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The news came in yesterday that the FBI raided Donald Trump’s home in Mar-A-Lago.
Why did they do this?
According to Hillary Clinton’s lawyer, the FBI raid would disqualify Trump from “holding any office” ever again.
This comes from Hillary Clinton’s top lawyer Marc Elias, the man responsible for spreading the Trump-Russia collusion.
Elias points to code 18 U.S. Code § 2071:
(a)Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
(b)Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States. As used in this subsection, the term “office” does not include the office held by any person as a retired officer of the Armed Forces of the United States.
The FBI raid comes at a very specific and suspicious time.
We know that President Trump has hinted at a 2024 presidential run and the January 6 investigations have proven to go nowhere.
The Washington Examiner reported:
With news of the FBI raiding Mar-a-Lago, buzz quickly bubbled up Monday evening about whether former President Donald Trump could be disqualified from office again.
The FBI search of the Florida resort was related to Trump’s handling of presidential records, including classified documents, after leaving office, sources told CNN.
Such reporting had Marc Elias, the top lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign who has drawn scrutiny for his role in pushing Trump-Russia collusion claims, pointing to U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2071. “The media is missing the really, really big reason why the raid today is a potential blockbuster in American politics,” Elias said in a tweet.
The passage that says anyone “having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States,” was the one he highlighted.
Despite Elias’s tweet going viral, he acknowledged in a follow-up missive that this matter could warrant a fierce legal battle.
“Yes, I recognize the legal challenge that application of this law to a president would garner (since qualifications are set in Constitution). But the idea that a candidate would have to litigate this is during a campaign is in my view a ‘blockbuster in American politics,’” Elias said.
Allies of Trump expressed suspicions that the raid was part of a political move meant to ward off another presidential run — something Trump has strongly hinted he will partake in for 2024. Steve Bannon, a former White House aide who was pardoned by Trump, noted Elias’s tweet during a call on Fox News.
Trump posted on Truth Social after his home was raided.
Trump said: “After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024.”
The Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment on the Mar-a-Lago search on Monday.
