Even after months of asking nicely, the issuance of a grand jury subpoena, searches executed by FBI agents, and a federal indictment of Donald Trump, it’s far from clear that the government knows the location of all of the records that the former president took after leaving office.
"Military-grade Diet Coke valet Walt Nauta."
That’s hilarious.
True story: My family took a public White House tour in late 2018. You entered on the ground floor from the East Wing, but have to go up the stairs to the main floor of the WH. There is no real provision for people in a wheelchair (as one of our party was), so staff (Secret Service?) took that person alone through the non-public space on the ground floor to use the tiny service elevator used by WH staff. This included passing through the WH kitchen (smaller than you might expect), and a small storage area that was crammed floor-to-ceiling with cases of Diet Coke.
Time for a warrant to search Sergei Lavrov’s yacht.
So many classified documents…so many places to hide them.
Ask Ivanka.
I have heard it argued among the punditocracy that the lack of the actual documents hurts the communication element of the case but it is not clear to me why that should be so. More accurately perhaps, it’s hard for me to imagine a competent prosecutor using those recordings if it was also essential to have possession of the documents they refer to. Anyone have a clearer view of this?
Possibilities for what might have happened to these documents include:
My IANAL view is that without the actual document in question, Trump could have been waving any random piece of paper around and claiming it was classified info. Not exactly out of character for the guy.
Even if the DOJ had witness testimony from the people he was showing it to, they would need to be experts in classified info to testify that the doc they saw was real. And that’s why an indictment hasn’t dropped on the Bedminster docs yet. No docs, no indictment. If he flushed everything down the toilet at Bedminster we’ll never know what happened to them.
The real mystery (or riddle) is how in the hell anyone who claims to be an advocate of law and order, the U.S. Constitution, and an avowed patriot could support and enable this complete and total asshole.
Were they buried in Ivana’s grave instead of her? Many many people are asking.
This trial’s effects on the NSA and other US intelligence agencies will, of course, be kept under wraps. That being said, it’s inevitable that these agencies will become even more politicized. If their work is merely being used as power-play props by Trump or DeSantis or whatnot.
Why risk lives or careers telling the truth? Better to join the political game and fashion “intelligence” that the big boss wants to use as a weapon or as a sign of his power, right? This has always been the great temptation (as witness Bush and Cheney) and Trump is making it worse.
Exactly. She and her husband didn’t get $2 billion for their smarts.
The Kremlin?
Perhaps there’s another secret grand jury in New Jersey. Maybe DOJ is keeping their powder dry for another surprise indictment, especially if I-lean-over Cannon messes things up in Florida.
Nauta, Diet Coke, missing docs? 
Person, woman, man, camera, TV?
Just found this:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/trump-indictment-florida-new-jersey-classified/674393/
My suspicion is that Smith is still trying maneuver Nautical Walt into turning state’s evidence against DFG. Nauta must be feeling pressure, understanding that his sugar daddy has a very limited shelf life regardless of his (DFG’s) legal exposure.
Does Nauta really want to risk prison time (and maybe losing his Navy pension, not sure how that works) to protect the guy who is not going to be there for him?
An aside - whatever boxes are still out of government control are with DFG, or travelling in his wake or bow wave.
So it’s better to drag someone hither and yon, with attendant security risks, rather than make something accessible? Got it.
I mean, that sounds preposterous, but eff-all if it isn’t a plausible scenario in this case.
Better to ask Ivana, but she doesn’t talk much these days.