Donald Trump‘s week just went from bad to worse. Following the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago, details about what prompted the Department of Justice have slowly trickled out before culminating in a press conference where a poker-faced Attorney General Merrick Garland defended FBI agents and made the bombshell announcement that he would be unsealing the warrant after Trump made its presence known. Essentially, Garland was calling Trump’s bluff after he stirred up MAGA-world to demand that DOJ reveal why his Florida residence was searched.
After agreeing to the release of the warrant during a late night statement, someone provided the Wall Street Journal and Breitbart with a copy of the warrant before the Department of Justice made it available for the public. However, in a rush to publish the unredacted documents, it appears that Breitbart inadvertently revealed that Trump is under investigation for violating the Espionage Act, which is very bad, if that’s not clear.
“The hilarious thing is that since Brietbart doesn’t even know what a Supervisory Special Agent is, they probably don’t realize they’ve confirmed that Trump is under investigation for violating the Espionage Act,” legal journalist Marcy Wheeler tweeted as others quickly noticed Breitbart’s blunder.
As the reality set in that a former president is under investigation for violating the Espionage Act, the term immediately started to trend on Twitter as folks couldn’t believe what was happening. Trump has been a non-stop scandal machine since before he even stepped foot in the White House, but this is truly an unprecedented situation, particularly following reports that some of the top secret information recovered involves nuclear weapons. It really doesn’t get worse than this, and we’re talking about a guy who caused a freaking insurrection during his last month in office.
You can see some of the reactions below:
What are the chances Breitbart realizes they just disclosed the Mar-a-Lago search is part of an Espionage Act investigation pic.twitter.com/RUFbGjTiHr
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) August 12, 2022
So, the current front runner for the 2024 GOP nomination just had a search warrant executed on his home under the Espionage Act? Totally normal. Nothing to see here. https://t.co/LmrSgLk8yp
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 12, 2022
Uh… wow. 18 U.S.C. § 793 is the Espionage Act. It’s the law used to prosecute foreign spies who steal classified information.
The idea that the FBI is investigating a former president under that statute is absolutely bonkers. https://t.co/7Uigg30Axy
— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) August 12, 2022
Nothing to see here folks, just a former President of the United States being investigated for the violation of the Espionage Act. https://t.co/F2CWDjYj5D
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 12, 2022
holy. fucking. shit. the search warrant reveals that that Donald Trump is under investigation for violating the Espionage Act. let that sink in
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) August 12, 2022
lol last night John Solomon said he confirmed that the warrant listed “two statutes,” when there are actually three—and he conveniently left out the Espionage Act https://t.co/HU3QyFyrtS
— Roger Sollenberger found true love, suckers (@SollenbergerRC) August 12, 2022
You can’t even violate the Espionage Act anymore JFC. When will we give
men a chance!? pic.twitter.com/HCMqYe9yaP
— the sarcastic little sea shill
(@layneashley222) August 12, 2022
Friday night: “We’re very concerned about the former president potentially violating the Espionage Act.”
Sunday morning: “Auctioning off the nuclear blueprints is unorthodox, sure, but he’s a shrewd businessman. Of course I’ll vote for him in 2024.”
— Dennis Mersereau (@wxdam) August 12, 2022
(Via Mediaite)