BOMBSHELL: FBI Staged Fake Photo of Classified Documents for PR Purposes

[Sparko]

Yes as in swiped, past tense of steal, he he stole them.

You mean like Biden stole those classified documents he kept in his garage and elsewhere?

[rogue06]

You mean like Biden stole those classified documents he kept in his garage and elsewhere?

A president can remove them, even declassify them. Old Joe was taking and squirreling away classified material back when he was a Senator and VP -- while he had no such authority (i.e., stealing).

But he's too senile now to be held accountable.

[Sparko]

A president can remove them, even declassify them. Old Joe was taking and squirreling away classified material back when he was a Senator and VP -- while he had no such authority (i.e., stealing).

But he's too senile now to be held accountable.

Just like Hillary paid for the fake Steele Dossier with campaign funds and characterized it as "legal fees" and they decided it was not worth prosecuting, yet they are going after Trump for something very similar.

[Mountain Man]

I am not sure why the boxes of documents are even important at this point in the trial. The defense would not have access to them in the first place. They would just get the inventory list and whatever scanned documents (mostly redacted) that the government decided they could get. Once scanned, the boxes are just put in storage. If anyone were going to tamper with the documents they would tamper with them BEFORE they were scanned or tamper with the scanned versions (adding/subtracting etc) since that is all the defense would have access to. Changing the contents of the actual boxed documents after the scan would not do anything as far as I can tell.

Also, Trump admits he had classified documents, he just argues that he declassified them.

Apparently the tampering happened while the documents were being scanned. We also know the FBI planted a number incriminating looking cover sheets during the raid, so one can only wonder what else might have been added.

[RumTumTugger]

You got "tainted" auto corrected to "taunted" so many times, I'm now sitting here picturing the FBI calling the DNA Names like the toaster scene in ghostbusters 2.

Sigh, was not a good day for me.

[Bill the Cat]

.... top secret documents recovered out of their protective folders, under appropriate cover sheets provided by the recovery team.

-Sam

I just love when people like you comment about things you have zero clue about. The only time a cover sheet is necessary is when a document is out in plain view being hand carried. Even stored in a box for shipping, cover sheets are not required. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Markings for classified documents being shipped, the box should be inconspicuous.

[Bill the Cat]

Because there is content on the page. Documents that remained in their proper folders supposedly were not in need of cover sheets.

-Sam

There's no such thing as a "proper folder"....

[Sam]

There's no such thing as a "proper folder"....

Well, I'll defer to your expertise over reporting that classified documents were found outside their respective folders and some folders recovered did not contain their respective documents.

-Sam

[Bill the Cat]

New court filings in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s espionage and obstruction case against Trump and two co-defendants conclusively demonstrate that the government used the cover sheets to deceive the public as well as the court. The photo was a stunt, and one that adds more fuel to this dumpster-fire case.

Jay Bratt, who was the lead DOJ prosecutor on the investigation at the time and now is assigned to Smith’s team, described the photo this way in his August 30, 2022 response to Trump’s special master lawsuit:

“[Thirteen] boxes or containers contained documents with classification markings, and in all, over one hundred unique documents with classification markings…were seized. Certain of the documents had colored cover sheets indicating their classification status. (Emphasis added.) See, e.g., Attachment F (redacted FBI photograph of certain documents and classified cover sheets recovered from a container in the ‘45 office’).”

The DOJ’s clever wordsmithing, however, did not accurately describe the origin of the cover sheets. In what must be considered not only an act of doctoring evidence but willfully misleading the American people into believing the former president is a criminal and threat to national security, agents involved in the raid attached the cover sheets to at least seven files to stage the photo.

Classified cover sheets were not “recovered” in the container, contrary to Bratt’s declaration to the court. In fact, after being busted recently by defense attorneys for mishandling evidence in the case, Bratt had to fess up about how the cover sheets actually ended up on the documents.

Here is Bratt’s new version of the story, where he finally admits a critical detail that he failed to disclose in his August 2022 filing:

“[If] the investigative team found a document with classification markings, it removed the document, segregated it, and replaced it with a placeholder sheet. The investigative team used classified cover sheets for that purpose.”

That's actually the right way to handle classified documents for investigation purposes. Those cover sheets are required when hand carrying or handling classified documents, so I don't have a big problem with them doing so. I'd argue that "conclusively proving that the government used the cover sheets to deceive the public" is a huge stretch. Lying and saying they were part of the contents of the box is the only real issue I see here.

[Bill the Cat]

Well, I'll defer to your expertise over reporting that classified documents were found outside their respective folders and some folders recovered did not contain their respective documents.

-Sam

It could mean that they were separated by subject or some other methodology, but folders are not actually required. Now, if they did in fact use folders to mail them and the folder contents did not match the inventory form contained, then that's a separate issue. But I see the press making much ado about nothing more than once when it comes to classified document handling.

[Sparko]

Apparently the tampering happened while the documents were being scanned. We also know the FBI planted a number incriminating looking cover sheets during the raid, so one can only wonder what else might have been added.

Again, Trump is not denying he had classified documents. He is arguing that he unclassified them and had a right to have them. So why would cover sheets matter?

[Cow Poke]

That's actually the right way to handle classified documents for investigation purposes. Those cover sheets are required when hand carrying or handling classified documents, so I don't have a big problem with them doing so. I'd argue that "conclusively proving that the government used the cover sheets to deceive the public" is a huge stretch. Lying and saying they were part of the contents of the box is the only real issue I see here.

I have no problem deferring to your experience. So, yeah, the deception is still there.

[Cow Poke]

A president can remove them, even declassify them. Old Joe was taking and squirreling away classified material back when he was a Senator and VP -- while he had no such authority (i.e., stealing).

But he's too senile now to be held accountable.

He might have a hard time knowing that's actually his garage.

[Mountain Man]

Again, Trump is not denying he had classified documents. He is arguing that he unclassified them and had a right to have them. So why would cover sheets matter?

The cover sheets marked "TOP SECRET" in the photo were used to publicly establish the narrative that Trump took documents that he knew were still classified, and, as noted, the prosecution later used the presence of the cover sheets that the FBI had planted at the scene as a premise to deny the defense's request for a special master to review the documents.

[Bill the Cat]

Again, Trump is not denying he had classified documents. He is arguing that he unclassified them and had a right to have them. So why would cover sheets matter?

Because he can't just say they are declassified. He has a process to follow to declassify. There is a classified register of documents with specific control numbers involved. It's how we track documents. If Trump did indeed intend to declassify them, then he declares them declassified, the document owner modifies the register, and the document is reproduced without the classification markings by the original classifier or designate. None of that happened. There was no written or transcribed record of Trump declassifying the documents until he claimed to do so after he was out of office. That is an illegitimate declassification at that point.

My experience tells me that he, himself, had no clue what was actually in the boxes and his staff was responsible for packing them up. Whether by mistake or intentionally (there is no evidence for either premise that I've seen), classified documents were included in the document haul, so malicious intent cannot be established. I don't think Trump was particularly experienced in document handling without the benefit of his staff, but he's the type to claim that he knows more about it than anyone (I digress...). The documents were discovered, the documents were either covered while handling, according to proper handling guidelines, or replaced by a cover sheet of equal classification to avoid the need for redaction, then photographed.