Last week, Donald Trump’s rich asshole truck stop Mar-A-Lago was raidedlegally searched by the FBI. Since then, every Republican politician has raced to the nearest mic or camera to caterwaul about how unfair it is to treat Trump as if no one is above the law. A perfect example of this is Republican congressman Mike Turner of Ohio, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, whose arguments about this have been aging like a glass of milk in the sun.
Appearing on CNN’s “State Of The Union,” Turner was all too happy to dive on this political landmine for Trump’s “honor.” Unfortunately for him, this week’s show was hosted by Brianna Kielar, and she does not suffer conservative fools as easily as Jake Tapper or Dana Bash.
Kielar recapped what we know and what the Justice Department has released about the documents being stored at Trump’s McDonalds playground for retirees. Then Turner started talking.
TURNER: Well, we have a number of concerns, Brianna, obviously. One is whether or not the raid itself was justified. […] If it rises to the level of an immediate national security threat, which is what it would take to actually raid the president’s home, because, as you know, they had a number of options available to them, including just going to court and asking for the courts to enforce the subpoena that they had.
Keilar, noticing his deflection, asked a direct question.
KEILAR: You’re familiar with special access programs and the level of classification that is. Why are you casting doubt on how classified this information was, if you see the property receipt, and it’s very clear that this was SCI information, some of it?
Turner went on a little diatribe, Keilar called bullshit, and then they had this exchange:
KEILAR: Do you take home documents marked special access?
TURNER: No.
KEILAR: And yet you’re casting doubt on whether or not — sorry. Go on.
TURNER: And, quite frankly, I have been in the Oval Office with the president. I’d be very surprised if he has actual documents that rise to the level of an immediate national security threat.
KEILAR: Well, the documents, just to be clear, several sets — and you’re aware of that because you have seen the property receipt. You’re casting doubt. You want information. You don’t actually have that information on which to base that conclusion at this point. But you yourself would not take on documents that are marked special access? You would not take home this sensitive, compartmented information?
TURNER: Well, remember what I’m casting doubt on. I mean, not — it’s not — these are labeled that. We don’t know whether or not these are classified and rise to the level. But the second thing we don’t know is, are they a national security threat? Attorney General [Merrick] Garland could have gone to court to enforce the subpoena that he had…KEILAR: Do you know they’re not? Sir, do you know they’re not?
TURNER: … asking the court to demand that Donald Trump deliver the materials to the court.
Mike Turner wants you to think the Justice Department hadn’t exhausted its options. CNN had this nice tick-tock ready.
Gee, it’s almost like AG Garland and the DOJ gave Trump every chance to turn in the sensitive documents before it led to this.
Turner tried to bring up Hillary Clinton, because time is a flat circle and it’s always 2016, but Keilar came prepared with a list of Turner’s previous “but her emails” complaints. She even had the graphics department make it nice for all the viewers to see!
That didn’t stop Turner from trying anyway:
TURNER: Well, there are — there are — there’s a significant difference here. […] These are two-year-old documents that are in the president’s residence. We don’t know what’s in them. They’re not ongoing, certainly now, of which they waited two years and a weekend after they got their warrant to raid his home.
KEILAR: Are you — do you have evidence — do you have evidence — sir, do you have evidence that they are not ongoing?
TURNER: They don’t rise to the same level of ongoing communications that you had in Hillary Clinton.
KEILAR: Do you know that?
TURNER: But, remember, they did not raid Hillary Clinton’s home. This is why — this is why Hillary — this is why Garland has got to answer these questions. It’s unequal application of the law. They did not raid her home.
KEILAR: Sir, how do you know — how do you that they’re not…
TURNER: They spent nine hours in his home.
KEILAR: Excuse me, sir. Sir, I just want to be clear. How do you know they’re not ongoing? You haven’t been briefed on what you want to be briefed on. How do you know that? Why are you saying that, if you don’t know it?
TURNER: Well, according to the receipt, according — well, we do know it. And even you know it. And you and I can both agree that the inventory itself lists papers that were taken from his home in boxes. […] Remember, they did not raid his — her home. They raided his home. They spent nine hours in his house. That’s clearly…
How dare they treat a white conservative man this way! .
Have a week.
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