Aileen Cannon Liberates Details of Trump and Melania’s Mar-a-Lago Bedrooms
I don’t like Trump at all.
I don’t like Melania much either.
But call me crazy, I don’t think this kind of detail of a former President’s private suite should be available to the masses and aspiring spies, not even those of former Presidents accused of stealing hundreds of classified documents.
Ah well, kudos to Melania, who got an extra 112 square feet in the bargain.
A more pertinent part of newly unredacted material in the August 2022 search warrant affidavit is that DOJ asked for CCTV footage from outside of Pine Hall, as well as the hallway outside the storage closet where Trump had all his stolen documents stashed, as I’ve long surmised. If such video exists, they didn’t get it in their first request (there remains a redaction regarding the response they did get).
Update: According to NPR, Judge Cannon has some disclosure issues of her own, having failed to disclose two junkets she took to Montana.
Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida is presiding over former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial for allegedly mishandling classified documents. Cannon, herself a Trump appointee, attended two seminars at a luxury resort in Montana, but the privately funded seminar disclosures for both events were not posted online until NPR began making inquiries. Clerk of court Angela Noble told NPR in an email that the absence of the disclosures was due to technical issues and that “Any omissions to the website are completely inadvertent.”
My wandering brain connected that MAL disclosure to a line in a 2003 John Grisham novel I’m just now reading: “Jarrett Carter had once filed suit against the President of the United States, and though he lost the case, the experience taught him that every subsequent defendant was an easier target.” Easier maybe, but not likely as interesting (or challenging, for that matter).
“Technical issues” my ass. That corporate apologist’s line is what corporate apologists drag out when clients get their hands caught in the cookie jar. Inadvertence or negligence carry fewer penalties than intentional disregard of applicable rules.
Your basis for that is…? Seriously, sometimes it is just technical issues…
The big problem is that it appears to be an endemic problem and there doesn’t seem to be adequate interest/funding in ending the “technical difficulties”. Definitely it is at best “unsightly” if the Federal judiciary cannot manage to follow the Federal ethics disclosure requirements due to “a lack of funding”.
Uh-huh. The online form that needed to be filled out was down for a couple of years, and no one noticed.
Seriously, “technical issues” means “I’m not going to explain it to you, and I’ll snow you with technobabble if you ask again,” with a side order of “it might have been partially my fault.” I’ve used it myself when I just didn’t feel like explaining what went wrong with something. The Earl has it exactly right.
LOL. The problems were easy enough to fix once someone started paying attention.
Exactly. No-one cared enough to have it done right until it was about to become an embarrassing public issue. Either you have ethical disclosure standards or you don’t. If they have any meaning they must place the onus on the discloser to ensure it is done correctly. If it was a ‘technical’ issue, how many other judges’ disclosures were affected?
Sometimes. But “technical issues” is the new “computer error”, but folks are not stupid and they know you need a human involved for a “computer error”. So, “technical issues” it is!
The most common “computer error” usually turns to be PEBKAC: Problem exists between keyboard and chair.
Off the top of my head, the only sort of technical error I can reverse engineer from this highly specific result would be that judges submit these reports by emailing them to someone in the office to do the postings, and an incomplete email was sitting in Cannon’s drafts folder that she believed she had sent.
That also leaves the door open for Judge Cannon claiming it was sitting in her drafts folder. I mean, I have no problem believing Judge Cannon intentionally withheld information. I’m less inclined to believe that the Clerk of Court is an active collaborator on the omission.
Don’t federal judges go through training(s) to acclimate them about their judicial rights and responsibilities, and the associated judicial processes they’re supposed to adhere to? Seems that disclosure would be right up there near the top.
Am I the only one to think that FPOTUS’s spouse should be replaced by FFLOTUS?
How about TLPKATLFKATFLOTUS?
The Lady Presently Known As The Lady Formerly Known As The First Lady of The United States
I never thought that you would be the one
After all the things that we’ve been through
You gave your body to another in the name of fun
–I Hate U by Prince
So far, yes, you are alone. Trump’s current marital partner had no elected role, especially not a role recognized under Article II of the Constitution. She was the spouse of then-POTUS and that’s it, no other label. (Referring to her as a spouse also conveys understanding spousal privilege may be invoked.)
Reminds me of that Stephen Colbert interview with Dennis Kucinich’s wife, where he referred to her as a FLILF. My nostalgic brain misses such naively sophomoric humor, in contrast to the dire circumstances we find ourselves in now.
That NPR story is…something!
When judges get free trips to luxury resorts, disclosure is spotty
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/01/1247512187/federal-judges-disclosures-luxury-trips
MAY 1, 20245:08 AM ET
They were able to get the information from George Mason University [and it’s very right-wing and political Scalia Law School] because it is public and therefore subject to the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
In a comment that’s in the pokey, I incorrectly called George Mason U. Scalia School of Law “very right-wing.” Here’s a better description from Mark Joesph Stern:
The DOJ Official [Jeffrey Bossert Clark] Who Tried to Steal the Election for Trump Has a Sweet New Gig Conservative attorneys who fought to overturn the 2020 election continue to face no professional consequences. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/jeffrey-bossert-clark-justice-department-covid-vaccine.html [] 8/4/21
Scalia Law and Economics Center organized the two junkets to Montana that CANNON attended.
Scalia Law School at Va. public university George Mason – named after an 18th century heavy-weight intellectual and founding father – is a hard right leaning institution. It’s not the only one at George Mason.
Conservatives have turned it into a go-to institution to promote right wing causes through heavy funding from right wing billionaires, and support from conservative, Metro DC judges and lawyers, including the Supremes.
It’s turned the school into a conduit for hard right views, sold especially to judges, through exactly these kinds of nominally objective gatherings and boondoggles.
And, evidently, for churning out indoctrinated law clerks,
three for SCOTUS since 2021:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/02/23/trumps-defense-he-intended-to-steal-boxes-and-boxes-of-classified-documents/#comment-1041093
Donors to Scalia Law School, Law and Economics Center: https://masonlec.org/donors/
One baffling name on that list:
J. Michelle Childs
And note that its Mercatus Center is frequently tasked with promoting right-wing agendae on C-Span, along with AEI, Heritage, and Americans for Prosperity. I will still think of the law center as the Antonin Scalia School Of Law; aptly shortened to…well, you know.
I have to thank you for pluralizing agenda as agendae. Haven’t seen that elegant Latin form since…ever?
Meaning that “very right-wing” is a very inadequate description for just how right-wing that institution is?
It certainly understates George Mason’s institutional, not occasional, status as a major leg of the Neoliberal project.
Although known most for his stance on individual rights, Mason was also greatly opposed to the concept of the “immune” president that the rightists have been pushing for decades. He never signed the U.S. Constitution. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/george-mason
In my observation of a couple of nephews who attended GMU, the undergrad curricula is a weak in structure, content and thought. Not very high standards.
[There are 2 previous comments in the pokey]
The two Scalia Law and Economics Center Montana junkets Cannon attended:
1] The Sage Lodge Colloquium
Sage Lodge, Pray, Mont. (Sept. 26 – Oct. 2, 2021)
https://masonlec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Sage-Lodge-Colloquium-Agenda-September-2021.pdf
2] The Sage Lodge Colloquium – Special “YELLOWSTONE” Edition
Sage Lodge, Pray, Mont. (Sept. 25 – Oct. 1, 2022)
https://masonlec.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Sage-Lodge-Colloquium-2022-Word-Press-Agenda.pdf
From #2:
“Oliver Wendell Holmes” is misspelled “Wendall” every time.
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My funny bone really wanted these seminars to be scammy timeshare presentations or pyramid scheme recruitment drives. On this forum, opinions tend to swing between the extremes of “she’s an idiot/sucker” and “she’s completely in the bag for Trump” so it would have been nice if it had not just been a legal world lobbying conference.
Thanks for these links. TBH, They’re legit-looking conferences. Yes, heavy representation of “conservative” viewpoints, but what do we expect? And both took place before she was assigned to the documents case, so I see no way to frame them as rewards or inducements, even though they look pretty luxurious.
“nominally objective” conference; but, right, what other flavor of conference would we expect of Cannon? Then again, why is an SDFL judge interested in Western land law (the 2023 colloquium)? I’d feel differently about the comp if she actually gave an expert talk on the main topic of the colloquia or served on a panel critical to the mission of one of the colloquia, but this steps on an ethical boundary line as far as I’m concerned. The main plus I see is that the taxpayer didn’t directly foot this bill; however, there’s an external cost to it.
“The main plus I see is that the taxpayer didn’t directly foot this bill;”
Well, yes and no… lots of greenwashing/propaganda over the “sustainability” of raising cattle (not native to the US) in the middle of a world-renowned US National Park. Not to mention having discussions with the Superintendent of Yellowstone.
Yes, that’s the aspect of it that caught my attention. You, and I’m sure others, will be interested in something new Jamison Foser etal have been putting together at The Prospect. I posted it further down.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2024/05/01/aileen-cannon-liberates-details-of-trump-and-melanias-mar-a-lago-bedrooms/#comment-1050443
The part of that story that leaped out at me was this:
The AfD is a real piece of work, and investigations into ties to Nazis are not at all limited to a single person. I’d love to know whose idea it was to have Beck address US judges on anyone’s jurisprudence.
Yes, and unlike Antifa, AfD is a real thing. It’s essentially a neo-Nazi organization in all but name and logo.
Indeed.
The current minister of labor, Hubertus Heil of the SPD, said today that AfD is not an Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany), but an Albtraum für Deutschland – a Nightmare for Germany.
Now that’s what I call burying the lede(rhosen)!
Attending a seminar by the Af-fuckin’-D should be absolutely and unequivocally disqualifying for any judge to remain on the bench anywhere in the U.S., federal, state, local, whatever. That’s disgraceful.
“Fucking Germans. Nothing changes.”
Additional gross information on Gunnar Beck may be obtained from the German Wikipedia entry: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnar_Beck (the English version is a bit more sketchy).
The GMU seminar in question obviously was “The Judicial Seminar on English Foundations of the Rule of Law and Liberty” (July 24 to July 31, 2022, at The Mayfair in London).
https://masonlec.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/London-Final-Agenda-.pdf
There’s Beck listed only as “Member of the European Parliament.” According to Wikepedia, he still holds a position at the SOAS University of London. However, his bio there keeps quiet about his political activities, https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/gunnar-beck .
harpie, you really started a conversation here. As always, thank you for your keen eye and persistence.
In the Nauta FBI transcript, p. 26, where he describes Pine Hall and the suites, I found it notable that in lines 12 & 13 he corrected himself: “And then there’s the door that you go through, that he comes out of — they come out of, it’s to another small room…” Initially I thought it was an effort to include Trump’s spouse, but I suppose the Secret Service has to be around somewhere.
Lucy and Ricky bedrooms.
No RICO. Don’r make me come over there…
That pun was sitting right there on the tee also wasn’t it. haha
Just checking to see if you’re paying attention. No names were changed to protect the non-innocent.
Does that also mean that you are presumed non-innocent until proven non-guilty ??
Hoisted on my own petard!
Yo no soy rico.
pobrecito
Ah, mijito!
Ah Mojito.
Hey, at least yours Suns made it to the payoffs, if only to be promptly dismissed. Warriors remain mired in aging mediocrity.
Also today, from Brandi Buchman:
Cannon reminds Trump to redact witness names as former president faces gag hearing in different venue https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/cannon-reminds-trump-to-redact-witness-names-as-former-president-faces-gag-hearing-in-different-venue/
The scanning of this “one box” of documents held by Trump at MAL in September 2021 seems a little strange. They did it in a “tennis cottage,” using a cellphone app, and then transferred the data to some undisclosed offsite server. Hmm.
Doesn’t sound kosher. A former president’s staff used a tennis cottage instead of the onsite business center? They scanned an entire box with a not-so-handy cellphone, instead of a commercial scanner, and sent the data to an offsite server? I’m surprised they didn’t sneak in at midnight and use a desk lamp and a Minox taken from their shoe.
Separately, the article’s description of MAL as “part private residence; part private club” is lazy. MAL is a private members’ club. Its use as a private residence is banned, except for a small number of employees who work there. Donald Trump owns the place, but calls himself an employee to get around the “no residents” restrictions he explicitly agreed to.
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/prosecutors-release-new-batch-of-files-in-trump-mar-a-lago-case-that-details-the-long-journey-of-one-belatedly-discovered-box-containing-more-personal-materials/
it’s a cottage industry
Touche.
What I’d like to know is whose server that was, what information was sent to it, and where did it go from there.
Mrs. Peacock’s. . . A Wrench. . . French Hall ;)
A visiting IT specialist… at Deutsche Bank… with a poisoned pen letter?
The fact Trump doesn’t sleep with his spouse is the thing that concerns me the least about this vile man. My loving spouse of 30+ years and I don’t sleep in the same room except when we travel, due to my sleep apnea. But we are very much in love. Anyway, the description of Trump’s living arrangements at MAL just reinforces my earliest conclusions that this is a deeply weird and creepy man. He is like a frumpy, overweight, yellow version of Jack Nicholson in The Shining, creepy around an abandoned resort, hatching some fiendish and murderous plot. Ick!
All true, but I was amused to learn that trump’s suite is considerably smaller than mine.
I think I read in the NYTimes that the rich have 800-sq-ft closets. trump would not need that, as he appears to have only two suits, but his wife would.
Yes, two suits and one long red tie.
Also a long gold one, it seems.
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First thing that came to my mind was if it was smaller was because his suite is where the hidden room is located.
On the side issue of sleep apnea. I use a CPAP and it stops my snoring cold. On top of that the fan noise of the CPAP is soothing to my wife’s tinnitus. It has been a win for me with little limitations except for tent camping and overnight sailing trips. On the other hand, I can adapt to most sleeping conditions, and your tolerance for a sleep mask or canulla may be low.
If you have not gotten one, please get a sleep study. The detrimental effects of sleep apnea on your heart is well documented.
TY
OT, but check out the Inspire unit. if you are a candidate, Medicare now covers the surgery.
From the NPR investigative piece on failures in disclosures by Federal judges:
It is certainly not a good look when the director of the office that manages the required disclosures did not get his own disclosures in order until NPR was on the case. Did he not know of the requirement or did he just blow it off like others seem to have done? Does he remain in charge of the Administrative Office? Then again, there may not be many who want that particular job.
OTOH, this is all a very good look for NPR. And at just the right time.
To say nothing of investigative journalism in general.
Good for NPR exposing judges who failed to remember reporting financial disclosure of seminar events.
A RV caravan of judges with Thomas leading the pack to the luxury resort seminars around the United States would be an unforgettable event.
Covering the Friends of the Court The Supreme Court’s corruption scandals will not soon be forgotten, but many already fail to appreciate their full implications. https://prospect.org/justice/2024-05-02-covering-friends-of-the-court/
JAMISON FOSER, WILL ROYCE MAY 2, 2024
Supreme Transparency https://supremetransparency.org/
Wow. This website has a wealth of well organized information!
Thank you again, harpie! You are my hero forever!
Thanks so much…that means a lot coming from you, Ginevra! :-)
I’ve been posting some of this stuff on Rayne’s new open post. See you there?