Any other American would already be serving prison time for taking government documents!

What do you suppose he intended to do with all that stuff?

This political cartoon is probably describing a degusting truth.  How much evidence was flushed? 

Echo opinion by Joan Quigley published in The New Jersey Journal, NJ.com.

The Justice Department found cartons and cartons of documents concealed at Mar-A-Lago and suspects there are still more hidden somewhere. All the boxes seem to contain a mish-mash of papers, some labeled “Top Secret,” others marked “Confidential,” and some that seem unrelated to all the other stuff.

As you know, the formal statements and social media messages from Mar-A-Lago range from excuses why Trump can exercise executive privilege to retain the papers to “it’s nobody’s business what he keeps in the basement.”

FBI Raid On Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Gets Results For Late-Night Comics.

The former guy president has said he can declassify documents at will, without any paperwork, and late-night pundits have joked incessantly about his ability to declassify things by just thinking about them and wondering what else he can do with his mind alone.

There’s been, at Trump’s request, a special master appointed by a court to review documents and decide whether or not the Justice Department can even look at them. The judge who ruled in Trump’s favor has also become the target of not only late-night jokesters but also serious legal scholars concerned about her impartiality.

Many leaks to many media have fueled speculation about what might be in those papers. Nuclear secrets, information that could get a foreign government in deep trouble, correspondence with the leader of North Korea, and background materials on recently enacted laws, it’s been reported.

While journalists are clamoring for news about the contents of the documents, lawyers are wrangling over who can see them, and nobody seems clear on just whose property they are, one question is seldom asked.

Why did Trump want them in the first place?

It’s pretty well known the former president has little respect for paperwork. We read about his tearing up documents, flushing them down the toilet, tossing them on the floor, and scribbling over them with his Sharpie.

He left the White House in a rage and in a hurry. So why were these particular boxes sent to Florida while everything else went to government record-keepers for history?

Since nobody else seemed to be asking that question, I decided to ask some people I know. It was sort of a random sample since these folks came from all walks of life, but it wasn’t entirely random in that not a one of them was a fan of the former leader of the free world.

National Archives confirms classified material was in boxes at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence- The Washington Post.

The most frequent answer I received was that he took them “just because he could,” meaning no one had any real idea what his reasons may have been.

A few others were more cynical, saying he hoped to make money from them. Then the speculation ran really wild. Some said he could make a fortune – or his kids could after they acquired his estate someday – by selling the Kim Jong-un letters to some well-heeled collector. Others said he could blackmail the foreign government for either cash or favors in the future.

And a few said he’d open his own museum and charge admission, maybe even at his golf course in New Jersey, where people could visit Ivana’s gravesite for an additional fee.

Maybe someday when it becomes clear exactly what papers he had – or still has – we might learn why he wanted them, but for now it’s a mystery.

It’s also a mystery why government officials and I are fascinated by his concealment of boxes of documents instead of focusing on all he did to foment insurrection. Our attention ought to be what to do about the Jan. 6 insurrection and how to prevent greater damage to the midterm elections.

A former assemblywoman from Jersey City, Joan Quigley is the president and CEO of North Hudson Community Action Corp.

P.S. Maine Writer:  My husband is retired military.  Anyone who was found guilty of taking government documents would already be in prison. Full Stop! The former guy is clearly acting like he has impunity from the law.  No One Is Above The Law!  

President Macron mourns the loss of Notre Dame Cathedral

Macron Pledges To Rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral “Because It Is, In Deepest Sense, Our Destiny”
Published in the Deadline news from Hollywood California

Tragedy in Paris

By Lisa de Moraes

UPDATED throughout: “It is with pride I tell you tonight we will rebuild this cathedral,” French President Emmanuel Macron told France Monday evening. On Tuesday, he said, he will call on the “greatest talent” from inside and outside French borders, “and we will rebuild Notre Dame because it is what the French expect of us, it is what our history deserves, it is, in the deepest sense, our destiny.”

Speaking to his country, Macron described Notre Dame of Paris as “our history, our literature…the place where our biggest moments played: plagues, wars, liberations. It is at the very heart of our lives.” By the time he addressed his country, the fire had consumed worldwide Twitter, including Top-10 trending for: Notre Dame, Paris, #NotreDameFire, Quasimodo, Victor Hugo, and Catholics.

Paris’ iconic Notre Dame Cathedral continued to burn Monday night. But Paris police report they have been able to save the two rectangular bell towers at the front of the nearly 900-year-old structure.

That welcome news came around 11 PM Paris time. Earlier in the evening, MSNBC had quoted the French Interior Ministry spokesperson saying firefighters “might not be able to save” the cathedral, that took 200 years to build, as the fire expanded into one of its bell towers.

The fire broke out at 6:50 PM Paris time which France 24 reported is “five or six minutes” after the cathedral closed for the day.

When the fire broke out, it was described as a small burning and local news in Paris was not focused on the fire. 

Paris April 15, 2019

Two hours after the fire first was noted, much of the cathedral was in flames. U.S.

Paris’ iconic Notre Dame Cathedral continued to burn Monday night. But Paris police report they have been able to save the two rectangular bell towers at the front of the nearly 900-year-old structure.

That welcome news came around 11 PM Paris time. Earlier in the evening, MSNBC had quoted the French Interior Ministry spokesperson saying firefighters “might not be able to save” the cathedral that took 200 years to build, as the fire expanded into one of its bell towers.

The fire broke out at 6:50 PM Paris time which France 24 reported is “five or six minutes” after the cathedral closed for the day.

Fox’s Shep Smith reported that when the fire broke out, it was described as small burning and local news in Paris was not focused on the fire. “As to why they weren’t able to contain it is reporting for another day,” he added.

Two hours after the fire first was noted, much of the cathedral was in flames. U.S. news viewers saw the spire become engulfed and topple; much of the roof burn away and the wooden interior consumed.

A spokesman from the church said the entire wooden interior was destroyed. No injuries have been reported. The Paris prosecutor has opened an investigation into the Notre Dame fire, CNN reports.

Paris’ deputy mayor described the damage to the cathedral as “colossal” and efforts had been underway to save some of the art and artifacts inside, though it’s not known how successful were those efforts. French authorities say the fire is “potentially linked” to the $6.8 million renovation project that had been under way on the church’s 295-foot high spire, which no longer exists.

Donald Trump took another crack at a presidential response Monday. (He initially tweeted to French firefighters about 'air bombing water' on the structure - NOT! The response was that, to do so, would collapse the structure.) 

Later, speaking at a Tax Day round table/campaign rally in Minnesota, Trump called the cathedral “one of the great treasures of the world. The greatest artists in the world if you think about it, I would say might be greater than almost any museum in the world, and it’s burning very badly. Looks like it’s burning to the ground.”

“That puts a damper on what we’re about to say, to be honest,” Trump told attendees, calling Notre Dame “beyond countries; it’s part of our growing up, part of our culture. Part of our lives.”