“Nobody ever slept on that side of the bed usually so he would have it all full of boxes”
The government has filed their response to Trump’s argument that, because some of the contents of Trump’s boxes have shifted during the investigation, the entire indictment must be dismissed. I’ll do a long post describing what new details it reveals of Trump’s hoarding and of the investigation.
For now, I wanted to point to a fragment of an interview report (302) from someone who might be one of Trump’s White House valets. The witness repeated a point made by other loyal Trump staffers: They joked about Trump’s obsession being akin to that in My Beautiful Mind.
The witness described that one time, after Derek Lyons instructed the witness to go search Trump’s boxes for something, Trump knew things were out of place.
[Person 81]: There were conversations — like, he knew which ones had what in them. We had conversations with the Staff Secretary for us to, quote, go into the boxes and get things out. So he wanted us to go shuffle through the boxes —
Mr. Raskin: He the Staff —
[Person 81]: The Staff Secretary.
Mr. Raskin: [Person 45] or [Derek Lyons].
[Person 81]: [Lyons] was the one that informed me to do it. Go through, shuffle through, see what we could find about schedules, specific documents that they had, which I can’t remember off hte top of my head exactly what those were, but find specific documents and pull those out and then give them to them so that they could have them —
Mr. Raskin: And did you do that?
[Person 81]: — for tracking purposes.
Mr. Raskin: And you said [Lyons] wanted you to do it; did you do it?
[Person 81]: We only did that — I did that one time and the President realized that it happened and I told [Lyons] that I won’t do that again because I don’t want the President to think that I was snooping through his stuff.
But the more interesting detail is that Person 81 described how there was a cluster of boxes right next to Trump’s bed at the White House.
So if you walk into the room, his bed — there’s a nightstand, his bed, and then there’s, like, a — where another nightstand was but nobody ever slept on that side of the bed usually so he would have it all full of boxes.
Now, I get the impetus. Back in the days when most of my reading was still dead tree books, there’d be a stack of them there, next to my side of the bed, maybe two stacks. There are still four or five in-process books on the bookshelf by the bed.
But Trump’s White House aide was describing boxes and boxes of White House documents, including classified documents.
They were right there by the side of the bed because (usually) no one slept on that side of the bed.
Melania has gone missing?
Wouldn’t you?
There’s a yacht, anchored in the Black Sea off Sochi…
[Moderator’s note: welcome back to emptywheel. “Chuckless” is not your original username; “mtngoat” was but it doesn’t meet the site’s minimum standard of 8 or more letters in length. Please use “Chuckless” as your username for all future comments so that community members get to know you. /~Rayne]
I’ve been Chuckless here since 7/23 when i was scolded for apparently offending someone’s feelings.
You’re mistaken.
[Moderator’s note: Ah, au contraire, mon frere — upon further examination you’ve changed email addresses since your first comment. That’s what caused the mismatch in identity. You’ve made (3) comments with the address you used today (seven letters, two digits), and (7) with a different email address (three letters, four digits, different provider). You need to pick one and stick with it; we don’t even care if it’s a working/valid email. Repeated mismatches in either username or email address may cause your comments not to clear moderation. /~Rayne]
That’s quite possible and I will stick with this one.
[Moderator’s note: Oh, it’s more than possible. Now that I’ve looked even further, you’ve also published two comments here as “ChuckM” using a third email address. (-__-) /~Rayne]
I look forward to your longer post – thanks for doing the hard work of slogging through all of these legal filings! Trump’s hoarding tendencies apparently go back to when he worked out of a crowded office in Manhattan. People would remark how cluttered his office was, with random stuff like golf tees or balls in with papers, in complete organizational disarray. A sign of a cluttered mind, I guess? It’s no surprise that Trump’s marriage to Melania is apparently all transactional – its the only way he knows how to interact with other humans. What is surprising is how little the mainstream media talks about what a deeply weird, neurotic person he really is! I wonder if they would ignore these traits in Joe Biden?
CNN is reporting that Jack Smith’s office included some new pictures in this filing that show how all the documents were stored in a “haphazard manner.” I saw the images on the CNN segment but have yet to find the images themselves. Any chance you can get those and post them on the blog?
[Welcome to emptywheel. Please choose and use a unique username with a minimum of 8 letters. We have adopted this minimum standard to support community security. Because your username is far too short it will be temporarily changed to match the date/time of your first known comment until you have a new compliant username. Thanks. /~Rayne]
So he would rather f*** the country than ……. .
The ultimate aphrodisiac, to repeat an old cliché.
As to stacks of books by the bed, yeah, still happening in our house. Old habits.
Trump was right! Election fraud in AZ!
A Maricopa County, AZ temporary election worker has been arrested for stealing equipment from a vote tabulation center. Walter Ringfield, 27, is a Trump supporter according his posts on social media.
Ringfield was arrested for stealing a key fob, used to access a secure vote count warehouse, after the fob turned up missing in an inventory count and officials checked security camera footage.
If I ever do get a tattoo, “MAGA’s accusations are their confessions” looks like it will stand the test of time …
With that article in NYT coming out about how Cannon was asked to recuse by two other more senior judges, it’s reference to her ruling on the special master made me wonder if some of the boxes being disordered might have come from that process.
I haven’t seen the SC make mention of that but it seems that process could be responsible for some of the documents being out of order especially with the mish mash of items in the box.
Was there or has there been a Special Master appointment for the criminal case? I missed it if so. I thought that was just Cannon’s “quirky” solution for TFG’s civil case which the 11th Circuit rightly squashed.
The Special Master delay-debacle was for the Florida case which was reversed by the 11th Circuit last December. The civil case was in New York, and was a state case, so federal circuit courts were not involved in that one.
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/11th-circuit-vacates-cannons-order-appoint-special-master-mar-lago-investigation
I think you’re conflating the civil case brought by TFG in SDFL with the criminal indictment brought by Smith, also in SDFL. If you look at the 11th’s ruling in what you linked to, it’s clearly a ruling on Donald J. Trump vs. United States of America, the civil case TFG brought after the MAL search but before the indictment. And no, civil cases in NYS have nothing to do with what I’m asking about, which is whether a Special Master was appointed in the SDFL criminal case. AFAIK there has not been such an appointment. And as far as the civil case dismissed by the 11th went, I was under the impression that the Special Master had not begun their work, hence no disorganization with the Special Master as the root cause.
Just Some Guy
6/25/24 @ 4:05
Retired NY Judge Raymond Dearie was appointed Special Master in September 2018 in preliminary actions of the FL criminal case. As I recall, he had a thankless task, which (also thankfully) didn’t last long before his appointment was reversed.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3647056-who-is-raymond-j-dearie-the-special-master-in-trump-case/
I’m not aware of a civil case that Trump filed in FL, as you refer to. He’s so litigious, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one or more frivolous lawsuits in that regard. Also: when you file an appeal of a lower court, the legal documents reverse the names in the caption, because the “appellee” name is initiating the action.
After her deserved double putdown by the 11th Circuit, even Cannon might have thought twice about appointing a special master in the FL documents case, assuming there was a need for one, which there isn’t, just as there wasn’t in the earlier civil case.
Were Cannon interested in moving this case along, which is her job, she would be using her magistrate. He seems too interested, however, in following the law and established process, which means she couldn’t control his decisions, leaving her the problem of overruling them, if they promised to move the case along too rapidly.
No, she’s keeping everything for herself, and then seemingly making as few decisions as possible, so that the backlog makes her work unmanageable. A way to excuse how slow she is.
Just Some Guy
6/25/24 @ 4:05
Woops, I meant September 18, 2022, not September 2018 in that last post…
Matt___Bsays:
June 25, 2024 at 6:04 pm
‘Retired NY Judge Raymond Dearie was appointed Special Master in September 2018 in preliminary actions of the FL criminal case. As I recall, he had a thankless task, which (also thankfully) didn’t last long before his appointment was reversed.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3647056-who-is-raymond-j-dearie-the-special-master-in-trump-case/
I’m not aware of a civil case that Trump filed in FL, as you refer to. He’s so litigious, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one or more frivolous lawsuits in that regard. Also: when you file an appeal of a lower court, the legal documents reverse the names in the caption, because the “appellee” name is initiating the action.’
Wrong. That is simply incorrect. Dearie was appointed for the civil case by TFG.
Special Master’s Review in Trump Case Ends as Appeal Court’s Ruling Takes Effect https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/08/us/politics/trump-special-master-case.html
“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta acted after Mr. Trump’s lawyers chose not to contest its decision last week shutting down a lawsuit by Mr. Trump that had imposed a special master. The court had given him a week to challenge the decision before it took effect.”
Two appeals, same case. First was to get a stay of injunction preventing them from investigating (SCOTUS denied cert). Second was to decide if she had jurisdiction (she did not, nor was SCOTUS involved).
Reply to Shadowalker
June 26, 2024 at 9:36 am
Right, the one case being Donald J. Trump vs. United States of America, a civil case brought in SDFL.
Just Some Guy
6/25/24 @ 9:08 pm
Guess I just misunderestimated the accuracy of my memories on which Trump case was which…far too many to keep track of.
Jack Smith is up to something and I think it will be wonderful and will bear fruit.
Someone wants to give new life to Cannon’s obfuscation.
We will see but why the sudden stories popping up.
I wish I could share your optimism about Jack Smith. I still wonder why he asked for this venue for the trial when he obviously knew Cannon was a Trump appointee. If he is “up to something,” what in the world could it possibly be which would allow this trial to be completed before the election?
Garland’s hesitancy/delay to allow prosecution of Trump for any of his crimes: Documents, Jan 6, et al is also a mystery to me. I don’t doubt the man’s integrity, but, perhaps his experience as a judge makes him too deliberate to be an “action” figure re: Trump. I also don’t doubt Jack Smith’s integrity. But I am left wondering at the nonsense of Cannon’s rulings and seeming inexperience which is facilitating Trump’s criminality at every turn.
When she finally (if ever) gets around to actually trying Trump, please wake me up.
Re: Cannon being a Trump appointee … call me a brown-eyed optimist, but I still hope to live long enough that news reports don’t mention, or feel the need to mention, who appointed a judge. But ignoring that …
I thought Cannon was assigned randomly, so the only way to be ABSOLUTELY sure you could avoid her was to charge Trump in another jurisdiction (likely DC, if one could make any convincing case for not charging Trump in the jurisdiction where he was hiding the documents from everyone, including his lawyers).
The point of trying to get Cannon to recuse privately was that there were other judges who hadn’t been appointed by Trump AND already overruled by the 11th Circuit twice, who could have taken the case. Is that not true?
Cannon was randomly assigned to this case. Who knows why her senior judges asked her to recuse. Her favoritism towards Trump and animosity – in this case – toward the prosecution might be reasons. Her rigidity and inexperience might be others. Her lack of experience and insufficient physical resources might be others.
Personally, I suspect she had already been a severe embarrassment, and was likely to be one again was also a reason. It’s probably rare to have so many reasons at one time. Her chief judge was right: she’s an embarrassment, but there are many like her. Many were appointed by Trump.
Last episode delves into this venue question.
https://mswmedia.com/show/jack-a-special-counsel-podcast/
I think the leak about two other judges suggesting Cannon recuse herself is a signal to Smith that if he can find a reasonable excuse to go to the 11th Circuit, they will kick her off the case.
From your keyboard to Jack Smith’s ear …
And especially the 11th Circuit’s ears!
I was wondering that as well. Two can play at this game.
I dunno, the recent reporting indicating not one but two DoJ prosecutors losing their cool (neither of them Smith) during oral arguments in Cannon’s courtroom is not encouraging to me. Even with as much evidence as has been made public, I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets “quirky”-er and excludes a lot.
That is a framing that serves the defense. From the reporting I saw that included direct quotes of Cannon’s interactions with Smith team, she was insistent on pursuing several beyond stupid and irrelevant questions along the lines of “What is a special counsel?” She has a habit of harshly scolding Smith team for normal filings, LE actions like executing a search warrant and conferring with defense on scheduling. She seems so predisposed to punish prosecutors for last year’s 11th Circuit bench slap, I think it is a near certainty she will pull some stunt and dismiss.
You can call it “framing” all you want but I don’t think it’s a good idea for anyone appearing before a judge to conduct themselves in a way where an apology is required… even if and especially when the judge is “quirky!”
To get there in this case, you have to take Cannon’s word for it, a dicey proposition.
Aileen Cannon’s scolding the DOJ prosecutor for his tone of voice/attitude brought back to mind my mother saying the same thing to me as I was attempting to explain myself to someone whose mind was closed to what I had to say.
There are times where, as a litigator, your strategy is to provoke the judge into making a mistake. Less experienced judges are more likely to take the bait. There are risks associated that strategy but there are risks associated with letting a judge push you around, trying force you to apologize where no apology is objectively needed. Calling good “audibles” in the courtroom based on your experience is a skill possessed by outstanding litigators. Wish I could have been in courtroom for that hearing.
Report from Adam Klasfeld (on “The Last Word”, 24 June) said not that prosecutors lost their cool so much as Cannon constantly criticizing what they were saying by alluding to their (from her point of view) poor tone.
However, I can’t find that precise discussion in Anna Bowers’ report for Lawfare. Worth a look, super detailed as to the legal issues:
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/pearce-argues-in-ft.-pierce
DoJ prosecutors “losing their cool” is how Cannon portrays it.
So she’s so “quirky” now she’s a journalist too?!?
I don’t like your tone. :-)
For a good night’s sleep, boxes full of White House documents and classified material are so comforting on or next to your bed. Plus more secret reading material in the bathroom.
Those documents and souvenirs are Trump’s “comfort toys,” which helped him sleep as he tried to get over the trauma of not being “the world’s most powerful leader,” and being nothing more than a hotel, country club, golf club, buildings-with-his-name-on-them owner, i.e., a developer.
Just to be clear, the cited report is about the time he was President, and the bed was in the White House. I agree with the imagery for his subsequent MAL days.
Excellent! Great imagery!
While “My Beautiful Mind” sounds like something Spanky might say of himself, the 2001 movie about John Nash is titled A Beautiful Mind.
Maybe its a portmanteau between my beautiful launderette and a beautiful mind – he hasn’t seen either of these two movies, but possibly heard the title of the first in the 80s, the period he always comes back to.
Those who have no tolerance for literary license form a large contingent Toby frequently has to deal with.
I’m sure there are a lot of things dancing in front of TFG’s eyes a la equations in front of Russell Crowe as John Nash, but most of them would likely make a very NSFW gif.
…Except maybe the McDonald’s burgers.
The excerpt in Exhibit 2 actually says “A Beautiful Mind” (page 3, line 24).
This exhibit is especially important, as it shows that TFG knew and remembered what was in each box. Contrary to his current argument that he didn’t know.
Hoarder in the Court
Grab your totes you old pack rat
Deceive with slurs and each sidestep
Just direct your head
To the hoarder side of your bed
Can’t you hear the tit for tat
And that grabby tune gives you pep
Life inside your head
And the hoarder side of your bed
You’re used to stalking with shade
You’ll abuse and degrade
You want favors repaid
Bulldozer exposure
You have always been hellbent
Now the glitches, revenge dweller,
Gonna stay in your head
And the hoarder side of your bed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8UEGmAvWfM
“On the Sunny Side of the Street”
Ah, I was deceived. I thought the start of your excellent bit would evolve into “Master of the House” from “Les Mis”. Now I’ve got both earworms sprouting, better than JFK Jr.!
Brings to mind the classic Cornershop song:
Never come to terms with the tedium,
is it not?
Cornershop?! Punaise, I knew there was a reason I liked you (besides the pun being the lowest form of humor…as my esteemed father would always tell me). Memories of youth, indeed.
@ Knowitall, wasn’t that a great album? I re-listened to a bunch of Cornershop a few weeks ago while staying in London’s very multicultural Hackney neighborhood – felt just about right.
Cornershop were from a bit further north. Preston’s finest!
@ Just Some Guy I was equally interested in being halfway between Bethnal Green and Epping Forest, two places that figure in the early (prime era) Genesis song “The Battle of Epping Forest”.
Reply to punaise
June 26, 2024 at 3:30 pm
Genesis?!? Another band of Southerners!
I haven’t been to London in nearly twenty years but there used to be a great Indian place in Brick Lane with an absurd Princess Diana mural. Google sez it’s called Jasmine but the pictures don’t match my memory.
Also on one of my last trips there I ate at at the Rock and Sole Place in Covent Garden which is tiny. Paul Weller of the Jam and Style Council was at the next table.
@ Just Some Guy
June 26, 2024 at 3:30 pm
Heh, we digress. I wouldn’t know, just a Franco-Yank visiting the UK. It wasn’t until our visit to Scotland (same recent trip) that I wondered why Genesis would invoke the fictional Firth of Fifth. (The bridge over the Firth of Forth leading to Fife).
Our Scottish travel companion would have swooned at the sight of Paul Weller.
Books and papers on one side of a bed are sometimes referred to as a “scholar’s mistress,” as I learned from Fritz Lieber. Not that Trmp is any kind of scholar (although he is a genius at PR).
As you note, the reasons why Trump might sleep alone are legion. Being a scholar is not one of them.
ha ha. good one, Earl!
Carpeted bathroom with a chandelier. Spilled over cardboard boxes on the side of the bed where no one sleeps. What a tacky pig sty. Certainly not indicative of an individual with a beautiful mind – but more indicative of a mind suffering from psychotic episodes.
I was glad to see this write up in the news aggregator today! Not sure why others don’t make it so easily..