Politics - News Analysis

Trump Contacted AG Garland to Ask How He Could ‘Reduce the Heat’, ‘The Country is on Fire’

It just goes to show how much Trump thinks of himself and how little sense he has regarding the real world. Reports are out now that Trump was very “upbeat” about the search of Mar-a-Lago. He thought that the warrant was the biggest “overreach” of all time and would get him elected easily.

From Business Insider:

“He feels it’s a political coup for him,” one friend who had spoken with the former president multiple times told The Post, speaking under the condition of anonymity. Trump believed the raid would cause Republicans to rally around him, the report says, and would create more support for a potential presidential bid in 2024.

Hmm. So he really does want to be president again. Some of us still have our doubts. It didn’t take long for Trump and the GOP to “get it.”

While Republicans initially spoke out strongly against the raid, their public support became more muted when records unsealed on Friday revealed that the FBI had seized 11 sets of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago. The Washington Post reported that the bureau searched for classified documents about nuclear weapons.

Reports suggest Republicans are now struggling to respond to the revelations, and some Trump allies are starting to distance themselves.

Good idea. We don’t even know the exact details. We will never know exactly what was in those files. They were TS-SCI for a reason, and the information isn’t about to come out now. What we might learn is what those files were doing at Mar-a-Lago in the first place and whether an informant came forward due to Trump’s plans.

As Trump’s mood darkened through the week, Trump tried a truly “Only Trump” strategy. According to this morning’s Politico Playbook, Trump contacted Garland:

Ahead of A.G. MERRICK GARLAND’snews conference on Thursday, “a person close to Mr. Trump reached out to a Justice Department official to pass along a message from the former president to the attorney general. Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Garland to know that he had been checking in with people around the country and found them to be enraged by the search. The message Mr. Trump wanted conveyed, according to a person familiar with the exchange, was: ‘The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?’

Obviously, Garland’s initial response was likely, “S.T.F.U. would be a good start!” But, of course, Merrick Garland is more disciplined than some of us. But what a typical message from Trump. In effect, Trump was saying, “Your stupid search warrant has started a possibly violent movement because you were so reckless. Now I can save you from yourself. What do you want me to do?” Actually, he didn’t really want to do anything (likely). He just wanted to get a message to Garland saying Trump had more support than the DOJ, which again shows how out of touch Trump is.

Regardless, we know that Trump isn’t the least bit “upbeat” about the search now. He is down to the FBI “planting evidence,” and the force is so corrupt that the man he appointed is now out to get him. That is not much of an excuse.

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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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