Ryan Goodman Profile picture
Sep 29, 2022 12 tweets 8 min read Read on X
We compiled every DOJ doc, Trump legal brief, DJT social media post and news report for this.

Tracker: Evidence of Trump's Knowledge, Involvement in Retaining #MarALago Docs

The bulleted list of key findings is alone strong evidence for a prosecution.👇
justsecurity.org/83034/tracker-… Image
2. Exhibit one

Trump staff tell FBI "Trump was a pack rat who had been personally overseeing his collection of White House records since even before leaving Washington and had been reluctant to return anything."

via @jdawsey1 @CarolLeonnig @JaxAlemany @PostRoz Image
3. Exhibit two

Former Trump WH lawyer Herschmann warned Trump late 2021 he "could face legal liability if he did not return government materials he had taken with him when he left office"..."particularly any classified material."

Trump's response: "noncommittal"

via @maggieNYT Image
4. Exhibit three

"Trump went through the boxes himself in late 2021"

via @maggieNYT @jodikantor @adamgoldmanNYT Ben Protess Image
5. Exhibit four

In returning some documents to National Archives in January 2022, "Trump had overseen the packing process himself with great secrecy, declining to show some items even to top aides."

via @washingtonpost and @PostRoz Image
6. Exhibit five

"'It’s not theirs; it’s mine,’ several advisers say Mr. Trump told them.”

via @maggieNYT

"He reacted with a familiar mix of obstinance and outrage, causing some in his orbit to fear he was essentially daring the FBI to come after him."

via @jdawsey1 et al ImageImage
7. Exhibit six

Trump's attorney told DOJ "Trump had authorized him" to allow DOJ to see storage room (after DOJ asked) "but they were explicitly prohibited from opening any of the approximately fifty to fifty-five boxes that they observed."

via DOJ filing Image
8. Exhibit seven

Trump's cooperating with Archives, FBI broke down after Tom Fitton began advising he was wrong to return documents in January and should not give up any additional records.

Trump asked Fitton to brief his attorneys.

via @GabbyOrr_ @KristenhCNN @evanperez Image
9. Exhibit eight

Trump's self-incriminating admissions on Truth Social

Several of them.👇 Image
10. Exhibit nine

"What we are talking about here, in the main, are Presidential records in the hands of the 45th President."

via Trump attorney Christopher Kise*

*Yes, those are the words of Trump's own lawyer before a federal court. Image
11. Exhibit ten

Enormous quantity, explosive content (e.g., intel on foreign country's military nuclear program), location of documents with classified markings (including intermingled with personal belongings).

Here's a comprehensive accounting.👇
justsecurity.org/83034/tracker-… Image
12. Exhibit eleven

National Archives, Department of Justice Chief of Counterintelligence, and Congress repeatedly place Trump on notice of illegality in retaining the documents.

Repeatedly.

<end>
justsecurity.org/83034/tracker-…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Ryan Goodman

Ryan Goodman Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @rgoodlaw

Apr 30
On this day in history:

A former president of the United States was held to be in Criminal Contempt for "willful disobedience of a court's lawful mandate" by attacking witnesses and jurors in a criminal proceeding.

Court's finding based on beyond a reasonable doubt.

1/Image
2/ Justice Merchan's well-reasoned, balanced opinion has two additional important notes.

First, he not only warns the Defendant, Mr. Trump, about jail time for future violations. He explains this may be required because fines ($1k per violation) won't be effective in this case. Image
3/ As part of his balanced opinion, Justice Merchan appears to call out Michael Cohen (and perhaps Stormy Daniels).

The judge explains their use of the gag order to publicly go after Trump while he cannot respond may result in judge excluding them from the order's protections⬇️ Image
Read 6 tweets
Apr 25
Due to Trump attorney's concessions in Supreme Court oral argument, there's now a very clear path for DOJ's case to go forward.

It'd be a travesty for Justices to delay matters further.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett got Trump attorney to concede core allegations are private acts.⬇️
2/ Justice Barrett rounds this out with her final question:

She gets USG attorney to say there's enough of these private acts to move forward, and Trump's conduct involving pressuring DOJ, Pence etc would be used just for evidentiary value not criminally liable for those acts.⬇️
3/ Here are the three bullets in USG brief that Justice Barrett gets Trump attorney to concede are private acts that enjoy no immunity whatsoever.⤵️

And note text before the bullets, which Justice Barrett goes over with USG attorney solidifying DOJ can prosecute on this basis. Image
Read 6 tweets
Apr 22
I have a new piece with @AWeissmann_ in @just_security:

Questions the Supreme Court Should Ask at Oral Argument on Presidential Immunity


Just Security also published a complementary piece showing speed by which #SCOTUS can decide cases—if it wants to.⬇️justsecurity.org/94867/supreme-…Image
2/ Here's a link to the second piece. By Fred Wertheimer:

justsecurity.org/94848/supreme-…
3/ Here are the most important questions in my view for the Justices to ask Trump's attorneys.

Note there is no good answer to them. In other words, there is no legal basis to oppose a quick resolution of the immunity question.Image
Read 5 tweets
Apr 21
NYT scoop: "David Pecker...is set to go first" as prosecution witness. ⬇️

Pecker could be key witness - in ways more devastating than Michael Cohen.

This also indicates DA is foregrounding unlawful election influence for jurors.

hat tip: @AWeissmann_
nytimes.com/2024/04/21/nyr…
2/ As this Timeline shows, Pecker's testimony should be strong proof of core allegation that the hush money scheme was geared toward influencing the outcome of the presidential election.

justsecurity.org/85761/timeline…
3/ Pecker was principal at August 2015 Trump Tower meeting with Trump and Michael Cohen setting up catch-and-kill election operation.

Great WSJ reporting⤵️

"What can you do to help my campaign? he asked, according to people familiar with the meeting."

wsj.com/articles/donal…
Image
Read 9 tweets
Apr 18
Note the time stamps in DA's new motion alleging 7 more violations of gag order.

But first this nugget by @KlasfeldReports about alleged gag violation.

On Monday, prosecutor told the judge:

“It’s entirely possible it was done within this courthouse.”

justsecurity.org/daily-courtroo…
2/ See some of the time stamps that DA identifies in new motion.⤵️

Monday 9:12 a.m.
Monday 10:26 a.m.
Tuesday 1:50 p.m.

To make these statements or have these statements made from within the courthouse would be to amplify the "contempt" of and for the court.
Image
Image
3/ New York law also gives special powers to a judge in enforcing their orders (e.g., gag order) if the violation occurs in the "immediate view and presence of the court."

I don't think these alleged violations do so, but the fact that they might come close is significant.
Read 4 tweets
Apr 15
Watch this space:

At start of #TrumpTrial, Trump's violations of recent #GagOrder are likely to come up with key question being what sanctions Justice Merchan may threaten or impose.

Great discussion here ⬇️ between @ErinBurnett, District Attorney @Mimirocah1 and @OMGrisham

DA Rocah: "Trump coming out and calling them liars is about as stark a violation as you can get."
2/

On left:

#GagOrder provision prohibiting former President Trump making public statements about witnesses in Manhattan criminal case.

On right:

Trump public statements about witnesses in violation of the gag order (plus one about judge's daughter)
Image
Image
3/ And .... here we go (as anticipated):

Manhattan District Attorney prosecutors asking judge to move toward holding Trump in contempt of court for violations of #GagOrder.

Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(