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Did Trump Incriminate Himself In Weekend Rally Speech?

Former President Donald Trump's comments during a weekend rally about the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago may be "admissible evidence" in court, legal experts say.

Trump lashed out at the FBI during a rally in Miami on Sunday over the "very famous raid on Mar-a-Lago," which he described as "the document-hoax case."

Trump claimed the court-approved search "violated my Fourth Amendment rights" and is "something that's never been done to another president."

"No other president's ever done this," he said. "Presidents leave, they take things, they take documents, they read them. Nobody else has ever gone through this."

Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed that past presidents have "taken" documents with them after leaving office. The National Archives and Records Administration issued a statement debunking his claim last month, explaining that the National Archives took custody of all presidential records and "securely moved those records to temporary facilities" before moving them to presidential libraries. Claims that "indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office… are false and misleading," the statement said.

Legal experts said that Trump's comments may amount to an admission of illegality.

"Here's Trump apparently admitting to illegally taking top secret documents when he left the White House," the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said on Twitter.

Conservative attorney George Conway said the comments could be "admissible evidence," suggesting a drinking game for every time "he says something self-incriminating" at a rally.

"Keep talking. Keep confessing," wrote national security attorney Bradley Moss, a frequent Trump critic.

Legal experts also called out another comment from Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

"Every other president takes their documents. I'm the only one. I can't have a document," Trump complained during a rally in Latrobe, falsely suggesting that other presidents took and kept their documents in unsecure facilities.

"Did Trump just admit to taking top secret documents he was not supposed to have?" CREW asked on Twitter.

Conway responded to the video of Trump's comments by posting a photo of Miranda rights, which note that "you have the right to remain silent."

Trump has claimed that former President George H.W. Bush "took millions of documents to a… bowling alley/Chinese restaurant" with "no security and a broken front door" and claimed that Bill Clinton "took millions of documents from the White House to a former car dealership in Arkansas."

"All of these Trump claims are false," CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale wrote last month, citing a National Archives statement confirming that the agency "securely moved these records to temporary facilities that NARA leased from the General Services Administration near the locations of the future Presidential Libraries that former Presidents built for NARA."

"All such temporary facilities met strict archival and security standards, and have been managed and staffed exclusively by NARA employees," the agency said.

Dale added that there is "no equivalence between Trump's handling of presidential documents and those of his predecessors."

"In the others' cases, the presidential documents were in NARA's possession and stored securely and professionally," he wrote. "In Trump's case, the presidential documents found in haphazard amateur storage at Mar-a-Lago were in Trump's own possession, despite numerous attempts by both NARA and the Justice Department to get them back."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Disputed Primaries Reveal How Republicans Plan To Steal Elections

Disputed Primaries Reveal How Republicans Plan To Steal Elections

Republican election officials in at least three states have refused to certify primary votes, in a sign of things to come amid the party's baseless election fraud crusade.

Numerous allies of former President Donald Trump have echoed his lies about voter fraud on the campaign trail. Trump-backed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt both claimed evidence of "election stealing" before any votes were cast. Colorado secretary of state candidate Tina Peters has twice demanded recounts of her Republican primary race after losing by double digits. Nevada gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert filed a lawsuit alleging that his GOP primary loss was a "mathematical impossibility," even after a recount he requested confirmed the results.

While candidates are free to challenge the results of their elections under various state guidelines, Trump-allied election officials pose a more insidious threat. Echoing the same false narratives as Trump and his endorsed candidates, county officials in New Mexico, Nevada and Pennsylvania have tried to circumvent state laws and refused to sign off on primary results.

Republican commissioners in Otero County, New Mexico last month refused to certify primary results in their GOP-dominated jurisdiction, citing unspecified concerns about Dominion voting machines. These apparently stem from TrumpWorld's crusade to stoke baseless allegations that the machines had "flipped" votes from Trump to Joe Biden. The Otero County commissioners ultimately relented and certified the votes amid concerns that they could go to jail after state officials took them to court.

Republican commissioners in rural Esmeralda County, Nevada, likewise refused to certify the 317 votes cast in the county last month, citing unspecified concerns about the election from residents. County officials ultimately relented after spending more than seven hours counting the 317 ballots by hand.


Three Republican-led counties in Pennsylvania — Berks, Fayette and Lancaster — have refused to count all valid votes from the May 17 primary election for Senate, Congress, governor and the state legislature for weeks over opposition to the state's rules regarding undated mail-in ballots.

Officials in all three counties informed the state last month that they would not count mail-in votes that had not been properly dated, according to the Associated Press.

Pennsylvania mail ballots instruct voters to write a date next to their signature on the outside of mail-in return envelopes, although these dates do not determine whether voters are eligible or if votes were cast on time. A federal appeals court ruled in May that undated mail-in ballots must be counted, ruling that the dates are "immaterial." The U.S. Supreme Court, even with three Trump-appointed justices, allowed the ruling to stand last month. A state court similarly ruled in the Republican Senate primary that undated ballots should be counted.

The Pennsylvania Department of State earlier this month sued the three counties, asking a state court to order them to include all valid ballots "even if the voter failed to write a date on the declaration printed on the ballot's return envelope."

The department said in the lawsuit that the handwritten date "is not necessary for any purpose, does not remedy any mischief and does not advance any other objective," and that "allowing just three county boards to exclude votes that all other county boards have included in their returns creates impermissible discrepancies in the administration of Pennsylvania's 2022 primary election."

"Interpreting Pennsylvania law to allow a county board of election to exclude a ballot from its final certified results because of a minor and meaningless irregularity, such as a voter omitting a date from the declaration on a timely received ballot, would fail to fulfill the purpose of the Pennsylvania Election Code and would risk a conflict with both the Pennsylvania Constitution and federal law," the lawsuit said.

"It is imperative that every legal vote cast by a qualified voter is counted," Molly Stieber, a spokeswoman for state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, told the New York Times. "The 64 other counties in Pennsylvania have complied and accurately certified their election results. Counties cannot abuse their responsibility for running elections as an excuse to unlawfully disenfranchise voters."

Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach said during an appearance in court on Thursday that he does not have "discretion to determine whether a date is material or immaterial."

"I simply am obligated to look at the clear language of the law that says undated and/or unsigned ballots will not be counted," he said during a hearing, claiming that rulings on the ballots have been "anything but clear."

Leinbach said he "could not in good conscience vote to certify undated ballots," adding that "this type of issue is what is causing a lack of trust in the system."

Lancaster County officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer the county had "properly certified" its results in accordance with state law and court orders.

"The Commonwealth's demand is contrary to the law or any existing court order," the county said. "The County will vigorously defend its position to follow the law to ensure the integrity of elections in Lancaster County."

Fayette County officials argued in a court filing that the state did not have the authority to force it to count the undated ballots, according to the AP, adding that the state had missed a deadline to appeal a county board decision. The county also cited ongoing litigation before the Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on the merits of the appellate court ruling.

It's unclear which way the Supreme Court may rule. Only Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented in the earlier emergency order, arguing that the lower court ruling was "very likely wrong."

The American Civil Liberties Union defended the appellate court ruling after Alito's dissent.

"Every vote matters, and every valid vote should be counted. Voters may not be disenfranchised for a minor paperwork error like this one," ACLU attorney Ari Savitzky said in a statement. "The Third Circuit was correct in unanimously reaching that conclusion. We are thrilled for these voters that their ballots can finally now be counted, consistent with the requirements of federal law."

The dates on the absentee ballot envelopes neither help determine whether a voter is eligible nor whether the ballot was cast by the deadline, Matthew Weil, the director of the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said in a statement.

"Exploiting inconsequential errors or omissions to invalidate otherwise eligible ballots received by the deadline is poor policy and bad for democracy," he said. "The fact that the state already accepts ballots with incorrect or invalid dates only demonstrates how inconsequential this requirement is to determine the voter's and the ballot's eligibility."

Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias warned that the situation in Pennsylvania is "far more disturbing than those we have seen elsewhere."

The three counties have a combined population of over 1 million people, he noted, and the issue causing the counties to contest the results has "been fully litigated in both federal and state courts."

"Most importantly, these counties did not refuse to submit any election results at all. Worse, they submitted results that intentionally exclude lawful votes," he said, adding that "this is how Republicans are planning to steal elections in the future."

Nonpartisan election law experts agreed that the trend could cause chaos on a larger scale.

"Had this unfolded on this kind of timeline in 2020, it really could have created problems, because there would have been questions about whether the state could have actually named a slate of electors," Robert Yablon, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School, told the Times. "You could imagine there being disputed slates of electors that were sent to Congress, and it could have been a big mess."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump Touts Fox Poll Showing Most Americans Want Him Ousted

Trump Touts Fox Poll Showing Most Americans Want Him Ousted

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

When President Donald Trump touted a new Fox News poll on Sunday, he neglected to mention some of its key findings. Namely, half the country supports his removal from office, including an overwhelming majority of independent voters.

“Majority of people say ‘the U.S. Senate already has enough information!’” Trump tweeted on Sunday night, citing the Fox poll.

It is true that a plurality, albeit not a “majority,” of respondents say the Senate already has enough information about the Ukraine scandal which sparked Trump’s impeachment. But the poll cited by Trump also finds that 50 percent of the country wants the president removed from office based on the evidence before the Senate.

A full 50 percent of registered voters support Trump’s removal from office, while 44 percent say he should be acquitted, according to the poll. A CNN poll released last week also found that 51 percent of voters back Trump’s removal, while 45 percent oppose it.

Though the numbers are largely split down party lines, the Fox News poll shows that 53 percent of independents believe Trump should be removed, compared to just 34 percent who want him to remain in office.

By comparison, about 38 percent supported former President Bill Clinton’s removal when his impeachment trial began in January 1999.

Even though 55 percent of voters say that the economy is in good or excellent shape, 56 percent of voters say they are unhappy with the direction of the country. Forty-five percent of voters approve of the job Trump is doing, according to the poll, while 54 percent disapprove.

The poll largely mirrors the numbers in a Fox News poll from last month, which similarly found that half the country wants to see Trump convicted.

“I was stunned to see that that’s the number, because I thought that things were trending away,” Fox host Brian Kilmeade said at the time, “Although the president’s approval rating did take up in the same poll, so it’s almost like a split personality.”

Trump was criticized Sunday for tweeting about a poll which shows the public wants him gone.

“There’s a reason he’s not linking to the poll,” Robert Maguire, the research director for the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, tweeted. “It shows… Americans believe the Senate already has enough info *to vote to remove Trump from office.*”

In fact, Fox News had a lot more bad news for the president over the weekend, though at least some network hosts managed to avoid discussing the terrible poll numbers while covering the poll on Sunday.

The Fox poll shows Trump losing by 9 percent to former Vice President Joe Biden, 6 percent to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., 5 percent to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and 4 percent to former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

CNN poll released last week similarly showed Biden leading Trump by 9 points, Sanders by 7 points, Warren by 5, and Buttigieg by 4.

The hosts of “Fox & Friends Weekend” managed to do a five-minute segment on the poll without once mentioning that Trump was underwater against every leading Democrat.

“It’s really quite apparent that the Democrats, no matter who it is … you’ve got to run against a booming economy, a booming stock market and wages on the rise,” weekend co-host Griff Jenkins said.

Co-host Pete Hegseth argued that the numbers showing economic approval were more important than the actual head-to-head matchups.

“Voters say, ‘I just can’t give credit to [former President Barack] Obama for that anymore,’” Hegseth said, “‘It has to be President Trump.’”

House impeachment manager Rep. Sylvia Garcia, R-Texas, pointed to Fox News polling during Trump’s Senate trial to support the claim that Trump was so obsessed with Biden that he pressured Ukraine to investigate him, in turn sparking his impeachment.

“Senators, it’s obvious — because President Trump wanted to hurt Vice President Biden’s candidacy and help himself politically. He pushed for an investigation in 2019, because that’s when it would be valuable to him, President Trump. He pushed for it when it became clear that Vice President Biden could beat him, and he had good reason to be concerned,” Garcia said last week. “Beginning around March, Vice President Biden is beating the president in polls, even on Fox News. In April, Biden officially announces his candidacy, and . . . that is when the president gets worried.”