A Helpful Timeline

An FBI search of the Mar A Lago estate Monday, authorized by a federal magistrate, uncovered what a property list of seized items said included 11 sets of material listed as classified.

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 13, 2022

That warrant was unsealed Friday, and Trump later said any material stored there was already de-classified.

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 13, 2022

It was unclear whether the letter signed by the Trump lawyer assuring there was no more classified documents stored on the property happened at that face-to-face meeting.

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 13, 2022

Fox News has reported FBI investigators were told by one of their witnesses months ago that classified material remained on the estate, after a dozen or so boxes had been returned to the National Archives in January, that also included classified documents.

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 13, 2022

No one has been charged in the ongoing federal grand jury probe of the handling of documents from the Trump presidency. The former president has forcefully denied any wrongdoing.

— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) August 13, 2022

And an unhelpful timeline:

CBS News has confirmed the @maggieNYT @GlennThrush report that a Trump lawyer signed a statement saying the former president's team had complied with the federal subpoena regarding classified and gov't documents, following the June visit by investigators to Mar-a-Lago...

— Robert Costa (@costareports) August 13, 2022

After that June meeting, as first reported by NYT team, a Trump lawyer tells investigators, as a formalization of the visit and subpoena request, sign a statement that any problematic materials/documents in Florida were accounted for and, if necessary, returned to the U.S. gov't.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) August 13, 2022

But in light of FBI search, federal investigators were clearly not satisfied that docs taken in June, or docs they believe might have been unaccounted in June, had some kind of blanket declassification.

The Q remains what was in affadavit that prompted that position and action.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) August 13, 2022

I really can't make sense out of #3 (the syntax is completely lost; is that supposed to be a sentence?), but tweets #4 and #5 underscore Asha Rangappa's point: this case is about STOLEN DOCUMENTS! Whether or not these documents were "declassified" (ignore the problems of the law and mechanics of declassification, which are myriad), Trump had no possessory rights or interest in what is legally and factually government property. And the focus on what happened this week ignores this very pertinent question:

Good question. https://t.co/LPdkWhSFzI

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) August 13, 2022

This story is not just about principles of classification or what was recovered this week. This story is about a profoundly irresponsible and dangerous person who happens to be a former POTUS.