August 31st, 2022

August 31st, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 18: The Department of Justice (DOJ) building on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

On Wednesday’s Mark Levin Show, the DOJ filing defended their Mar-A-Lago search and the unauthorized removal of former President Trump’s passports stating that it was necessary to stop the threat to national security posed by the three classified documents they found in Trump’s desk. ‘Hiding’ documents on one’s desk is the best way to hide them and commit obstruction, right? The DOJ and the media are working together to create much ado about nothing. Then, the FBI spied on MLK and threatened him. Yet Democrats say if you don’t support the FBI in this unconstitutional raid then your anti-law enforcement. How is it that Hillary Clinton was not charged with violating the Espionage Act yet a former President who had the power to declassify documents should be charged with violating it? Later, China’s claim that they own Taiwan is bull. Taiwan was a territory of Japan more than 100 years ago. The communist Chinese must be stopped. Afterward, Dr. Oz joins the show to discuss his U.S Senate race against Pennsylvania’s Lt. Governor John Fetterman. Fetterman’s far-left radical views are outside of the norm in Pennsylvania in so much as he advocates for public drug use and has bragged about pardoning murderers from prison.

Storage
DOJ Filing Against Trump

FBI
Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use of a Personal E-Mail System (July 5, 2016)

Gatestone Institute
China Is Torturing Critics in Psychiatric Hospitals

Mark Levin Show
The government’s filing today was an outrageous political document…

Photo by Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times

The podcast for this show can be streamed or downloaded from the Audio Rewind page.

Rough transcript of Hour 1

Hour 1 Segment 1

I’m glad you’re here because we’re going to have a lesson together and we’re going to take our time. We’re not going to bounce around. I have in front of me. The filing by the Department of Justice. Against President Trump, some of the legal analysts are saying that the Department of Justice is preparing an obstruction case against the president and or his staff. We heard the same thing in the same legal analysts, among others, say that about the Muehler report. And of course, Hillary Clinton wasn’t charged with anything. We’ll get to that later, but I want to go through this with you because I doubt many of you have had the time to go through it. You do work for a living or have other things to do. But essentially, what the media are the mouthpieces for the government, so they read this stuff and then they regurgitate what’s in it. So let’s do at least some of this. OK? I can’t read the whole thing. But we’ll read part of it, the relevant parts. The EPA’s review of the 15 boxes that were originally turned over highlighted the national security implications of their improper storage. Now, between May 16 and May 18, 2022, after finally obtaining access to the 15 boxes, FBI agents conducted a preliminary review of the documents and identified documents with classification markings in 14 of the 15 boxes. A preliminary review revealed the following. One hundred and eighty four unique documents bearing classification markings, as you know, 67 marked as confidential. Ninety two documents marked a secret, 25 as so forth and so on after obtaining evidence indicating that additional classified records remained at the premises. DOJ initially sought the return through the issuance of a grand jury subpoena. Through its investigation, the FBI developed evidence indicating that even after the 15 boxes were provided, they provided the archives, dozens of additional boxes remained at the premises. We’re also likely to contain classified information. Cordingly DOJ obtained a grand jury subpoena for which the former president’s council accepted service on May 11, 20 22. So that’s three months before the raid on the president’s home, the subpoena was directed to the custodian of records for the office of Donald Trump, and it requested any and all documents or writings in the custody or control of Donald Trump and or the office of Donald Trump bearing classification markings. A list of classification markings. Make a mental note there. What did they ask for? And in all documents or writings in the custody or control of Donald Trump or the office of Donald Trump barring classification markings, DOJ also sent the former president’s counsel a letter that suggested they can comply by, quote, providing any responsive documents to the FBI at the place of their location and providing from the custodian a sworn certificate that the documents represent all responsive records. The letter further stated that if no responsive documents existed, the custodian should provide a sworn certification to that effect. So at least here we’re reading this together. They didn’t ask for all documents. They asked for any classified documents. Right, Mr. Producer? The subpoenas returned date was May 20 for counsel, sought an extension for complying after denying the request, the government offered counsel an extension for complying with the subpoena until June seven. Counsel for the former president contacted DOJ on the evening of June 2nd, requesting that FBI agents meet him the following day to pick up responsive documents. On June three, three FBI agents and a DOJ attorney arrived at the premises to accept receipt of the materials. In addition to counsel for the former president, another individual was also present as the custodian of records for the former president’s post presidential office. When producing the documents, neither council nor the custodian asserted that the former president had declassified the documents or asserted any claim of executive privilege. This is ridiculous, but this just shows you how a little sleazy this is. The president’s aides can’t say there’s been an assertion of executive privilege and only the former president can, that’s number one. And number two, they never asserted the former president declassify the documents where they asked and state council handed them in a manner that suggested council believe that the documents were classified. The production included a single red welt envelope, double wrapped in tape containing the documents, the individual present as the custodian of records produced and provided a sign certificate. Now, look, even if they’re be, it doesn’t mean you’re going to just throw them out at a ticker tape or something like that. So that proves nothing. I’m just explaining this, that the media are not showing any skepticism whatsoever. Now, that certification letter said, based upon the information that has been provided to me, I’m authorized to certify on behalf of Donald Trump the following, a diligent search was conducted of the boxes I removed from the White House to Florida be. The search was conducted after receipt of the subpoena in order to locate any and all documents that are responsive to the subpoena. See, and in all responsive documents accompanying the certification of Dean, no copy writing notation, a reproduction of any kind was retained as to any responsive document. And that was sworn first sentence again based upon the information that has been provided to me. Now, after producing the Red Weld, counsel for the former president represented at all the records that had come from the White House, was stored in one location, a storage room at the premises, in the boxes of records in the storage room where the remaining repository of records from the White House. Just hold on one second. Well, that’s funny, that’s not in the certification, is it, Mr. Producer? So that is not in the certification, so that’s them saying that’s what they were told counsel for the represented, there were no other records stored in any private office space or other location at the premises. All available boxes were searched. As the former president’s filing indicates, the FBI at DOJ attorney were permitted to visit the storage room. Critically, however, the former president’s counsel explicitly prohibited government personnel from opening or looking inside any of the boxes that remained in the storage room, giving no opportunity for the government to confirm that no documents were classification markings remained. Well, why didn’t they? Why didn’t the FBI do that anyway? Once in a secure government setting, the FBI conducted a preliminary review of the documents contained in the Red Welt envelope, that preliminary document review revealed the following. And then you go into 38 unique documents, bank classification markings, including five marked as confidential. And so forth. After further investigation indicated that the response to the subpoena was incomplete, that obstructive conduct occurred in connection with the response to the subpoena. So this is what they’re calling obstruction. This is what they’re calling obstruction and that let’s see, and that classified information remained at the premises, DOJ obtained a court authorized search warrant. Through further investigation, the FBI uncovered multiple sources of evidence indicating that the response to the May 11 grand jury subpoena was incomplete and that the classified documents remained at the premises, notwithstanding the sworn certification made to the government on June three. On June three that that certification. And and the person certifying said, based upon the information that had been provided to me. Doesn’t sound like the person who signed the certification obstructed anything. A lot of times you’ll have. A person swear that they actually did the search or persons swear that it is known to me. Something like that. That’s not what they swore, they specifically said based upon the information that has been provided to me. I’m authorized to certify. So you can have nothing here but a screw up. And or other things, in other words, there’s no reason to conclude and jump to the conclusion that some criminal obstructive act took place because it doesn’t even make sense. Because the FBI has other powers to obtain documents. So it doesn’t make sense that you would intentionally lie on a certification on behalf of somebody else doesn’t even make any sense. Let’s go on. Through further investigation, the FBI uncover multiple sources of evidence indicating that the response to Melvoin grand jury subpoena was incomplete and that classified documents remained at the premises, notwithstanding the sworn certification made to the government on June three. In particular, the government developed evidence that a search limited to the storage room would not have uncovered all the classified documents at the premises. Now, let’s stop there for a minute. That could be classified documents in the storage room. The former president has a right to have access to them, for all I know, maybe he’s writing a book, maybe whatever it is doesn’t matter. Maybe he’s reminiscing and wants to look at something classified or otherwise. So when they say. The documents weren’t limited to the storage room in the light of the site. We found some in his desk does not seem to make the point if he were trying to hide documents, would he put them in his desk in particular? OK. The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed or removed from the storage room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation. I don’t even understand that. That the word probable cause there were efforts to obstruct, which prohibits obstructing an investor. This included evidence indicating the boxes formally in the storage room were not returned prior to counsel’s review. You know, folks, what’s amazing about this to me, as we get into the weeds, and this is why I’m doing this with you. Have you ever tried to get your IRS records from 10 years ago, Mr. Producer? Is it a simple task? I ask you folks this question to. Why is it assumed that there’s a criminal or excuse me taking place? Why is it assumed? And why pull the criminal trigger, because we found out there was more stuff that they go get it. Go get it. Why is it assumed that substraction? I mean, in Hillary Clinton’s case, we have little ups, little obstruction of thousands of emails. Let’s continue. Pursuant to the search warrant, the government was permitted to search the 45 office. The former president’s office, the premises of storage rooms and all other rooms are areas within the premises used are available to be used by the former president and his staff in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate, but not areas currently being occupied and so forth. Well, that’s because the master said you couldn’t. The government was authorized by the warrant to seize any physical documents for classification markings, along with any other containers and boxes and so forth. We talked about that. Pursuant to the above described search protocols, the government seized 33 items of evidence, mostly boxes. Falling within the scope of the attachment to the search warrant, this is the general search warrant, anything around it, because they contain documents with classified markings or what otherwise appear to be government records, three classified documents that were not located in boxes, but rather were located in the desks in the five office. Three documents were also seized. Per the search warrant protocols discussed above, the seized documents included documents that were collectively stored or found together with documents with classification markings. OK, but I read to you what it was that they were seeking. It was classified information. They found three documents in the former president’s desk in his office. That’s obstruction. Now, the fact that they found the three documents in his desk, doesn’t that demonstrate it’s not obstruction? All right. I got more. I’ll be right back.

Hour 1 Segment 2

Three classified documents. It’s interesting, they don’t say what kind of classification that suggests the lowest, but nonetheless that were not located of boxes, but rather were located in the former president’s desk in his office. Now, I don’t know about you, Mr. Producer, but that’s the first place I would hide documents if I didn’t want the FBI to get them, wouldn’t you? But I want you to listen to this footnote so you get the sense of how aggressive and out of control this government is playing. If repeatedly claims that his passports were outside the scope of the warrant and improperly seized and the government of returning them has admitted as much. These claims are incorrect, consistent with attachment B to the search warrant. That’s the general warrant part that’s unconstitutional. In my view. The government sees the contents of a desk drawer. They can take classified documents and governmental records commingled with other documents. The other documents include a two official passports, one of which expired, one personal passport, which was expired. The location of the passports is relevant evidence in an investigation of unauthorized retention and mishandling of national defense information. Nonetheless, the government decided to return those passports in its discretion. You believe that you’re even defending the taking of the passports because of the national security concerns about the former president.

Hour 1 Segment 3

So now we’ve moved from the Espionage Act. Remember that debate a month ago to the Presidential Records Act? Remember that debate to now obstruction? See how this works, Mr.. On a former president. Now, they’re not arguing that the former president took classified documents or his staff. And gave them to the enemy. Or sold them to anybody who revealed the secrets. This is about the location of the documents. The location. Of the documents. That’s all it’s about. Three classified documents, we know nothing about them, but the government is going to want to make them the Rosetta Stones, if you know what I mean. The most important information in the history of information. And they seized these three classified documents. From President Trump’s desk, of all places. Pursuant to the above. Search protocols, the government sees 33 items of evidence, mostly boxes. The investigative team has reviewed all the materials in the containers that the privilege review team did not segregate as potentially attorney client privilege. Oh, by the way, this is an entirely political document. The issue in front of the federal judge. Is whether or not. To appoint a special master to go over the documents. So what the government has done here is put on its opening argument. Continued to keep secret its affidavits. You and I could see what it was originally they were searching for and leaked to the media. Investigative team has reviewed all the materials in the containers that the privilege team did not segregate as potentially attorney client privilege of the seized C evidence, 13 boxes or containers contain documents with classified markings in all over 100 unique documents with classification markings. That is more than twice the amount produced on January three in response to the grand jury subpoena were seized. Certainly the documents had colored cover sheets indicating their classification. And that’s when you see the picture. So they spread them on the floor and took a picture. Because they knew this would be a political filing. The different color coding that’s used on the different types of classifications, not he me, that would violate the Espionage Act. Why? I seriously doubt every single government overseas knows how we color code our classifications, but even apart from that, it’s the mishandling of documents. You file these in open court. You filed the color coded folder cuppers. Publicly. In order to distribute that information. Notwithstanding councils representation on January three, the materials from the White House were only located in storage room. Classified documents were found in both the storage room and the former president’s office, so the three documents they’re saying demonstrates. Misleading. Demonstrates. That they lied and intentionally so. You see how preposterous this is, this is a former president of the United States, ladies and gentlemen. More, the search casts serious doubt on the claim in the certification and now in the motion that there had been a diligent search for records responsive to the grand jury subpoena the storage room alone, FBI agents found 76 documents, bank classification markings. All of the classified documents seized in the August eight search have been segregated from the rest of the seized documents are being separately maintained and stored in accordance with appropriate procedures for handling and storing information. They were in the storage room. Where the accident said. All the materials were. So the FBI knew to go to the storage room with their search warrant. They searched the president’s former office, they found three documents which you had in a desk drawer. That’s it. Did you know this prior to me reading this to you, did you know this? I did not. I did not know that I thought they were all over Mar a Lago, by the way they were speaking, their privilege review team has completed its review of the materials in its custody and control and were identified as potentially privileged. The privilege review team identified only a limited subset of potential attorney client privilege documents. Doesn’t matter if you had a limited subset. One’s enough. Have any of you ever had lawyers? And you have a lot of communications and somebody, FBI or somebody can come in and say, look, we only looked at a few, we only grabbed a few, we didn’t grab them all. Now, this is very interesting to me. I’ll tell you why. On the one hand, Donald Trump and his his folks obviously committed obstruction because there were three documents in his desk drawer that were classified and they said everything was in the storage room. Right. Meanwhile, the government takes attorney client privilege and nobody’s going to be held to account for that, are they, Mr. Producer? So they take attorney client privilege documents and try and do well, there’s only a few there’s only a limited subset, quote unquote. So if Donald Trump says there’s only a limited subset of classified information in my desk, you think the FBI is going to going to have a different view? Plaintiff lacked standing to seek judicial oversight, they say, and related relief in relation to any presidential records seized from the premises. Now, that’s the key, they say any presidential records, but that’s the issue, isn’t it? Ladies and gentlemen, President Trump is asserting that many of these materials are private materials. Why do we assume that all of this is government documents? Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. But why is it the. The government, the FBI, the prosecutors have yet to make that decision. We already know they took attorney client privilege documents. They were at his house for nine hours. How is it that they took attorney client privilege documents? Because the warrant was too broad, but they went through the documents anyway and they still took him. So they’re OK, they can take attorney client privilege documents, but if they find three classified documents and Trump’s drawing, we don’t know anything about them. That’s evidence of obstruction. Interesting plaintiff has no property interest in any presidential records. The issue isn’t whether he has interest in presidential records. The issue is whether certain of records are presidential records. Period. He’s not entitled to the return of any property. Well, of course he is anything that’s not presidential material. Moreover, don’t get caught in their trap. Donald Trump has the right to have access to all of these materials. What they’re saying is he can’t access them in the way he did. At Mar a Lago. How is that obstruction? Again, this whole thing, they’ve brought it to a fever pitch, even if the former president had standing, they say the appointment of a special master will be unnecessary and would interfere with a legitimate government interest. You know what the legitimate government interests are. In the middle of investigation, they can’t be slowed down by a special master, why not? Why not? Now, what about executive privilege claims? They say a former president cannot successfully assert executive privilege against the executive branch in its performance of executive functions. Now, that is probably correct. But we don’t have a defining 100 percent decision on that, certainly not from the U.S. Supreme Court. So the Justice Department doesn’t get to decide that issue. They say the former president cites no case and the government is aware of none of which executive privilege has been successfully invoked to prohibit the sharing of documents within the executive branch. And what’s interesting about that is this statute that they keep talking about, the Presidential Records Act, specifically talks about executive. By the sitting president, what if he doesn’t act, that the former president has a right to go to court and there’s a whole thing about it? So if they’re right, why is there anything at all written about it in the Presidential Records Act? See, they go on, I’m reading this for the first time to even if a former president could in some circumstances asserted executive privilege, no such assertion would be valid here. So they’re making conclusions of law. Appointment of a special master review materials for claims of executive privilege would be inconsistent with principles of equity. That is preposterous. Let me go on. The court should not appoint a special merit master, but if it does, the below conditions should apply. And then they say, you know, we need to confer and agree. And it goes on to what they expect the court to do under the circumstances. That’s pretty much it now, you know more than anybody else, including the people reporting on this. What do you make of this? The amount of manpower. And law enforcement resources being used against this president is unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Let me let me spin this down for you. They found three classified documents in President Trump’s desk. So what? Everything else, as best as we can tell, was in fact in the storage room. There’s nothing in there that says they found any anywhere else. They went back in the storage room and they found more classified information in the boxes. That’s what they’re hanging their hat on. See see, the lawyer filed a certificate, a certification stating that he or she was told that everything had been searched and this is all they have. So that demonstrates obstruction. No, it demonstrates a mistake. There’s nothing in here early on, early on in this document, it says that concern about possible destruction or there is nothing in here about destruction. Mr. Produced. Did you hear anything? Not a word. Nothing. But the reason I read you that footnote on the passports was to demonstrate to you how. Far, the government is overreaching here. We gave them back, but of course, we did have a right to get them because, you know. He may leave the country any time we have a national security interest like this. That’s what they’re trying to say. We have to be careful. What I read to you demonstrates an FBI, a U.S. attorney and attorney general completely out of control. Completely out of control. It’s really quite appalling. There’s nothing in here that shocking that should shock anybody. And I want to remind you, millions and millions of papers that were produced, information that were produced by this administration are in the hands of the archives. So when they say, look at all these boxes, look at all these documents, it’s nothing. Minimal. I’ll be right back.

Hour 1 Segment 4

We literally have let me see here from The Guardian, this is nine years ago. We literally have in this country. Tens of millions of documents that are classified. Trillions of new pages of text trillions are classified every year. More than five million people have security clearances, including low level contractors. You wear this. So obviously, some secrecy’s necessary, maybe even a lot. But just how much seriously? And this is why they leaked early on nuclear code information, you notice not even this outrageous filing to the court, this publicity stunt by the Department of Justice, including a photograph of the cover sheets on classified information that result in the indictment of everybody involved in that. Notice no such language in here. Instead, they talk about his passports. So to sum up, in fact, everything was stored in the storage room except for three so-called classified documents in a drawer in President Trump’s desk. That’s the government saying that. That’s the government saying that, not Mark, I read it to you, that’s it. That’s what they’re talking about, documents being removed from the storage area three. And we don’t even know if they were removed from the storage area before or after, but it doesn’t matter. Three. No whisper that anything with the documents that was done was illegal in a substantive way, nothing. Nothing. They didn’t tell us all these classified documents were in the storage room. Where they set all the documents were. In fact, somebody certified that they weren’t, that the weight turned everything over at us. But if you had a mind set in specific content, ladies and gentlemen, to cover something up, you would destroy them, you do something. But what is it that they would want to cover up the Trump team? The existence of the documents doesn’t even make any sense. Obstruct what? What exactly? I’ll be right back.