Remember back during a time I like to call “two days ago” when The Washington Post published a report claiming the FBI was searching for sensitive material related to nuclear weapons during its search of former President Donald Trump’s home? According to some unnamed sources, the Bureau seemed to believe that this information was of a critical nature and needed to be found immediately.
From the report:
Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of former president Donald Trump’s Florida residence on Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Experts in classified information said the unusual search underscores deep concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands.
Well, there appears to be an issue here: The warrant to search the president’s home, which was recently unsealed, made no mention of nuclear secrets or any information pertaining to such – at least not explicitly. The former president was believed to have possessed documents classified as “top secret,” and the FBI suspects him of having violated the Espionage Act, which entails “obtaining information respecting the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation.”
The warrant lists one document that refers to “information, including communications in any form, regarding the retrieval, storage, or transmission of national defense information or classified material.”
Several high-profile conservative commentators questioned why the Bureau would wait over 18 months to retrieve those documents if they truly contained critical information regarding the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Even the judge who signed the warrant gave the FBI until August 20th to search the president’s home. If this were really an urgent matter involving nuclear secrets, why would they wait so long?
Kyle Becker, CEO of Becker News, posted a tweet articulating this argument perfectly:
Here it is. The FBI’s search warrant was issued on 8/5.
The Feds waited THREE DAYS to conduct its unprecedented raid.
The Biden DOJ waited 565 days to act over purported ‘nuclear weapons secrets’ believed to be in Trump’s possession.
Goodbye, Russia Hoax. Hello, Nuclear Hoax.
Here it is. The FBI's search warrant was issued on 8/5.
The Feds waited THREE DAYS to conduct its unprecedented raid.
The Biden DOJ waited 565 days to act over purported 'nuclear weapons secrets' believed to be in Trump's possession.
Goodbye, Russia Hoax. Hello, Nuclear Hoax. pic.twitter.com/l3frH3FDQh
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 12, 2022
Breitbart News’ Joel Pollack also chimed in:
If the FBI waited 18 months to seize “nuclear documents” from a country club, everyone at the agency should be fired.
If the FBI waited 18 months to seize "nuclear documents" from a country club, everyone at the agency should be fired.
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) August 12, 2022
Even I couldn’t resist the temptation to make light of the matter with an expertly-crafted Spaceballs reference:
BREAKING: FBI agents who raided Trump’s home found nuclear codes among seized documents.
“Apparently the code to launch nukes was 12345, the same as the combination on President Trump’s luggage,” said a source familiar with the matter.
BREAKING: FBI agents who raided Trump's home found nuclear codes among seized documents.
"Apparently the code to launch nukes was 12345, the same as the combination on President Trump's luggage," said a source familiar with the matter.
— Jeff Charles (@JeffOnTheRight) August 12, 2022
What is sad about that last tweet is that even though I said it was satire, people still believed it was real, which shows just how ridiculous this whole fiasco has become.
Of course, it is still possible that one of the documents for which the Bureau was searching was related to nuclear weapons. But this does not automatically mean Trump possessed critical secrets that would harm the United States. Moreover, the idea that he would plan to sell them to a foreign power like China or Russia – as some on the left have suggested – is laughable.
So far, it appears The Washington Post was engaging in its usual brand of activism and there is every reason to be skeptical about this report, which also relied on anonymous sources. But, as they say, the truth will out – eventually.
