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DOJ Seeks Expedited Ruling in Trump Special Master Case

The Department of Justice requested an expedited ruling in its appeal of the appointment of a special master to examine the classified documents obtained during a raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

The department’s inability to access nonclassified documents seized in an FBI raid last month is hampering its investigation into whether Trump illegally moved classified information out of the White House during his presidency, the department claimed in a court filing to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday.

The acceleration would allow the department to “more quickly resume its full investigation without restraints on its review and use of evidence seized pursuant to a lawful search warrant,” the department said. “Expediting the appeal would serve the interests of justice because the portions of the district court’s injunction that have not been stayed restrict the government’s ability to vindicate the strong public interest in proceeding expeditiously with the criminal and national security investigation that underlies these proceedings.”

(Read more from “DOJ Seeks Expedited Ruling in Trump Special Master Case” HERE)

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DOJ Refuses to Release Biden Administration Plan to Intervene in 2022 Election; GOP Sues Elections Board for Allegedly Breaking Mail-in Balloting, Election Observer Laws

By Breitbart. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is refusing to release 15 pages of documents explaining the Biden administration’s strategy to implement a “voter access” policy that is being coordinated with left-wing groups just weeks before the 2022 election.

In March 2021, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14019, “Promoting Access to Voting.” . . .

As Byron York of the Washington Examiner notes:

So the strategic plan, the document that would give the world some information on what the administration is doing to enact Biden’s order, remains a secret. But that’s not all. The Justice Department is withholding lots of other information, as well.

One troubling clue did make it past Justice Department censors. On July 12, 2021, the Justice Department held a “listening session” with outside activists working on voting rights. The group included dozens of people, all of them from left-leaning groups. There were 10 from the American Civil Liberties Union, five from the Campaign Legal Center, three from Demos, three from the Southern Poverty Law Center, five from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, two from Black Lives Matter, and many others. The list would not reassure anyone hoping that the Justice Department is working in a scrupulously nonpartisan way. But of course, we don’t really know what the department is doing because the administration is keeping it a secret.

(Read more from “DOJ Refuses to Release Biden Administration Plan to Intervene in 2022 Election” HERE)

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GOP Sues North Carolina Elections Board for Allegedly Breaking Mail-in Balloting, Election Observer Laws

By The Federalist. The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP), along with the chair of the Clay County Republican Party and the Republican National Committee (RNC), filed a lawsuit against the state’s Board of Elections (NCSBE) on Friday for allegedly “unlawful actions restricting party election observers and extending the delivery deadline for absentee ballots.”

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs accuse the NCSBE of “undermining both transparency and the rule of law by blocking the right of at-large election observers to have full access to voting places and unilaterally extending the deadline for the return of absentee-by-mail ballots.”

“While Chapter 163 of the North Carolina General Statutes grants certain powers and duties to the NCSBE, those powers and duties are also limited by the specific election laws,” the lawsuit reads. “As such, the NCSBE is not the final arbiter of election law in North Carolina; rather, it must exercise its authority in accordance with the statutes that grant it such power. Recent decisions of the NCSBE, however, have flouted its authority under the law.”

The Republican groups go on to note that under North Carolina state law, “in addition to voting place-specific election observers, the chair of each political party in each county can designate up to ten (10) at-large election observers ‘who are residents of that county who may attend any voting place in that county’” and “‘[t]he chair of each political party in the State shall have the right to designate up to 100 additional at-large observers who are residents of the State who may attend any voting place in the State.’” (Read more from “GOP Sues North Carolina Elections Board for Allegedly Breaking Mail-in Balloting, Election Observer Laws” HERE)

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Justice Department OKs One of Trump’s Picks to Review Mar-a-Lago Docs

The Justice Department is on board with one of Donald Trump’s picks to independently review documents seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago last month, according to a new legal filing submitted by the agency.

DOJ lawyers, in the Monday night filing, said along with the two ex-judges the feds recommended, they’d also be open to the appointment of Raymond Dearie, the former chief judge of the federal court in the Eastern District of New York.

The special master appointment would sift through records recovered from the former president’s Florida estate on Aug. 8. The feds and Trump’s lawyers have disagreed over the exact role of the independent third-party and which documents they should review.

Dearie, who is on senior active status, has signaled he “could perform the work expeditiously” if appointed by US District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Justice Department said.

The DOJ’s picks to review the trove of docs were retired Manhattan judge Barbara Jones or retired federal appeals court judge in DC Thomas Griffith, who was appointed by ex-President George W. Bush. (Read more from “Justice Department Oks One of Trump’s Picks to Review Mar-a-Lago Docs” HERE)

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DOJ’s ‘Classified Documents’ Narrative Feels Like a Get-Trump Trick We’ve Seen Before

Since news first broke of the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Department of Justice has primed Americans to believe that former President Donald Trump hid classified documents at his Florida home in defiance of a grand jury subpoena. But even with leaks pushing claims that the documents seized included potential nuclear secrets, the public remains equally split on whether the Biden administration abused its power in targeting Trump.

With criticism of the raid remaining high nearly a month after the FBI executed the search at the former president’s home, the DOJ on Tuesday escalated its public-relations pitch by releasing several documents that seemingly establish that Trump failed to comply with the subpoena and that his representative lied to the government about the documents retained at Mar-a-Lago. While nothing is impossible, this narrative seems extremely unlikely.

To convince the country of the righteousness of its raid, the DOJ filed three seemingly damning exhibits in the separate lawsuit Trump had filed against the United States seeking the appointment of a special master to oversee the government’s handling of the seized documents. Specifically, the DOJ filed a copy of the subpoena issued to the “Custodian of Records” of “The Office of Donald J. Trump” that directed the custodian to provide “any and all documents or writings in the custody or control of Donald J. Trump and/or the Office of Donald J. Trump bearing classification markings.”

The DOJ attached as another exhibit the “Certification” of the “Custodian of Records,” which noted, “based on the information that has been provided to” the custodian, she was authorized to certify that “a diligent search was conducted of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Florida” and that “the search was conducted after receipt of the subpoena in order to locate any and all documents responsive to the subpoena.” The certification then noted that “any and all responsive documents accompany this certification.” A third exhibit filed by the DOJ depicted several sets of documents with various cover sheets showing their classification marking, such as “Top Secret.” (Read more from “DOJ’s ‘Classified Documents’ Narrative Feels Like a Get-Trump Trick We’ve Seen Before” HERE)

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Donald Trump Trolls FBI With Redacted ‘Make America Great Again’ Statement: ‘They Missed a Page!’

Former President Donald Trump mocked the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) heavily redacted search warrant affidavit that was used as the basis for the FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

DOJ released the affidavit on Friday after Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who approved the search warrant, ordered the underlying affidavit to be unsealed on Thursday. However, the released affidavit was heavily redacted after Judge Reinhart found the federal government provided “good cause” to keep portions of the document under seal.

The redactions were put in place “in order to protect the safety of multiple civilian witnesses,” according to a DOJ filing.

Trump mocked the highly redacted document in a statement issued several hours after the affidavit was released.

“They missed a page,” Trump said, along with an edited version of the document that redacted all but four words: Make America Great Again.

(Read more from “Donald Trump Trolls FBI With Redacted ‘Make America Great Again’ Statement: ‘They Missed a Page!’” HERE)

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DOJ Redacts Reasons for Redacting Info in Mar-a-Lago Raid Affidavit

The Department of Justice (DOJ) redacted its reasoning for redacting nearly the entire search warrant affidavit relating to the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

The DOJ released the highly redacted affidavit Friday after Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the agency to submit redactions to the affidavits following his rejection of their push to keep the document private. Reinhart — who also signed off on the search warrant used in the FBI’s raid — approved the redactions Thursday.

The DOJ, however, redacted its reasoning for the redactions while simultaneously attempting to justify the raid.

The only justification not redacted is “agent safety,” while every other reason for the redactions is redacted.

(Read more from “DOJ Redacts Reasons for Redacting Info in Mar-A-Lago Raid Affidavit” HERE)

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Former Bush Official Alleges a Secret Service Member Told DOJ About Classified Materials

Former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove speculated Friday on Fox News that a Secret Service agent may have informed the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI that there were classified documents inside Mar-a-Lago.

The Bush-era White House official said Secret Service members are sworn federal law officers and have a legal responsibility to report a crime. Due to this duty, Rove speculated that an agent informed the DOJ and FBI that former President Donald Trump’s lawyer falsely claimed in a letter that all classified material had been turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

“The Secret Service, and this is my own personal trajectory, I have no information other than just simply knowing that the Secret Service is there, they have no statutory responsibility over classified material but they are sworn federal law officers. They’re law enforcement, and they have a responsibility to report a crime and particularly after a letter is sent from one of the president’s lawyers saying ‘we don’t have any more classified material’ and President Trump has told the June 3 meeting ‘you can get anything you need, just say, and we’ll get if for you,’” Rove said.

“If somebody sent a letter and it said we don’t have classified material and somebody in the Secret Service said ‘I have seen classified material still within the walls of Mar-a-Lago’ and had a responsibility to report that up through the chain of command, or maybe directly to the counterintelligence division. They would have somebody who had said in essence ‘you have been misled,’” he continued. (Read more from “Former Bush Official Alleges a Secret Service Member Told DOJ About Classified Materials” HERE)

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FBI Seized Trump’s Papers for ‘Safety’

Justice Department officials urged a federal judge to keep under wraps the search warrant used in the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, fearing he would destroy evidence, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.

In a motion filed three days before more than 30 armed agents stormed Mr. Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, residence, the Justice Department said a public search warrant “poses a risk to [the] safety” of the materials sought in the investigation.

“The United States believes there is good cause [to keep the warrant sealed] because the integrity of the investigation might be compromised and evidence might be destroyed,” wrote Juan Antonio Gonzalez, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

The petition to keep the search warrant sealed was one of three documents ordered to be made public by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.

Also on Thursday, Judge Reinhart ordered the Justice Department to unseal at least a portion of the probable cause document, the filing that was used to obtain the search warrant. (Read more from “FBI Seized Trump’s Papers for ‘Safety’” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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Trump Records Negotiator Warns of Russiagate Materials Cover-up

Justice Department officials appear to be maneuvering to block the disclosure of documents from the so-called “Russiagate” controversy, according to a top Pentagon official from the Trump administration.

Kash Patel appeared on Fox News on Sunday and defended former President Donald Trump’s claims that he issued sweeping declassification orders of documents after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago resort and seized more than a dozen boxes of materials in an investigation that could have national security implications.

Patel, who was chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and held other high-ranking positions in the Trump administration, said Trump named him his representative to the National Archives, and they have been locked in a “bureaucratic battle” over documents that were taken to his Florida club.

Because there appears to be an “ongoing” counterintelligence investigation, he argued, “you will never be allowed to see the Russiagate docs or any other docs that President Trump lawfully declassified, and they will hide it from the public,” Patel told Sunday Morning Futures host Maria Bartiromo. Patel was being interviewed along with Devin Nunes, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who is now the CEO of Trump’s social media company. (Read more from “Trump Records Negotiator Warns of Russiagate Materials Cover-up” HERE)

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DOJ Opens Sex Abuse Investigation Into Southern Baptists, Subpoenas Leaders

The Justice Department has started an investigation into sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention, and the executive committee of the United States’ largest Protestant denomination has received a federal subpoena in connection with the probe, the group said Friday.

A spokesman told The Washington Times the committee’s general counsel acknowledged “the [executive committee] has received a subpoena. No individuals have been subpoenaed at this point. This is an ongoing investigation and we are not commenting on our discussions with the [Justice Department].”

The Baptist group said in a statement Friday it “recently became aware” that the Department of Justice had begun an investigation into the 13.7-million-member church as well as “multiple SBC entities.” . . .

An independent investigation of sexual abuse charges in the Southern Baptist Convention led to the May release of a 400-page report documenting a decades-long coverup of the abuse and related misconduct. (Read more from “DOJ Opens Sex Abuse Investigation Into Southern Baptists, Subpoenas Leaders” HERE)

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