How the Mar-a-Lago Raid Exposed a Media Plot to Convict Donald Trump
The new political strategy — criminal charges, indictments, and convictions
At first glance, the Mar-a-Lago episode appears to be the result of yet another one of Trump’s arrogant, in-your-face, infractions that will soon be added to his list of criminal allegations.
After all, the Attorney General signed off on the request for the warrant, a magistrate in Florida approved it, and during the search of the compound, the FBI found a number of classified documents.
Everything was done by the book which means Donald Trump is guilty, right?
Hang on, some of you are not going to like this, but I’m about to put forward another “conspiracy theory.”
There is no ongoing investigation, no crimes were committed, and the mainstream media (MSM) deliberately launched an all-out coordinated assault on the former president with one primary objective
— to prosecute and convict Donald Trump online!
That’s quite a theory, but a look at the events leading up to the raid and an examination of the explosive, almost calculated response of the media, will clarify the rationale behind this extraordinary accusation.
Things got dicey following a series of bad decisions by the DOJ which quickly lead to wild speculation by the press.
It’s hard to explain why the DOJ imposed a total news blackout on anything related to Trump and the allegedly classified documents.
Starting in early January 2022, the Justice Department refused to offer any comments or press releases to the media, or anyone else for that matter, before, during, and even after the Mar-a-Lago raid eight months later.
The blackout was more than just an attempt to minimize internal leaks, the policy was used to restrict any investigation by departments outside the DOJ.
In February of 2022, the AG blocked the National Archives from sharing important Mar-a-Lago information with a House Oversight Committee.
In June, just two months before the Mar-a-Lago raid, the department issued a “secret” grand jury subpoena to Trump which led to the first FBI inspection of his residence on June 3rd.
Finally, in what was almost certainly an abuse of their authority, the FBI executed the search warrant on August 8th — without any direction from Congress or the executive branch!
There is no Mar-a-Lago story without DOJ confirmation
The DOJ news blackout and their fanatically secretive behavior made sure no one outside the Defense Department had any real intelligence regarding the source or intent of the warrant.
In other words, the media had absolutely no idea why the DOJ was there or what they were looking for.
However, that did not stop the MSM from assuming the role of judge, jury, and executioner to place the former president on trial and systematically file criminal charges, issue a series of indictments, and reach a final verdict of guilty.
Immediately filing criminal charges
One of the first allegations appeared in an article Politico published on August 8th, at 7 PM EDT, less than thirty minutes after the search ended.
Their news report provided detailed information regarding missing classified documents along with a brief summary of criminal violations and alleging the search warrant was part of a broader ongoing investigation.
Politico did not offer a credible source for any of their allegations. Instead, the publication casually stated their information came from “people familiar with the matter.”
The pattern continued as countless news outlets speculated about the purpose of the FBI raid.
The Tampa Bay Times published a news report accusing Trump of actually stealing classified documents and, just like the Politico article, referred to the same anonymous people as the source of their information.
Trump says FBI executes search warrant at Mar-a-Lago home, safe broken open.
People familiar with the matter said it is related to a probe of whether Trump took classified records from the White House to his Florida home.
The list quickly expanded to more than a dozen charges against Trump including espionage, distribution of nuclear documents, violating the Presidential Records Act, and destruction of classified information.
All of this without any evidence, any confirmation from the DOJ, or a single credible source aside from — “people familiar with the matter.”
The trial continues with an indictment
It didn’t take long for the press to move to the next phase of the Donald Trump media trial. The following day, news outlets all over the country launched a well-orchestrated campaign to pressure the DOJ into indicting Trump on several criminal charges.
On August 9th, the day after the raid, the National Interest published a condemnation of Trump and started things off with the following headline.
No Time to Lose: Why Merrick Garland Must Indict Donald Trump
An early indictment may not on its own be enough to derail Trump’s efforts once more to seize the helm of this great land. But it must be done.
The Washington Post published an article a few days later and attached a level of historical significance to the indictment.
… but it is critical for public perception, for history — for the preservation of democracy — that if he is charged, it is first and foremost with the crimes that best reflect the gravity of the danger he posed to the country.
A conviction without evidence
Here again, despite the lack of credible witnesses or information, the MSM was determined to move ahead with their one overriding objective — a conviction.
On August 8th, the day the FBI was executing the warrant, MSNBC was conducting a live interview with Neall Katyal, acting U.S. Solicitor General under former President Obama
When asked what happens next he replied;
“If I were Donald Trump’s lawyer right now, thank God I’m not, I would be advising my client to be telling [their] family, ‘I am looking at jail time, and we should make plans accordingly,’” said Katyal.
The trial is more compelling with a felony
Katyal has appeared in a number of interviews and continued to build on the case for a Trump guilty verdict.
In an interview with NPR on August 28th, he was very specific when asked if the redacted version of the warrant had any legal value.
And I have to say that it’s not unintelligible. I mean, it tells already a compelling and damning story of Donald Trump committing serious federal felonies.
The media moves to a guilty verdict
A curious individual by the name of Andrew Weisman entered the picture on the day after the raid and quickly became another unofficial expert witness.
Coincidentally, he was a former prosecutor with the Mueller team. And given the confrontational nature of that investigation, it’s likely Weisman would see this Mar-a-Lago incident as an opportunity for revenge.
He spoke at length with a reporter from The New Yorker the day after the raid and speculated that a warrant rather than a subpoena was issued because Trump was probably obstructing an investigation.
Weisman repeated versions of that discussion with a number of news outlets and by the end of August, he offered a much more definitive opinion.
On August 31st, Rawstory published an interview with Weisman who had examined all 40 pages of a recent DOJ filing and, based on that report, he recommended the Justice Department respond with the following verdicts;
“There is only one verdict consistent with this proof; we ask you to return a verdict of: guilty on espionage related charges (793/2071); guilty on contempt of GJ subpoena (402); guilty on obstruction related charges (1001/1519) guilty on unlawful retention of govt docs (641),” Weissman said.
If, in fact, Weissman was considering some small measure of revenge he certainly succeeded.
There is no question the media displayed a style of reporting that is consistent with a typical courtroom trial. Is that enough to imply there was a coordinated effort to systematically prosecute and convict the former president?
Probably not.
However, it’s not just the pattern of the reporting that is suspect but it’s important to put into context the sheer volume of news reports that exploded online within hours of news the FBI was searching Mar-a-Lago.
News the outlets never had because of the total blackout the Justice Department maintained on everything related to the Mar-a-Lago documents.
Yet, despite the absence of any credible evidence an overwhelming number of news outlets pressed ahead with charges, demanded an immediate indictment, and recommended a guilty verdict on several counts.
Clearly, the media had a different agenda right from the start and it had nothing to do with objective investigative reporting.
What happens next
If the objective was to prosecute and convict Trump ahead of the mid-terms, that’s already been accomplished.
The DOJ investigation will take longer to sort out, especially if the department can establish there was probable cause that justified the warrant.
Another possibility depends on whether or not someone from either side can locate and speak with the “people familiar with the matter.”
That would be a fascinating piece of breaking news.
