The Secret Service has always been one of those national organizations like the FBI and the ATF and the DEA that people join because they want to serve in law enforcement at the highest level. They are the rather austere looking tall men – lately including some women – in dark glasses and dark suits and white shirts who stand around protecting the president or vice president and members of their families when they appear in public. They are the agents who jumped into action and protected President Reagan the day he was shot by John Hinkley, probably saving his life.
Any and all of the Secret Service personnel who can be associated/tied to this jaw-dropping dishonesty should be out of a job, banished from further "public service" and denied their pensions. Much like Donald J. Trump, they broke and dishonored the oath they swore when they took their jobs.
The court will take judicial notice as well as simply following the Federal Rules of Evidence that what is missing is "evidence," we get to the other issues later, after we find evidence, relevant, cogent, and lucidly summarized, and not before.
Lucian is asking about other crucial questions too. WTF happened? He offers a possible scenario in which diligent, probably politically conservative Secret Service agents, intervened to prevent Trumpsky, excuse me, Herr Gropenfuehrer, from showing up at his coup d'etat to make already really bad events and energy even worse. Is there any set of understandings already running amok in the Zeitgeist to make this plausible?
Here is a link I have posted before on this valuable blog, to an interview with a former national director of the ACLU, co-founder of the Brennan Center for Justice, involved in over 200 cases before in Supreme Court and Holocaust reparations litigation. So, a thoughtful attorney you probably want on your side in a battle of important ideas, plus, he draws from a forty [EDIT: Burt Neuborne is a prof. emeritus, it is a fifty-five] year career to discuss Trump:
Also, since this is a more personal area of the interwebs, and this bears on my own comprehension of Lord Acton's summary that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely": Iowa Power and Light Company allegedly tried to bribe my grandfather, Lamar P. Foster, Sr., then Speaker of the House of Reps in Iowa, in the late 1930s, when, get this, grandpa was heading from the Statehouse (the golden dome, the promise of democracy in action) to the Hotel Fort Des Moines, after a long morning session, via a lobbyist-factotum-de-bribes, as the vehicle in which they rode crossed the Des Moines River.
Placing what was obviously a package of money on the seat between them, he hissed, "Well Pat, I guess we understand one another, then."
Grandfather told the driver to stop the limo, told the hypothetical briber to get out of the car, and informed him that if he ever saw him or similar crooks around the Statehouse, he would summon the police and have him arrested.
Grandpa was a 33rd Degree Mason and that might have something to do with this, but in any event, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
An ancient Roman poet had already advised us: "No one ever became suddenly corrupt."
And neither did Trump, as our British cousins might put it, "he has plenty of form, Miss Moneypenny."
That they produced just one text message today seems like they are giving the middle finger to the J6 committee and the archivists. No after action reports either? This reminds me of Steve Bannon’s contemptuous style.
I don't wonder about that. That is their job and I expect that they would do it regardless of their political leanings. What they may be doing for the pig is different and it is likely the decision of one person, not the whole agency.
I live in the DC suburbs and several live close by. They’re not a fun bunch. Not crazy about the way they characterize things either. If they and the FBI are able to retrieve just about anything, then I’m sure they can permanently disappear things as well. The plot sickens.
Who has Former drawn to his "team", Roger Stone, Michael Miller, Steve Bannon, GEN Flynn, Rudy Giuliani, et al? All flawed and without scruples, for sure.
How many law enforcement types were enrolled by Former's Obama birth certificate nonsense 10 years ago? Former's legion are racist traitors who should be exposed for what they are, traitors to our democracy.
Well said Lucian. I am proud of the oath I took as an officer and can't imagine violating. This is all pretty disturbing. I have friends who were agents, I am sure they are pretty upset by it all. A couple of things, most communication between secret service agents is voice over radio. They all are in communication with each other continually by radio. I am not sure if they are even authorized to text one another in duty situations. Secondly, I believe that regardless of the fact that the texts were deleted from the phones that they all still may exist on servers somewhere and may still be retrievable. Just a thought. Also, a good possibility they are on servers that the agency may not be in control of and generally speaking when you get a new phone you don't erase all the data you either transfer it or depending on phone transfer the sim card. All very interesting.
Right, we’re expected to believe they irretrievably erased all their contacts and emails and text threads. They are lying. They lie about everything so there’s no reason to believe this line of cya bs.
I think there is more to it than just protecting Trump. I have no doubt that the agents text each other with messages that would prove embarrassing is exposed. Things like, “Jane has a great ass and I’d like to do her.” Other sexually harassing messages for example. There has been a documented history of this kind of thing. Of course, the messages relating to Trump are much more critical. The SS leadership should be clean out. Two choices, overt criminal activity or ineptitude.
Even then, 8 years ago, they were getting into scandals. It was not just one, but a series of them, and that indicates to me that the agency has become corrupted by their presence to power.
They believe themselves above the law, and thus they protect the one person who also thinks he's above the law.
Reportedly Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's staffs required entirely new teams of agents who did not have any connection to Trump, and many of those agents left to work with Donald Trump when he left the White House.
It's reported that Mike Pence refused to leave the Capitol when his team requested he do so because he believed they were part of the Trump coup plotters.
I think the agency has become too corrupt to continue as it is made up now. They should try to weed out all the agents who were doing only duty for Trump (which I understand were a lot of them) and hire new ones..and change their oath to put the country above any one man.
Politics has become an albatross around the agency's neck.
Unfortunately, the cancer of DJT metastasized. It's everywhere and we need to remove it and then do the chemo and radiation and whatever else it takes. Then we need strict controls on emails being stored on an agency server that can't be compromised. Clean house now. Especially that one man who became assistant Chief of Staff. That was always a bad look for a neutral agency.
MSNBC ran b-roll today of Trump's armored SUV leaving the Jan 6 rally. Through the rear passenger side window you can see the SS driver's hand on the steering wheel. (Well, you can see the cuff of his white shirt and his suit jacket, but the angle is consistent with a hand on a steering wheel.) Suddenly, there is a flurry of activity. Clearly someone reached somewhere (again, white cuff is the giveaway). It is quite possible that Trump grabbing for the steering wheel or being restrained from grabbing at the steering wheel is memorialized in that video. I wonder if significant enhancement and frame-by-frame enlargement will better show what was going on in that vehicle.
“Democrats are destroying America in some unfocused and apparently unmentionable way.” I wish some member of the GOP would—in a focused, non-hysterical, non-epithet-laden way—stand up and list all the ways they believe the Dems are destroying the USA. I’ll wait……….
Any and all of the Secret Service personnel who can be associated/tied to this jaw-dropping dishonesty should be out of a job, banished from further "public service" and denied their pensions. Much like Donald J. Trump, they broke and dishonored the oath they swore when they took their jobs.
Yes.
Now all you have to do is gather proof. Have you ever tried to fire a Federal employee?
Treasonous destruction of evidence
The court will take judicial notice as well as simply following the Federal Rules of Evidence that what is missing is "evidence," we get to the other issues later, after we find evidence, relevant, cogent, and lucidly summarized, and not before.
Lucian is asking about other crucial questions too. WTF happened? He offers a possible scenario in which diligent, probably politically conservative Secret Service agents, intervened to prevent Trumpsky, excuse me, Herr Gropenfuehrer, from showing up at his coup d'etat to make already really bad events and energy even worse. Is there any set of understandings already running amok in the Zeitgeist to make this plausible?
Here is a link I have posted before on this valuable blog, to an interview with a former national director of the ACLU, co-founder of the Brennan Center for Justice, involved in over 200 cases before in Supreme Court and Holocaust reparations litigation. So, a thoughtful attorney you probably want on your side in a battle of important ideas, plus, he draws from a forty [EDIT: Burt Neuborne is a prof. emeritus, it is a fifty-five] year career to discuss Trump:
www.commondreams.org/views/2019/08/09/leading-civil-rights-lawyer-shows-20-ways-trump-copying-hitlers-early-rhetoric-and
Also, since this is a more personal area of the interwebs, and this bears on my own comprehension of Lord Acton's summary that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely": Iowa Power and Light Company allegedly tried to bribe my grandfather, Lamar P. Foster, Sr., then Speaker of the House of Reps in Iowa, in the late 1930s, when, get this, grandpa was heading from the Statehouse (the golden dome, the promise of democracy in action) to the Hotel Fort Des Moines, after a long morning session, via a lobbyist-factotum-de-bribes, as the vehicle in which they rode crossed the Des Moines River.
Placing what was obviously a package of money on the seat between them, he hissed, "Well Pat, I guess we understand one another, then."
Grandfather told the driver to stop the limo, told the hypothetical briber to get out of the car, and informed him that if he ever saw him or similar crooks around the Statehouse, he would summon the police and have him arrested.
Grandpa was a 33rd Degree Mason and that might have something to do with this, but in any event, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
An ancient Roman poet had already advised us: "No one ever became suddenly corrupt."
And neither did Trump, as our British cousins might put it, "he has plenty of form, Miss Moneypenny."
That they produced just one text message today seems like they are giving the middle finger to the J6 committee and the archivists. No after action reports either? This reminds me of Steve Bannon’s contemptuous style.
Bannon needs a bath, then jail.
Bannon should be hanged for treason!
As you know, anything Trump touches turns to shit.
I suspect this is also true of anything or anyone that touches him.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
"Who will guard the guards themselves?"
Roman poet Juvenal from his Satires
No one, apparently
(Irrelevant aside... I came across this in a Robert Heinlein novel decades ago and it stuck with me)
One of his best, and a pop culture touchstone in the 60s
Did you grok it? ;-)
You have to wonder now how many SS agents would take a bullet for Biden?
I don't wonder about that. That is their job and I expect that they would do it regardless of their political leanings. What they may be doing for the pig is different and it is likely the decision of one person, not the whole agency.
More than one for sure.
I live in the DC suburbs and several live close by. They’re not a fun bunch. Not crazy about the way they characterize things either. If they and the FBI are able to retrieve just about anything, then I’m sure they can permanently disappear things as well. The plot sickens.
Please, have at it!
Damn few, is my guess.
Mr. Trump managed to destroy Clint Hill's legacy along with everything else he has ever touched.
Who has Former drawn to his "team", Roger Stone, Michael Miller, Steve Bannon, GEN Flynn, Rudy Giuliani, et al? All flawed and without scruples, for sure.
How many law enforcement types were enrolled by Former's Obama birth certificate nonsense 10 years ago? Former's legion are racist traitors who should be exposed for what they are, traitors to our democracy.
Well said Lucian. I am proud of the oath I took as an officer and can't imagine violating. This is all pretty disturbing. I have friends who were agents, I am sure they are pretty upset by it all. A couple of things, most communication between secret service agents is voice over radio. They all are in communication with each other continually by radio. I am not sure if they are even authorized to text one another in duty situations. Secondly, I believe that regardless of the fact that the texts were deleted from the phones that they all still may exist on servers somewhere and may still be retrievable. Just a thought. Also, a good possibility they are on servers that the agency may not be in control of and generally speaking when you get a new phone you don't erase all the data you either transfer it or depending on phone transfer the sim card. All very interesting.
Right, we’re expected to believe they irretrievably erased all their contacts and emails and text threads. They are lying. They lie about everything so there’s no reason to believe this line of cya bs.
I think there is more to it than just protecting Trump. I have no doubt that the agents text each other with messages that would prove embarrassing is exposed. Things like, “Jane has a great ass and I’d like to do her.” Other sexually harassing messages for example. There has been a documented history of this kind of thing. Of course, the messages relating to Trump are much more critical. The SS leadership should be clean out. Two choices, overt criminal activity or ineptitude.
I've read stories in the last 3 decades that belie the heroic, self-sacrificing, stoic Secret Service persona.
This is the Washington Post's article on them back in 2014.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2014/10/01/a-shortlist-of-recent-secret-service-scandals/
Even then, 8 years ago, they were getting into scandals. It was not just one, but a series of them, and that indicates to me that the agency has become corrupted by their presence to power.
They believe themselves above the law, and thus they protect the one person who also thinks he's above the law.
Reportedly Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's staffs required entirely new teams of agents who did not have any connection to Trump, and many of those agents left to work with Donald Trump when he left the White House.
It's reported that Mike Pence refused to leave the Capitol when his team requested he do so because he believed they were part of the Trump coup plotters.
I think the agency has become too corrupt to continue as it is made up now. They should try to weed out all the agents who were doing only duty for Trump (which I understand were a lot of them) and hire new ones..and change their oath to put the country above any one man.
Politics has become an albatross around the agency's neck.
Thanks for link. That was eye-opening. Looks like the reputation is overstated for sure.
Unfortunately, the cancer of DJT metastasized. It's everywhere and we need to remove it and then do the chemo and radiation and whatever else it takes. Then we need strict controls on emails being stored on an agency server that can't be compromised. Clean house now. Especially that one man who became assistant Chief of Staff. That was always a bad look for a neutral agency.
Just another example in a long list of people, organizations, businesses that trump has corrupted.
Well done. Someone had to ask. What is suddenly wrong with the S Service? Nothing wrong with firing people who don't do their job..
MSNBC ran b-roll today of Trump's armored SUV leaving the Jan 6 rally. Through the rear passenger side window you can see the SS driver's hand on the steering wheel. (Well, you can see the cuff of his white shirt and his suit jacket, but the angle is consistent with a hand on a steering wheel.) Suddenly, there is a flurry of activity. Clearly someone reached somewhere (again, white cuff is the giveaway). It is quite possible that Trump grabbing for the steering wheel or being restrained from grabbing at the steering wheel is memorialized in that video. I wonder if significant enhancement and frame-by-frame enlargement will better show what was going on in that vehicle.
Bring in some Reality TV Avid editors: Those guys can find anything:
“Democrats are destroying America in some unfocused and apparently unmentionable way.” I wish some member of the GOP would—in a focused, non-hysterical, non-epithet-laden way—stand up and list all the ways they believe the Dems are destroying the USA. I’ll wait……….
Merrick Garland? Hello?
You mean Wally Cox?