From The Poynter Report with Tom Jones:
I would refer to the news that broke in the wee hours of Wednesday morning as a bombshell, but when it comes to Donald Trump, that word has become a bit of a cliche.
The Washington Post’s Devlin Barrett wrote it this way: “Former president Donald Trump and his advisers repeatedly failed to turn over highly classified government documents even after receiving a subpoena and pledging that a ‘diligent search’ had been conducted, leading to an FBI raid of his Florida home that found more than 100 additional classified items, according to a blistering court filing by federal prosecutors late Tuesday.”
Barrett added, “The filing traces the extraordinary saga of government officials’ repeated efforts to recover sensitive national security papers from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and club …”
So the Post called it “blistering” and “extraordinary.” That covers it.
But, what does it all mean?
Well, for those looking to catch up, let me point you in the right direction.
First, in an excellent explainer, The Washington Post’s Amber Phillips had three takeaways from the government filing about what was hidden at Mar-a-Lago:
- Prosecutors may focus on whether obstruction was committed.
- There’s still no evidence Trump declassified any of this before he took it.
- We still don’t know why Trump took — and apparently insisted on keeping — these documents.
Phillips wrote that the last takeaway — the why of it — is “one of the biggest mysteries of this whole saga.”
By now, you’ve likely seen the photo of the classified documents laid out on the floor at Mar-A-Lago. In another must-read Washington Post piece, Philip Bump has “The photo of classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, annotated.” Bump goes through the details, including what the security codes on the documents stand for.
CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell also had excellent analysis in this video explaining what was found in the photo, including the significance of those findings, as well as the markings of security clearance and what they mean. At one point, Campbell pointed out magazines next to classified documents, saying, “Now, you can store magazine covers in a sensitive compartment and facility. You can’t store classified information in a magazine closet.”
He also went through the very basics, including what “top secret” and “secret” meant.
Here are a few other notable pieces about Wednesday morning’s breaking news:
- The New York Times’ Charlie Savage and Maggie Haberman with “Trump’s Lawyers May Become Witnesses or Targets in Documents Investigation.”
- Politico’s Kyle Cheney with “Days before Mar-a-Lago subpoena, Trump lawyer claimed she scoured Trump’s office, closets and drawers.”
- For The Atlantic, Adam Serwer with “If it were anyone else, they’d be prosecuted.”
- In this clip, Fox News contributor Karl Rove says, “Let’s be clear on this. None of these government documents are his (Trump’s) to have taken.”
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