All posts tagged "mar-a-lago"

Jack Smith gets warning GOP has set a trap

A legal expert Thursday revealed how former Special Counsel Jack Smith's testimony on his investigations into President Donald Trump could open him up to perjury charges.

CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez described why Smith was pausing before answering each question during his first public testimony with the House Judiciary Committee.

"There's a perjury trap over this entire hearing," Perez said. "They are watching every single word, and he is, I think he is weighing every single word. He cannot diverge from his previous testimony, he did a deposition in December, and I think he's trying to be careful and that's what you're seeing, the tentativeness at the beginning. It's pretty clear he's comfortable with what he did and he still believes that he would do it again."

Smith was speaking on his decision to prosecute Trump on a series of federal crimes in 2023. He wasted no time declaring that Trump "broke the law" at a congressional hearing Thursday.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chair of the committee, delivered a scathing opening statement, accusing Smith of acting under "politics" and complaining about “stolen phone records."

“We’re going to hear a lot of yelling and screaming from the other side," Jordan claimed before the testimony.

Smith, a career federal prosecutor, was appointed as a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate Trump's handling of classified documents and his role in the events surrounding the Insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith led high-profile criminal investigations and prosecutions against Trump on multiple counts, including obstruction of justice and violations of the Espionage Act related to classified materials at Mar-a-Lago, though the cases faced significant legal challenges and delays, with Trump ultimately avoiding trial on these charges following his 2024 election victory.

Legal expert intrigued as Trump 'sounds pretty desperate' to bury Jack Smith's report

A former prosecutor reflected on President Donald Trump's first year in office and what he has attempted to hide.

Joyce Vance argued that it's time for the public to have more information about the Jeffrey Epstein files and the Mar-a-Lago case in her Substack Wednesday.

Trump has called on Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon to block the Department of Justice report from special counsel Jack Smith and has acted in his "individual capacity" by filing a motion for Cannon to issue “an order prohibiting the release of Volume II of the Final Report prepared by so-called ‘Special Counsel’ Jack Smith and his office,” Vance wrote.

Vance pointed out that it sounds like Trump's own voice, using the term "so-called 'Special Counsel' Jack Smith," and said it was a move that attorneys should not allow their client to direct or even do.

"But apparently, Trump’s lawyer thinks she can get away with that, given who the judge is," Vance added.

The move from Trump and his legal team has revealed where the president's mindset falls.

"The bottom line is that Trump sounds pretty desperate to keep the special counsel’s report on the Mar-a-Lago indictment out of the hands of the public," Vance wrote. "'Release would also lead to the public dissemination of sensitive grand jury materials, attorney-client privileged information, and other information derived from protected discovery materials, raising significant statutory, due process, and privacy concerns for President Trump and his former co-defendants.'”

"It’s a consistent theme with this President. There is so much to hide, so much to keep out of the public domain. Like the Epstein Files. Like the Mar-a-Lago case," Vance wrote.

Vance urged Congress "to push full throttle to enforce the Transparency Act it passed," and argued that Trump has tried to conceal something.

"There should be calls every day for release of Epstein-related materials with reminders that DOJ is ignoring the law and that there is too much information pointing to the connection between Epstein and Trump to ignore," Vance wrote. "The fact that Trump is hoping to Venezuela and Greenland his way out of that quagmire suggests how important it is for us to continue to pursue the truth."

Vance explained that it's likely that it would ultimately be up to the legal system.

"When it comes to Mar-a-Lago, the government is almost certain to go belly up on making the special counsel report public out of deference to Trump," Vance wrote. "But it should be possible for other parties to pursue the matter in court. While any request is likely to fall on deaf ears before Judge Cannon, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has been a less friendly venue for the President. Special Counsel reports are routinely released at the end of the investigation, and particularly here, where an indictment was dismissed, not because it was found wanting, but because Trump was elected a second time, the public has a right to know."

Trump filing 'infused with disdain' seeks to keep Jack Smith's final report secret

President Donald Trump wants to keep former special counsel Jack Smith’s final report classified, according to a new court filing Tuesday.

In the filing from his personal lawyer, the president told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — a judge he appointed and his first direct request of her — to continue an extension on an 11-month order to block the Justice Department from sharing the report, Politico reported.

Smith submitted it just before Trump's second inauguration and reportedly tells the story of the criminal case against the president after he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home, including in a bathroom.

"Trump’s request is a break from the Justice Department’s handling of all special counsel reports in recent decades. Typically, those reports are provided to Congress and made public, even when they have included damaging findings about the incumbent administration. DOJ released another report Smith compiled detailing his findings about Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election shortly before President Joe Biden left office," according to Politico.

"The filing is infused with the typical disdain Trump has expressed for his former prosecutors, labeling Smith a 'so-called special counsel' and saying the case was 'marred by numerous deficiencies and repeated abuses of office,'" the outlet reported.

Trump's Mar-a-Lago neighbors fume over 'thunderous' plane noise

As of October, the U.S. Secret Service designated President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, as a no-fly zone, forcing aircraft to divert around it even when he is not visiting. Speaking with the Washington Post , residents of the area planes must now fly over fumed over the noise and soot left behind.

As required by the no-fly zone, a significant number of lanes are now routed over the El Cid neighborhood, a few blocks north of Trump's resort. However, it's not just the noise from these planes leaving or arriving at Palm Beach International Airport causing a stir, as some area officials highlighted the abruptness with which the policy was put in place.

“There was no lead-up to this,” Nancy Pullum, chair of the Citizens’ Committee on Airport Noise, said. “It just happened. Literally nobody knew. The flight traffic controllers didn’t know. The airport, they didn’t know. Palm Beach County didn’t know.

“It’s thundering,” Pullum added. “It’s as if they’re accelerating when they’re right over me. You go take your trash out to your garbage can, and you realize there’s a plane right over your head, and you can see the belly of it.”

“We want to do everything to make sure we protect our president, and we understand that when he’s there, this is what needs to happen,” Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss told the Post. “But when he’s not there, why? What’s the concern at that point?”

The Secret Service declined to go into much detail about the decision when pressed for comment by the Post.

“In order to ensure the highest levels of safety and security for the President, the U.S. Secret Service requested the FAA institute additional temporary flight restrictions over Mar-a-Lago,” a Secret Service spokesman said in a written statement. “We recognize that these changes could have an impact on the public and appreciate the Palm Beach community’s understanding as we work to keep the President safe.”

Since acquiring the Mar-a-Lago property in 1985, Trump has sued the county and the airport over plane noise. The first two cases were dismissed, as was the third, but only after he was elected president in 2016. This meant air traffic was diverted from over the resort, but unlike the present situation, it was only when he was visiting.

The current setup is set to remain in effect until at least October of next year.

'It could be forever': Florida residents 'blindsided' by Trump move wreaking havoc on them

Florida residents have been left "blindsided" by a no-fly zone update around Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

Though there had been a no-fly zone in place for when Trump was in the residency, the restrictions to air travel are now in place permanently, at least until next October. Officials say the no-fly zone, which now operates 24/7 whether the president is there or not, has caused an increase in noise and soot at residents' homes.

Palm Beach International Airport has been told they must divert flights away from Mar-a-Lago permanently, with the neighborhood in uproar over the effect it's having on their day to day lives. Lori Rozsa of The Washington Post wrote that residents had been "blindsided" by the change, which is to remain in place even when the resort is closed.

Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss said, "We want to do everything to make sure we protect our president, and we understand that when he’s there, this is what needs to happen. But when he’s not there, why? What’s the concern at that point?"

The flight pattern change is something Trump has sought for his Mar-a-Lago residence for decades. He filed three lawsuits against the county and airport over airplane noise before he was president.

His first lawsuit was brought against the county and airport in 1995, and dismissed in 1996. A second lawsuit was dismissed in 2010, and Trump sued for a third time in 2015. Trump argued that the house had been damaged by the airplanes, saying, "I am saving one of the great houses of this country and one of its greatest landmarks, and it's being badly damaged by the airplanes."

Now Trump has his way, at least until October next year, but residents believe it's a flight pattern change that could be permanent. One person said, "This is an opportunity for him to seize what he’s really wanted to do for a very long time. This could be stretched for three years. It could be forever."

Other residents believe the historic claim to Mar-a-Lago should apply to other residences in the area now affected by the change in flight patterns.

Margie Yansura said, "Donald Trump says that his house is on the National Register of Historic Places. Well, my house is on the National Register of Historic Places. We’ve lived here for 45 years, and we’ve fought hard to save this historic neighborhood. I’m retired. I would like to sleep in, but I can’t past 6 a.m., and it goes on until 11 at night."

Real estate agent Don Todorich also said homeowners had "paid more money not to be in the flight path" of traffic coming and going from Palm Beach International Airport.

Trump takes 6-day vacation to Mar-a-Lago while Americans struggle with skyrocketing prices

President Donald Trump is heading to his Florida estate on Tuesday to get a jump on the Thanksgiving holiday. The president and First Lady will be staying at Mar-a-Lago for an extended break, returning to the White House early Sunday evening.

As the First Family enjoys their six-day trip, Americans are increasingly dismayed at the state of the Trump economy, which is producing near-record-low consumer sentiment, rising and record prices at the grocery store, increasing unemployment, persistent inflation, and — as the president recently declared — tariff payments that are about to “skyrocket.”

Inflation remains strong at 3.0%. The unemployment rate is now the highest it’s been in nearly four years. Prices for items like beef, coffee, and bananas have increased by double-digit percentages. Major corporations have announced plans to lay off thousands or tens of thousands of workers. Millions of Americans are seeing their health care premiums for next year in some cases double or even triple. And according to one economist, there is a possibility that some parts of the country may already be in a recession. Another economist last week sounded the stagflation alarm.

According to guidance from the White House, published by Roll Call, the president and First Lady will head to Palm Beach, Florida, at 6 PM on Tuesday, after pardoning the presidential turkeys.

The president has no public events scheduled on Wednesday. The only event scheduled for Thursday, Thanksgiving, is a 6 PM call with service members.

On other Thanksgivings, some presidents have visited troops in person, even overseas, or volunteered at food banks.

For Friday and Saturday, the president has no public events scheduled. On Sunday, the president and First Lady leave Palm Beach at 3 PM, headed for the White House.

Last month, President Trump was sharply criticized as “tone deaf” for hosting a Great Gatsby-themed party as millions of Americans were poised to lose their SNAP benefits.

'Mar-a-Lago face': Writer hits Trump hangers-on for deliberate 'self-abasement'

A writer for Salon noticed all of the aesthetic "ugliness" surrounding the Trump administration and came to one conclusion: Trump himself loves the grotesque, so his faithful followers deliberately make themselves as gaudy as possible to please him.

"The reality TV host has always embraced an aesthetic that is as hideous as it is expensive, from gold-plated everything to his vile haircut to his ill-fitted suits," wrote columnist Amanda Marcotte. "It's only grown worse in the decade since he first ran for president, as both the leader and followers compete to inject as much unsightliness as possible into the American field of vision."

Marcotte took shots at the people who surrounded Trump — both men and women — who have a similar look: botoxed and surgically enhanced, with makeup so thick it could "crack."

She surmised that the garish look and filler-heavy faces had more to do with "kissing up to Trump" than lacking self-awareness.

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"I agree with Barnard professor Anne Higonnet, who told Mother Jones it's 'a sign of physical submission to Donald Trump,'" Marcotte wrote. "After all, the look requires doing everything wrong, in a way so thorough that self-abasement seems a big part of the point."

She cited the "Mar-a-Lago face," created through "aggressive plastic surgery, fake tan, and make-up spackled on so thick that it would crack — if the fillers hadn't already paralyzed their faces" as being to blame for the over-the-top looks of the likes of Kristi Noem, Lara Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Matt Gaetz, and Trump's wife, Melania.

Marcotte wrote that a certain "ugliness" garners loads of attention, which is what Trump lives for.

"As a bonus, the weirdness 'triggers' the liberals, which is the goal above all others in Trumpland," she wrote. "But there's also an ideological project, however unwitting, in the uncanniness. Fascism, especially the 21st-century version practiced by the MAGA movement, is at war with reality."

"The hyperreality of the MAGA aesthetic is about power," Marcotte concluded. "Unable to create good or beautiful things, they express dominance by turning everything ugly."

Read the Slate article here.

Companies shelled out $500M to 'avoid' Trump's 'wrath' after election: report

President Donald Trump never stopped raising money after he won the 2024 election, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars check by check during top-drawer Mar-a-Lago dinners with health care industry executives, according to new reporting in The Wall Street Journal.

Reporters Josh Dawsey and Anna Wilde Mathews wrote that Trump held more than 50 dinner meetings at his Florida club where he wined and dined with heads of pharmaceutical companies, health insurance agencies, and hospital leaders who all wrote the largest checks.

They included the head of drug-maker Pfizer, pharmacy-benefit managers including CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group, and big insurers like CignaGroup, which all had a Mar-a-Lago dinner after their companies each ponied up at least $1 million.

"In his gold-covered, chandeliered dining room just off the lobby at his Mar-a-Lago club, Trump discovered one of the most lucrative moneymaking ventures of his career, sometimes serving chopped steak, showing off his iPad playlist and listening to executives looking to bend his ear and complain about others," they wrote.

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“Everybody who is anybody went down to Florida to meet Trump," the reporters quoted Kathryn Wylde, the leader of the Partnership for New York City. “It was a proactive effort to not be a target,” she said.

The two months of private fundraising dinners "shattered records for presidential transitions," according to the report, with Trump telling associates "he raised about $500 million" this way.

The reporters spoke with "11 people familiar with the activities, highlighting the extent to which U.S. corporations have showered Trump with money hoping to avoid his public wrath and shape his thinking on esoteric issues where he has shown less policy interest."

Trump has said he'll use the money for a "rainy-day fund," and reportedly split the cash among his "inaugural committee and various other accounts, including a large political-action committee. "

Read The Wall Street Journal story here.

Chinese citizen tried to enter Mar-a-Lago and said he had info on Trump shooting: report

A Chinese citizen was reportedly arrested after police said he tried multiple times to enter former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, claiming he had documents linking China to the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Zijie Li, 38, of El Monte, California, faces a misdemeanor trespassing charge over the Wednesday incident, the Palm Beach Post reported Friday. His bail was set at just $3,000 bond, court records showed.

Li first tried to break into the country club around 8 p.m. on July 19. He drove up to the gates on South Ocean Boulevard in a gray Toyota Prius. Trump was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the time for the Republican National Convention.

Security cameras found Li driving to Palm Beach a second time on July 22, when he drove east and then west again over the Royal Park Bridge. Trump had returned to the club the previous morning.

A week later, on July 30 at approximately 5:40 p.m., Li was spotted again driving toward the Mar-a-Lago checkpoint at South County Road and South Ocean Boulevard. He ended up blocking a lane of traffic, which involved local police. The officer reported that Li's GPS system had the Mar-a-Lago address plugged in as his destination.

He was released and headed west out of town, but returned an hour later. He was stopped and warned not to return to Mar-a-Lago.

Li refused to give up, police said. The town's security cameras showed Li's car driving back and forth past Secret Service checkpoints.

The last point was when Li drove back to the southern gate, where police arrested him for violating trespassing warnings.

Since the attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, the Secret Service has expanded the security around Mar-a-Lago and Trump's other properties.

This is the second time a Chinese national has attempted to get into Mar-a-Lago. In 2019, a 32-year-old woman lied to get into the club and then said she wanted to talk to him about economic relations with China.

Read the full report here.

Trump's gambit to declare immunity in classified documents case is doomed: experts

Former President Donald Trump is hoping to leverage the Supreme Court's recent ruling that he has a presumption of immunity for official acts to not only block the federal election conspiracy case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, but also the classified documents case in South Florida.

But that is doomed to fail, wrote former White House ethics counsel Norm Eisen, former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore and former Senate Judiciary Committee counsel Josh Kolb in a joint article for CNN.

"Trump’s effort to dismiss that case is spurious, potentially self-destructive and should fail," they wrote. "The classified information case, which includes 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information and also alleges false statements and conspiracy to obstruct justice, is arguably the most straightforward of the prosecutions against Trump — and is of the utmost seriousness. While there are some complicated legal and evidentiary issues related to classified information that led Judge Aileen Cannon to postpone the trial in May, the alleged criminal activity is straightforward and this fact is not in dispute: Trump possessed classified documents after he left office."

The fact that the alleged offense occurred outside of office completely shoots down any idea that it could have been an official act of office, they wrote. Nonetheless, "his request to the court will result in delays that will help ensure the Mar-a-Lago prosecution will not go to trial this year."

In particular, Trump's theory rests on the Supreme Court's decision to exclude evidence of official conduct from any trial that seeks to prosecute a president for unofficial acts. However, they wrote, "a closer reading of the decision reveals that the court only ruled on the inadmissibility of 'immune conduct,' or official presidential acts that would be considered unlawful but are shielded from prosecution by immunity. As this applies to none of the stray benign presidential conduct that we have described above and that is included in this indictment, there is nothing to exclude."

If Judge Aileen Cannon, a far-right jurist with a reputation for tilting rulings in favor of Trump, tries to throw out the case on any of these grounds, they wrote, it will just kick the matter to the Supreme Court, and she will be overruled. "Once Cannon gets to the merits, she should not — and likely will not — act in favor of Trump," they concluded.