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Category: Politics

An Oval Office incident from 2019 perfectly illustrates Trump’s approach to state secrets, say ex intel officials

An Oval Office incident from 2019 perfectly illustrates Trump’s approach to state secrets, say ex intel officials

NBC News reports: Senior intelligence officials realized early on that President Donald Trump wasn’t going to read even short written summaries of his regular intelligence briefings. So the CIA officers who prepared the briefings made sure they came to the Oval Office laden with striking images, pared-down charts and slick graphics designed to grab the president’s fleeting interest, several officials familiar with the briefings told NBC News. “To secure his attention, you had to use images and catchy headlines, even…

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Trump’s investigation miscalculation

Trump’s investigation miscalculation

Paul Rosenzweig writes: Donald Trump is making a serious mistake. The FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago is, he apparently thinks, of great political benefit to him. Perhaps so—I am not one to judge politics. But public reports also suggest that he may accelerate his re-election announcement in response to the search. Trump seems to think that running for president makes it less likely that he will be prosecuted by the Department of Justice. That’s wrong. The more…

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The Arizona Republican Party’s anti-democracy experiment

The Arizona Republican Party’s anti-democracy experiment

Robert Draper writes: R​​ose Sperry, a state committeewoman for Arizona’s G.O.P., answered immediately when I asked her to name the first Republican leader she admired. “I grew up during the time that Joe McCarthy was doing his talking,” Sperry, an energetic 81-year-old, said of the Wisconsin senator who in the 1950s infamously claimed Communists had infiltrated the federal government. “I was young, but I was listening. If he were here today, I would say, ‘Get him in there as president!’”…

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Bolton: Trump’s lies expose ‘a real level of desperation’

Bolton: Trump’s lies expose ‘a real level of desperation’

The New York Times reports: Two of the laws referred to in the search warrant executed this week criminalize the taking or concealment of government records, regardless of whether they had anything to do with national security. And laws against taking material with restricted national security information are not dependent on whether the material is technically classified. Mr. Bolton, who served as Mr. Trump’s third national security adviser over 17 months, said he had never heard of the standing order…

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Trump letter authorized Israeli sovereignty in West Bank

Trump letter authorized Israeli sovereignty in West Bank

The Jerusalem Post reports: Former US president Donald Trump authorized then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex parts of the West Bank, in a letter obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. In a three-page letter dated January 26, 2020, two days before Trump presented his Vision for Peace in the White House, the president summarized some of its details. These included that Israel would be able to extend sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, as delineated in the…

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Russia’s goal in attack on nuclear plant: Steal the electricity, Ukraine says

Russia’s goal in attack on nuclear plant: Steal the electricity, Ukraine says

The Wall Street Journal reports: The first sign of danger came when the dwindling crew of Ukrainian technicians running the Zaporizhzhia nuclear-power station noticed that officers from Russia’s state atomic energy company had left the premises without explanation. It was Aug. 5, and Russian soldiers were patrolling the facility. Then, at 2:40 p.m., explosions rocked an electrical switchboard, triggering the shutdown of one of only two remaining power lines running from the plant into southern Ukraine, according to plant workers….

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Top House lawmakers ask intel officials to review national security damage from Trump document handling

Top House lawmakers ask intel officials to review national security damage from Trump document handling

Politico reports: Two top House lawmakers Saturday asked the nation’s intelligence chief to review potential damage to national security stemming from former President Donald Trump’s storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. “Former President Trump’s conduct has potentially put our national security at grave risk. This issue demands a full review, in addition to the ongoing law enforcement inquiry,” wrote House Intelligence committee chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Oversight committee chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) in a three-page letter to…

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Trump’s secrets: How a records dispute led the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago

Trump’s secrets: How a records dispute led the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago

The Washington Post reports: A Trump adviser said the former president’s reluctance to relinquish the records stems from his belief that many items created during his term — photos, notes, even a model of Air Force One built to show off a new paint job he had commissioned — are now his personal property, despite a law dating to the 1970s that decreed otherwise. “He gave them what he believed was theirs,” the adviser said. “He gets his back up…

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Espionage isn’t the strongest case against Trump. It’s simpler than that

Espionage isn’t the strongest case against Trump. It’s simpler than that

Renato Mariotti writes: Former president Donald Trump’s stubborn refusal to return highly classified material forced the Justice Department’s hand, resulting in the execution of a search warrant at his residence. But while it is possible the DOJ merely wanted to retrieve and secure the material that Trump refused to give back to the government, if they decide to press forward with charges, their case looks quite strong. The government initially treated Trump with kid gloves when he took government property,…

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Presidential power to declassify information, explained

Presidential power to declassify information, explained

The New York Times reports: Former President Donald J. Trump’s claim that he had declassified all of the documents that the F.B.I. seized in the search of his Florida home last week — including those marked as top secret — has heightened interest in the scope of a president’s power to declassify information. On Friday, Mr. Trump’s office claimed that when he was president, he had a “standing order” that materials “removed from the Oval Office and taken to the…

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‘It’s madness’: Ukraine holds breath as Putin turns nuclear plant into frontline

‘It’s madness’: Ukraine holds breath as Putin turns nuclear plant into frontline

The Guardian reports: On one side of the Dnieper River is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, visible in the haze. Six nuclear reactors and a cooling tower loom over a Soviet-built reservoir. On the opposite bank is Nikopol, a city in southern Ukraine known for its Cossack past and modern tube and metallurgical factories. The distance between them is seven kilometres. Or, measured in rocket terms, about 15 seconds: the time it takes for a Grad missile fired by Russian…

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China’s demographics spell decline not domination

China’s demographics spell decline not domination

Niall Ferguson writes: Is it only a matter of time before we all admit that the “post-American world” has arrived, and the “Chinese Century” has begun? Should we just throw in the towel and let China have Taiwan? Well, no. Because if you think we’ve got problems, I can assure you that those of America’s principal rival are worse. Much worse. And, unlike our problems, China’s do not have the solution that obviously exists for the US — namely immigration…

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Meet the teenager who helped push Florida toward cleaner energy

Meet the teenager who helped push Florida toward cleaner energy

NPR reports: For most of his 15 years, Levi Draheim led a beachy life on a barrier island on Florida’s east coast, swimming, surfing and sailing in the nearshore waves. He dreamed of someday becoming a marine biologist. But Levi’s world is changing. Warming temperatures led to widespread Sargassum seaweed and harmful algae blooms in the Atlantic Ocean and 156-mile Indian River Lagoon, which together encircle the island. The seaweed and algae blooms have left beaches stinking with rotting seaweed…

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Trump stole and hid classified docs, lied about FBI search, then tried to intimidate AG Garland

Trump stole and hid classified docs, lied about FBI search, then tried to intimidate AG Garland

Quite the buried lede >> Trump tried to intimidate the Attorney General, getting an aide to contact DOJ to send Garland a message: that "the country is on fire"—enraged by the search. Trump disclosed it! The guy is still tampering w/ investigations & obstructing justice! pic.twitter.com/ktgBt8c6TY — 🇺🇦Paula Chertok🗽🇺🇦 (@PaulaChertok) August 13, 2022 The New York Times reports: At least one lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump signed a written statement in June asserting that all material marked as…

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Trump loyalists have reacted to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago with unhinged fury

Trump loyalists have reacted to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago with unhinged fury

Peter Wehner writes: In a sane world, a partisan Republican reaction to the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home on Monday would be something like this: We don’t believe Trump did anything wrong. We’re skeptical about the Department of Justice’s actions, but we’ll wait to see the evidence before we make any sweeping claims or definitive judgments. Unfortunately, the reaction online, in the right-wing media, and even among lawmakers has been far from sane. It’s been unhinged…

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As right-wing rhetoric escalates, so do threats and violence

As right-wing rhetoric escalates, so do threats and violence

The New York Times reports: The armed attack this week on an F.B.I. office in Ohio by a supporter of former President Donald J. Trump who was enraged by the bureau’s search of Mr. Trump’s private residence in Florida was one of the most disturbing episodes of right-wing political violence in recent months. But it was hardly the only one. In the year and a half since a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, threats of political violence and actual attacks…

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