Background Briefing: August 9, 2022
What Did Trump Take to Mar-a-Lago He Wanted Kept Secret and What Did the FBI Find?
We begin with yesterday evening’s execution by the FBI of a warrant signed by a federal judge from which apparently highly classified material was taken from Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago including contents from his safe. Joining us to discuss what documents Trump might have taken with him from the White House that he wanted to keep secret is Peter Strzok, the former FBI Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence and a 22-year veteran of the Bureau. He served as one of the original case agents for the Russian couple who inspired the TV series The Americans, and he has investigated a range of other high-profile cases, from WikiLeaks to the 9/11 hijackings to Hillary Clinton’s private email server. He was selected to head the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and worked with Robert Mueller as a leader of the FBI’s efforts in creating the Special Counsel’s Office. A veteran of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, he is the recipient of the FBI’s highest investigative honor, the Director’s Award for Excellence, and is the author of Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump, now out in paperback.
The Party of Law and Order in Complete Submission to Trump’s Lawlessness
Then we examine the overheated response from Republican leaders like Kevin McCarthy who threatened retaliation against Attorney General Garland and speak with Lloyd Green, an attorney based in New York who was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s 1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992. A contributing writer at The Guardian where his latest article is “Tuesday’s primaries offered a glint of hope for Democrats this fall,” we discuss how the party of law and order is now in complete submission to Trump’s lawlessness.
The Fallout From the Alex Jones Trial
Then finally we assess the fallout from the Alex Jones trial and speak with Anna Merlan, a journalist specializing in politics, crime, religion, subcultures, and women’s lives. A Senior Staff Writer at Vice Features, she was previously an investigative reporter for Gizmodo Media Group, a senior reporter at Jezebel and staff writer at the Village Voice and the Dallas Observer. She is the author of Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power, and we discuss her latest article at Vice, “Alex Jones and Infowars Must Pay Sandy Hook Parents More Than $45 Million in Punitive Damages, Jury Finds.”