the mishandling of documents, in whatever legal construct they put forth, while simultaneously saying they are under no obligation to tell anyone what the documents are.
7. Essentially....
DOJ: Trump violated USC 793 in his discussion and/or handling of documents.
Trump Lawyers: What documents?
DOJ: We can’t say, and we won’t tell you.
8. Lawfare is a construct for media consumption intended to manipulate public opinion.
9. Main Justice is now stretching Code 793 to claim any document the government designates as a “national security document” is a national defense document.
10. I am almost certain this is because the 11th circuit court of appeals ruled the DOJ can label whatever it wants, in any form it wants. As long as the DOJ claims it is a national security interest, it becomes a national security interest.
11. This 11th Circuit ruling came from the DOJ arguments over the Mar-a-Lago documents.
politico.com/f/?id=00000183…
12. In the previous ruling of the documents, the 11th COA did what the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) does with DOJ-NSD and any matters defined by the originating Main Justice officials as “national security.” The 11th Circuit deferred all definitions to the DOJ
13. The DOJ is granted legal benefit of the doubt on all matters of national security, which puts the DOJ-NSD in ultimate control over the star chamber they operate.
14. The target of these “definitions”, and make no mistake – ultimately this is what the case comes down to, definitions – is the former President of the United States who had unilateral authority to define anything he wanted.
15. /END
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