doj

Wossamotta Trump

Donald Trump’s demand that a Special Master be appointed to the declassification case is now backfiring in his fat orange stupid face.

Trump’s legal team waited several weeks after the FBI seized stolen government documents, many of them classified, from Mar-a-Lago, his country club in South Florida ripe for bedbugs and spies from hostile nations. Trump’s team demanded that a Special Master be appointed to look at every document to decide which are executive privilege and attorney/client privilege. The Trump-appointed judge, who was confirmed AFTER he lost the election, sided with Trump’s team.

Granting a Special Master to this case initially stopped the investigation dead in its tracks for at least two months. This is very dangerous to the nation since this is classified information on informants and nuclear information and if DOJ can’t investigate, then they can’t assess the danger to our nation from the exposure of the documents. A basement in a golf club is not a secure environment to store top secret information.

Judge Raymond Dearie was appointed as Special Master and Trump was probably hoping he was as one-sided as the judge who gave him this gift, Judge Aileen Cannon.

The Justice Department and Trump’s lawyers did agree on the appoint of Judge Dearie as Special Master, which makes me wonder what the Trump team expected of him. So far, it seems he doesn’t have patience for bullshit.

The judge has demanded that Trump’s legal team point out which documents Trump has declassfied. He’s given them a deadline but so far, they haven’t come forth with any proof that any of the documents have been declassified. Trump’s lawyers said that a president can declassify anything he wants, which is true, but they haven’t actually told the judge which of the seized documents have been declassified, if any.

Trump gave an interview to Sean Hannity this week which didn’t play out like an actual interview from a journalist as there were very few follow-up questions or challenges to Trump’s bullshit. You know, bullshit like saying he didn’t know what was in the boxes taken to Mar-a-Lago but he declassified everything. A real journalist would have followed up with something like: Why would you declassify a document when you don’t know what’s in it?

But Trump said he declassified everything. Everything? If Donald Trump declassified everything, then his lawyers shouldn’t have a problem proving this to the judge. You would think there’s something on these documents, other than bedbugs, that would indicate they were declassified. By the way, Merrick Garland, you may now need to fumigate the entire headquarters of the Justice Department.

Judge Dearie must have watched that Hannity interview because after Trump suggested that the FBI planted documents, he’s demanding that the Trump team put up or shut up. Yes, the judge said in a filing that Trump’s team needs to submit a sworn declaration saying if they believe the Justice Department included any items on their “inventory” of materials taken from Mar-a-Lago that were not actually seized during the search.

The judge wrote that Trump’s legal team’s declaration must include “a list of any specific items set forth in the Detailed Property Inventory that Plaintiff asserts were not seized from the Premises on August 8, 2022.

Trump and many of his sycophantic bozos, members of Congress, goons on Fox News, some of his attorneys have publicly claimed that the FBI planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago during the August 8 search. But, not one of them has produced one shred of evidence that anything was planted.

When Trump suggested to Hannity that evidence was planted, it was the only time his pet sycophant asked a follow-up question, asking if the search was recorded on video. Trump said no because the search was conducted “in a room.”

Ya’ know, I’m not surveillance expert but I do believe I’ve seen video recordings that were from inside a room.

Trump made that statement around the time he said he could declassify documents just by thinking about it.

Judge Drearie also opened the door to holding a hearing where “witnesses with knowledge of the relevant facts” could be called to testify about the Mar-a-Lago search and the materials that were seized.

If this happens, it would require Trump goons who’ve been pushing lies, like those about planted evidence, to put up or shut up. While you’re legally in the clear to lie on Fox and Friends, Hannity, and Tucker, it is illegal to lie in court. Oh, please, sweet baby Jesus…you gotta have this judge call every single Fox goon to testify on this. Get Rudy and Kash Patel in there too. Challenge them to lie in court. Please, please, please, oh please, with sugar honey bucket of oats on top, please. I wanna see these motherfuckers sweat on the stand like Alex Jones.

On Wednesday, a federal appeals court freed the Justice Department to resume using documents marked as classified that were seized, blocking Trump-appointed Cannon’s ruling that halted the investigation.

The appeals court also agreed with the Justice Department that Trump’s lawyers and the Special Master need not look at the classified documents. Yeah, let’s get this ball rolling. There are empty jail cells to fill.

Donald Trump is running out of magic hats to pull tricks out of. The hat containing Judge Cannon may have been his last. Even Bullwinkle was smarter than this shit.

Music note: I listened to Kaiser Chiefs while drawing today’s cartoon.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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MAGA Masters

This is my concern…or another one of my concerns. If a Trump-appointed judge can install a Special Master to go over every single document the FBI seized from Trump’s bedbug-ridden country club (MAGA-Lard-O is it?) to decide what the Justice Department can and can’t use as evidence (mostly can’t here), then who will she pick?

These people do their gooning with a straight face. They pretend they’re impartial and doing their jobs correctly. They claim they’re serving the people of this nation when in fact, they’re just serving one man. It’s why they all have brown noses.

This judge in Florida who granted Trump’s request for additional privilege and to stall the investigation is obtuse to the fact that we all know she’s a Trump appointee whose confirmation was rushed through the Senate in Trump’s final days in office. In this case, she hasn’t just stalled the investigation. She’s stopped it entirely until the Special Master says he’s done. How long will that take? Hell, maybe Trump will be president (sic) again by the time he says he’s done. Maybe Merrick Garland will no longer be the Attorney General. Maybe by the time the Special Master is done, the Justice Department will revert back to being the Department of Protecting Donald Trump’s Bulbous Orange Ass.

With a straight face, this judge publicly rejected DOJ’s argument to treat Trump like any other subject of an investigation and issued an opinion that he should receive special treatment. The judge has concerns that there’s a public perception of bias against Trump, but no worries about the perception she’s biased toward him.

I made a comment in yesterday’s blog that the judge may appoint a Trump goon to be the Special Master… someone like Rudy Giuliani, the MyPillow fucker, or Tucker Carlson. Then I thought, that’s a cartoon and I better do it before another cartoonist reads my blog and steals it.

When the Special Master appoints a Republican to the post, expect her to do it with a straight face. Expect Trump to issue a “truth” stating he trusts the Special Master’s judgment. Expect Fox News to praise the appointment. Expect Kevin McCarthy to ejaculate praise all over Twitter for the appointment. When all that happens, that’s when you’ll know we’re fucked.

How can so many Trumpers and MAGAts scream without any evidence that the Justice Department is corrupt and has been politicized but not have any concerns that a Trump-appointed judge just paused an investigation into Donald Trump stealing classified documents and storing them in a Country Club?

With a straight face, these people are hypocrites.

Music note: I listened to the Fray and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Special Master’s Master

A federal judge intervened yesterday in the case of Donald Trump stealing government documents, many of which are classified, and appointed an independent arbiter, known as a “Special Master,” to review the over 11,000 documents to determine which should be deemed attorney/client privilege and executive privilege.

On paper, this sounds fair. Golly gee wilikers, this will be an independent person who makes sure both sides are treated equally. But it’s not fair. It’s bullshit. This Special Master will choose what material the government can’t use to investigate Donald Trump.

As Sarah Marshall said in the film, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.”

Donald Trump waited two weeks after the FBI served a search warrant on his country club to find stolen government documents. After Trump’s request for a Special Master, the Department of Justice’s response included photos of classified documents (under covers) proving that at the very least, Trump possessed these documents and was obstructing justice by still having them.

How does Donald Trump’s inept lawyers win this ruling when it took them over two weeks to come up with the simple strategy of asking for a Special Master? Easy. They got an inept judge.

The Special Master isn’t needed in this case as most of the documents have already been analyzed. Now, the judge has ordered that none of the material can be used to investigate Trump until the Special Master has finished going over the 11,000 documents. You would think the Special Master would only need to go over documents between Trump and his lawyers, but no. The judge threw a huge wrench into this case.

DOJ can appeal this but that process may take longer than the Special Master’s review. Also, any appeal would be heard by a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta. Of its 11 active judges, six were appointed by… wait for it… Donald Trump. So, when three of its 11 judges go review an appeal to investigate Donald Trump, all three of them may be Trump appointees.

And, if DOJ won an appeal through a Trump-contaminated federal court, Trump could appeal to the Supreme Court, who may or may not take it, but you know they’d take it. There are three Trump appointees on that court along with Ginni Thomas’ husband. This is a bunch of Chancellor Palpatine shit. Mace Windu was right to try to cut his head off.

This judge in Palm Beach ruling in Trump’s favor said she had made her decisions to “ensure at least the appearance of fairness and integrity under the extraordinary circumstances,” while rejecting the Justice Department’s implicit argument that Trump be treated like any other investigative subject.

What would have really ensured the “appearance of fairness and integrity under the extraordinary circumstances” would have been if this Trump-appointed wingnut judge had recused herself. Is she married to Ginni Thomas too?

Trump is not being treated like any other investigative subject. Trump is being treated with privilege. He is literally asking for privileges.

So, who is this judge, Aileen Cannon? Surprise! She’s a Trump appointee.

She’s never served on any bench until she was placed on the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida AFTER Trump lost the election. Remember that Mitch McConnell bullshit in rejecting hearings for Merrick Garland in 2016, saying the voters needed a say? In this case, the voters rejected Trump and gave the Senate to the Democratic Party, but Mitch rushed more judges onto federal benches. In case you haven’t been paying attention, Republicans don’t give a flying fuck about the will of the people.

Did you know that since President William McKinley’s 1897 inauguration, Senates have confirmed only 15 nominees of defeated presidents? Here’s another fun fact: Of those 15, 14 were Trump nominees. Mitch McConnell rushed through 14 nominees to federal courts AFTER Trump lost and the people had chosen Joe Biden to be the next president. For fuckers who love to toss around words like “unprecedented,” this was fucking unprecedented.

And naturally, Judge Aileen Cannon is a member of the Federalist Society. This is some Stonecutter bullshit.

Now the question is: Who will Judge Cannon appoint as the Special Master? Donald Trump Jr? Rudy Giuliani? Sidney Powell? Tucker Carlson? The MyPillow Guy? Special Masters are often former judges. Maybe Judge Cannon will pick Judge Jeanine Pirro.

Trump, Mitch McConnell, Rupert Murdoch, and the Federalist Society have set our federal justice system back decades.

Music note: I listened to Foo Fighters.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Classified Crocodiles

Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know. You’ll probably find alligators and not crocodiles at Mar-a-Lago, but there are some crocs in the most-southern part of Florida and they’re moving north. Hopefully, they’ll be hungry by the time they make it to Mar-a-Lago.

When Donald Trump and his legal team requested a Special Master to be a third party overseeing the documents seized by the FBI, he gave the Justice Department an opening to show the public even more evidence that Donald Trump broke the law. Donald Trump was so upset, that he “truthed” over 60 times in a span of 12 hours. That’s a LOT of bullshit.

Donald Trump stole classified government documents that belong in the National Archive. Trump returned a few boxes…and then a few more, and then his legal team said none was left, yet a lot more were discovered after the FBI was granted a search warrant by a federal court. Somebody did something bad.

In a stalling tactic, Trump demanded a third party to review the seized material and to be the judge of what is privileged between Trump and his lawyers. The response from DOJ showed that Donald Trump still had documents his lawyers claimed he didn’t have and that Trump was reckless with them.

The Department of Justice showed a photo of classified material on a floor next to a box of TIME Magazines with Trump on the cover. Trump, being a moron, “truthed” that this material was planted, but somehow taken from Trump’s storage and scattered about on the floor to make him look bad. He also claimed they can’t be classified if DOJ released a photo of them, even though we only see the covers marked “SCI” in the picture.

According to several people who visited Trump’s office in Trump Tower before he was president (sic), his office was always a mess with objects on the floor, like one of Mike Tyson’s championship belts (did he steal that?), and was the kind of scene a hoarder from Storage Wars would say, “Damn, that’s tacky.”

I don’t buy and collect publications when my cartoons are published in them. I used to but at some point, it became like hoarding and that’s gross.

Donald Trump’s response to the DOJ filing has been one conspiracy theory after another. One of them is that Joe Biden is trying to find details on Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, which would be government material that the President of the United States (the real one) would have access to. The rest of his defenses have been quotes from people like Jon Voight.

Trump “truthed,” “Terrible the way the FBI, during the Raid on Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor (Perhaps pretending it was me that did it!).” This is like clogging the toilet and later blaming someone else.

Trump’s lawyer’s response to this was that Trump merely possessed “his own presidential records” and DOJ took an “unprecedented, unnecessary and legally unsupported raid” on Mar-a-Lago, the Justice Department was “criminalizing a former president’s possession of personal and presidential records in a secure setting.”

That’s a lot of bullshit and shows just how shitty the quality of lawyers that are left for Trump to choose from. Word gets around he’s a client that never shuts up and doesn’t pay his legal fees.

Donald Trump has actually been sued by lawyers for not paying his legal bills, who had defended him in lawsuits for not paying his bills. You have to be a seriously stupid and shitty lawyer to take Donald Trump on as a client, which explains why one of his lawyers is a goon who used to work for One America News, the conspiracy “news” network.

The raid was not “legally unsupported.” It’s amazing they’re making this argument to a judge when the warrant they received was from…a judge (it may have been from the same judge). The judge knows how these things work.

These documents were not his “own presidential records.” Presidential records belong to the government, as in, they belong to us. The documents were NOT in a secured setting. A basement, and Trump’s desk, in a golf hotel is not a secure environment.

These documents were also never declassified. Never. Nothing has been exhibited that supports this evidence. If Trump had this, his lawyers would have produced it by now…but then again, they are morons. Have you seen Sidney Powell?

DOJ’s response also revealed that Trump and his legal team were working overtime to prevent the government from obtaining these classified documents. Donald Trump, with help from his lawyers, was obstructing justice. I hope Trump’s lawyers have lawyers who are better than they are. I hope you’re listening, Rudy.

Donald Trump has a history of being careless with classified information which doesn’t go well with a history of being a hoarder. Quite frankly, I think our most secret information would be safer with the crocodiles. I’ve never heard of a crocodile giving classified information to a Russian ambassador while inside the Oval Office.

Music note: Third day straight I listened to Elton John while drawn, but that guy produced decades of hits. Besides, I had to listen to “Crocodile Rock” at least once while coloring this.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Lindsey Predicts a Riot

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on Fox News yesterday and said, “If they try to prosecute President Trump for mishandling classified information after Hillary Clinton set up a server in her basement, there literally will be riots in the street. I worry about our country.”

Lindsey Graham should know better. This isn’t a warning. It’s a threat. I worry about our country too, but I worry because sycophantic dandy goons like Lindsey Graham hold seats of power.

The investigation of Hillary Clinton and her server has nothing to do with Donald Trump. In 2019, the State Department (under Donald Trump) conducted an inquiry and came away saying, “There was no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.”

Donald Trump’s State Department said there was no “deliberate” mishandling of classified information. In case you’re a Republican, “deliberate” means intentional. Did Hillary Clinton intend to mishandle classified material? Donald Trump’s State Department says no.

Did Donald Trump “deliberately” mishandle classified information? Well, he took boxes and boxes of classified information to Mar-a-Lago when he was no longer president. Hillary Clinton was still Secretary of State when she mishandled classified information. Donald Trump was told he wasn’t supposed to take this material. He claimed he owned it despite being told multiple times he did not. Donald Trump lied to the National Archives about what he had. His lawyers lied to the National Archives about what he had. Donald Trump returned 15 boxes but continued to sit on several more. He stored them in a basement of a golf resort where Trump sycophants can mingle with spies. According to some sources, Donald Trump personally manhandled the documents and mixed them together with personal documents. He also lied about declassifying them. He did not declassify any of these documents. Now, there are new reports that he’s still sitting on classified documents. He still hasn’t told us why he took these documents.

The evidence is persuasive. Donald Trump systemically and deliberately stole and mishandled classified documents.

Lindsey Graham is threatening the Department of Justice. He’s threatening law and order. He believes Donald Trump is entitled and above the law and shouldn’t be prosecuted when he breaks it. He believes if prosecuting Trump will upset some people, then he shouldn’t be prosecuted.

Lindsey issued this threat about “riots in the streets” after there was an attempted attack on an FBI field office motivated by Trump and other Republicans. Lindsey issued this threat knowing the FBI and DOJ are receiving threats daily. Lindsey issued this threat despite being a witness to the last time Donald Trump didn’t get what he wanted and ordered a riot to give it to him.

And who will be doing all the rioting in the streets Lindsey is talking about? Judging from the last riot which resulted from Trump not getting what he wants, all the rioters will be white nationalists. We’re supposed to cave into the demands of white nationalists, who are not the majority in this nation?

Lindsey also compared the investigation into Trump stealing classified government documents with the FBI’s investigation of Hunter Biden over possible tax and foreign lobbying violations. He shouldn’t be making these comparisons since he doesn’t know what’s going on. He doesn’t know the status of that investigation. And again, these two cases don’t have anything to do with each other. Lindsey, like most Republicans, doesn’t understand the investigation of Hunter Biden with most believing it’s because the law doesn’t allow the president’s son to own a laptop.

Lindsey said, “I love the law. I’ve never been more worried about the law in politics as I am right now.” Was Lindsey worried when Trump was president (sic) and was barking at DOJ to go after his enemies? Did Lindsey love the law when he refused to vote to convict Donald Trump after he used U.S. military aid to extort the president of Ukraine to go after his political opponents? Did he love the law when he refused to vote to convict Trump after he ordered a literal riot in the streets? And does Lindsey love the law now by calling on Donald Trump to explain why he stole classified government documents? Does Lindsey love the law by calling on the Department of Justice to apply it equally, even to Donald Trump?

Lindsey, you don’t love the law when you tell the law to leave someone alone because applying it will make racists very unhappy. You don’t love the law when you issue threats to the law.

No one is above the law, even self-entitled orange goons. People who love the law understand that.

Lindsey said in 2015, “You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”

So, Lindsey, in the spirit of making America great again, you, all the white nationalists you’re calling to riot, and Donald Trump can go to hell.

Creative note: The first version of this cartoon had Ronald behind a counter, Lindsey saying his line, and Trump crying on the floor. But it was lacking something. Naturally, it was after I finished lettering that the ball pit idea came to me. So, I trashed the first version and started over despite it being after 12 p.m. on a Tuesday. I did a Google search of worst Happy Meals but nothing fit the bill until I thought of what you see in the cartoon.

I also tried to copy the lettering in the first version and export it to the new canvas, but I couldn’t figure it out, so I said “fuck it” and re-lettered it.

Music note: I listened to Elton John while drawing this.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

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Trump Redacted

Republicans, MAGAts, goons, and troglodytes have been clamoring for the release of the affidavit that led to the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, believing it would prove the “raid” was political, personal, illegitimate, and illegal. You know, all the things they’ve claimed without any proof. And they got it.

Yesterday, the Justice Department released a redacted version of the affidavit that clearly spells out that the search warrant of Mar-a-Lago was entirely justified. Republicans of course are putting their bullshit spin on it.

Peter Navarro, who proudly helped Trump attempt to steal the election through a violent coup attempt, claimed it was…wait for it…”cancel culture.” Navarro, who was arrested on contempt of Congress charges for failing to honor a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee, said, “Redacted means canceled.” No, it does not, you ass-kissing idiot. He further bullshitted with, “OK, so they canceled the affidavit. That’s the most beautiful I’ve ever seen there. That’s like the FBI in your face.” Keep in mind, this goon motherfucker tried to cancel democracy.

John Yoo, a former deputy assistant attorney general, must have heard Navarro’s description of the affidavit as “cancel culture” and thought to himself, I can out-stupid that, and went on Fox News and demanded that all the stolen classified documents the FBI siezed from Trump be…now wait for this shit…declassified.

Yoo said, “Why not declassify the documents they actually took from President Trump and show the public what they were? If the government really feels that this was a national security threat for President Trump to have them, then let’s see them in a sanitized form.”

Three things, one of them I can’t believe I have to explain: declassifying all the documents Trump stole is extremely dangerous, and you would know this if you read the affidavit. I thought Donald Trump had already declassified them. And, don’t you know declassifying them would devalue them on the spy market, thus leading to Trump not getting paid for his treason? That is, unless Trump already got paid. I mean, why did Jared get $2 billion from the Saudis?

Yoo’s stupid-ass call for the documents to be declassified shows that Donald Trump put some seriously unqualified idiots in the Justice Department.

These goons demanded that the search warrant be released. After they got it, showing it was justified, they moved the goal post to “release the affidavit.” Now that they have the affidavit, they’re screaming for the surveillance footage to be released, which Trump claims he has and is threatening to release but hasn’t yet.

These goons knew beforehand the released affidavit would contain a lot of redactions. They’re going to act surprised now? Their reactions show they shouldn’t have any involvement or opinions on classified information, intelligence, or the law.

Elise Stefanik displayed the lickspittle cult worship that earned her Liz Cheney’s leadership position saying, “The American people deserve transparency and not an outrageously, heavily-redacted affidavit to cover up for and politically protect Joe Biden and the FBI for this dangerous and un-American overreach.”

Stefanik promised that House Republicans will “hold Biden’s DOJ and FBI accountable for their blatant weaponization against their political rivals.”

Republican House goon Dan Bishop tweeted, “So much for transparency.”

Don Jr. snorted out a tweet saying the same thing, “So much for transparency.”

Andy Biggs, another House goon, said, “The American public deserves more transparency.”

Transparency, transparency, transparency. They love the word but I don’t think they know what it means.

You want transparency? Then ask Donald Trump why he took the documents. Ask Donald Trump what his plans were with the documents. Ask Donald Trump that if there was a standing order to declassify stuff he took to his residence, then produce the standing order. Sure, the “standing order” document is among those he took, right? If these documents really were declassified by Trump, why? Ask Donald Trump why he needed documents containing the names of CIA informants. Ask Donald Trump, how many foreign officials and nationals have skipped through Mar-a-Lago since January 2021. Ask Donald Trump to be transparent.

Also, since you guys are so horny for transparency, then have every Republican House member and Trump supporter testify before the Jan. 6 Committee they have asked for. Hmm?

Despite the redactions, the released affidavit shows exactly why the search warrant was acquired, granted, and why the search was conducted.

The affidavit shows that the National Archives and Department of Justice were seeking to retrieve documents Trump took, and believed Trump still had highly-classified documents after he returned 15 boxes. It shows a letter from Trump’s lawyers that show they knew he might still have some classified documents that did not belong to him.

The affidavit shows that after receiving a second batch, witnesses informed DOJ that Trump was still hoarding sensitive documents that didn’t belong to him.

It shows that in the first batch returned in January, agents found 184 documents that were marked classified, 92 of which were marked “SECRET” and 25 of which were marked “TOP SECRET.” This shows that at the very least, Trump stole and improperly stored classified documents.

The classification markings the documents carried suggested that some could reveal clandestine human intelligence sources and others were derived from national security surveillance. Some materials were marked “NOFORN,” meaning they cannot be legally shared with a foreign government, and others “SI,” an abbreviation for special technical and intelligence information related to surveillance of foreign communications.

In its request for a search warrant of Mar-a-Lago, DOJ wrote, there is “probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found.” Finding any documents after Trump and his lawyers said they had all been returned proves there was obstruction of justice and that they were all liars. Lawyers lose law licenses for lying. People go to jail for lying to the FBI.

The affidavit described classified documents being found in multiple locations around the golf resort where Trump, his aides, members, and guests mingle.

Some of the documents retrieved in January were marked “HCS,” for Human Intelligence Control System. Such documents have material that could possibly identify C.I.A. informants, meaning a general, sweeping declassification of them would have been, at best, misguided.

I ask again, why would Trump need or declassify such documents? Releasing the names of informants could set intelligence back years and get people killed. What are his reasons for possessing these documents that named informants?

Fun fact: During the Trump years, the CIA sent a memo to all of its bureaus and agents that there was a rise in informants being killed by their governments. Hmm. Wonder why that was.

Some of the documents were marked FISA, indicating information collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Glenn Gerstell, the former general counsel of the National Security Agency, said, “What this tells us is that there was possibly something from human beings, from spies, possibly something involving foreigners who are the only ones targeted under FISA and potentially there is very sophisticated sensitive information involved here.”

Gerstell explained (pay attention, goons), “One of the reasons they need to get these documents is to understand what is in there for the purpose of conducting a damage assessment. We have surveillance tapes and we will see who had access. But the government also needs to see the documents so they can know what might have been compromised.”

The affidavit clearly shows the search of Mar-a-Lago was justified. Republicans are complaining about the parts that are redacted while not reading and comprehending the parts that are not redacted.

Here’s what’s not redacted: Donald Trump is a seditious thief who broke the law and should be indicted and eventually placed in federal prison.

Music note: Don’t get mad at me, but I was listening to Kaiser Chiefs again. But, I was listening to one of their albums I haven’t heard it.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

New Boogie Wanted

With the kinda-sorta retirement of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Republicans are going to need a new boogieman. They probably have it in Attorney General Merrick Garland. And just like they did with Dr. Fauci, they’ll do it by vilifying and making a bunch of horrible shit up to the point that his life will be in danger. Maybe they should put Rand Paul in charge of the operation since he did such a great job of exposing what an asshole he is while trying to discredit Dr. Fauci.

Dr. Fauci is an American hero and the top infectious-disease expert in the country. He guided us through the coronavirus pandemic. For that, he was attacked by fans of the guy who downplayed the virus while hundreds of thousands of Americans died. Dr. Fauci was vilified by fans of the guy who promoted fake cures and told us to ingest bleach.

Talking to Fox News’ Neil Cavuto this week, Fauci said, “If somebody says that hydroxychloroquine works and is the miracle cure and I say it’s not, then I’m the bad guy to some people. When in fact it never did work, and it doesn’t work now.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Fauci told us that science changes as we learn more. When our knowledge of the virus grew, and strategies, advice, and policy changed, Republicans accused Fauci of being inconsistent and even of lying. There are still people who believe the Earth is flat.

Republicans blamed Fauci for face mask mandates, the closing of schools, and the closing of businesses despite the fact he never set any of those policies. Yet, Tucker Carlson has called him a “Mussolini-type dictator.” Lara Logan directly compared him to Nazi physician Josef Mengele. The jab for the vaccines to the virus were even nicknamed after him, Fauci-Ouchie.

It gets worse. Many Republicans like Rand Paul either insinuated, suggested, or outright claimed that Dr. Fauci created the coronavirus. Conspiracy theorists in Qanon claim he created the virus in a Wuhan lab and unleashed it upon the world, most likely to hurt Donald Trump. How did Dr. Fauci know that Donald Trump would bungle the government’s response to the pandemic so badly? Some have even accused him of giving Trump the coronavirus that nearly killed him.

Taking a shot at Fauci, and missing, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said yesterday, “I just have one rule of thumb. I really don’t trust anyone that keeps a mural of themselves in their office.” I guess he missed all those Trump murals when he was down at Mar-a-Lago kissing the orange ass. Fortunately for McCarthy, Trump’s ass was an easier target for his lips to hit.

Fauci does have a mural of himself in his office, probably less because it’s of him and more because it was painted by Joan Baez and presented as a gift. Donald Trump buys murals of himself, usually with money that was donated to his fake charity with the intention of helping children with cancer. Donald Trump even has fake Time Magazine covers featuring him in his resorts. Does McCarthy have a rule of thumb for that?

You know Fauci is a good guy because the bad guys hate him. They vilified him to the point that he was receiving death threats, which is something Republicans do now. They trash heroes to the point that their followers attempt to kill them. Last Thursday, a man was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for sending threatening emails. One of the emails featured the subject line: “Hope you get a bullet in your compromised satanic skull today.” Another one, out of the seven he sent, said, “You and your entire family will be dragged into the street, beaten to death, and set on fire.” I usually just get, “hope your dick falls off, Libtard.” It hasn’t.

Two weeks ago, a MAGAt heard all the Trump and Republican attacks on the FBI and decided to visit the bureau in Cincinnati with an AR-15 and a nail gun. He was killed. Donald Trump actually told Attorney General Merrick Garland that he wants to turn the heat down, yet he’s the one sending goons to kill the attorney general and FBI agents. Trump has NOT made any public statements calling his goons off. Of course, this is the same guy who ordered white nationalist terrorists to attack the Capital to overturn the election he lost.

Dr. Fauci will leave his position as chief medical adviser to President Biden and will step down from his job for the last 38 years as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He plans to teach, write, and mentor the next generation of scientists. Republicans need a new boogieman. They have one in Merrick Garland.

One member of Congress claimed Garland was personally going after Trump because it was Trump who denied him a seat on the Supreme Court. No. That person was Mitch McConnell. Garland is doing his job, and like Fauci, he’s being vilified for it.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning of “an increase in threats and acts of violence” directed at FBI personnel. The bulletin said the threats were “occurring primarily online and across multiple platforms,” and that some were specific in identifying proposed targets and tactics, as well as weaponry. You know, shit like AR-15s and nail guns.

These threats were instigated by Trump and Republicans attacking the FBI, DOJ, and Merrick Garland, with many claiming the search of Trump’s home was political and that they’ve even planted evidence. Many have asked Trump, “How did you declassify planted evidence?”

Republicans are demanding that Garland release everything he knows about the investigation while not asking Trump, “Hey…why did you steal classified government documents?”

If Republicans take Congress in November, then you can expect a lot of hearings calling the Attorney General to testify. These hearings will be public gotcha political posturing that will only serve to waste time. They’re also talking about hearings on Hunter Biden’s laptop and….more hearings for private citizen Dr. Fauci.

Dr. Fauci says he’s changing roles and not retiring. He’s definitely not retiring as the Republican’s boogieman, but I’m sure it’s a role he’ll be capable of sharing with Merrick Garland.

Music note: I listened to some Cowboy Junkies and Mazzy Star.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

Pence and the FB-Fly

For only the second time in his life, Mike Pence committed a noble act and called on his Republican Party to stop attacking the FBI. But I think Mike Pence forgets this is the same party that called for his hanging after he committed the first noble act of his life.

When Mike Pence refused to help Trump overturn the election he lost, his white nationalist terrorists ran through the Capitol chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.” This was after Trump tweeted an attack on Pence and goaded this MAGA mob to go after him. The terrorists came within 40 feet of Mike Pence and his family. Donald Trump has never apologized for this or accepted responsibility.

Now, Donald Trump is goading his MAGA terrorists to attack the FBI, and elected Republicans and other assorted goons, like the ones on Fox News, are helping him. Donald Trump has not done what Pence did and sent out a message that Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Justice Department, and the FBI can be held accountable without being threatened physically.

Now, what’s this business of Republicans screaming and soiling themselves over everyone being held accountable except for Donald Trump?

Sure, the Justice Department will be held accountable, for better or worse, when the time comes. But, Merrick Garland doesn’t have to cave to GOP and MAGAt demands that he explain everything and show all his cards before any prosecutions begin. Sure, it’s unprecedented for the FBI to get a search warrant for a former president’s (sic) home, but it’s also unprecedented for a former president (sic) to be a crook who takes home classified information that threatens national security. Even Richard Nixon didn’t do that shit.

So, in the spirit of accountability, let’s ask Donald Trump a few questions. Tiny has some ‘splaining to do but he’d rather keep assailing the FBI.

Why did Donald Trump take classified information to his golf resort in Florida after he left the White House?

Why didn’t Donald Trump return all of it when the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes?

Why did Donald Trump’s lawyers lie and say it was all returned when it wasn’t?

Why wouldn’t Donald Trump just return the stuff instead of forcing DOJ to get a warrant?

Why does Donald Trump believe he owns this stuff?

What was Donald Trump’s intention for this material?

Was any of it actually declassified?

Why hasn’t Donald Trump called his goons off from attacking the FBI, even after an attack on the FBI office in Cincinnati?

And why hasn’t Donald Trump explained any of this yet?

It was very noble of Mike Pence to tell the goons to stop attacking the FBI and that “calls to defund the F.B.I. are just as wrong as calls to defund the police,” which is what Marjorie Taylor Greene has done. But, Pence went back to his old role which is lying. He said the Republican Party is the party of law and order.

I think the FBI, Department of Justice, and the Capitol Police would disagree. The leader of the Law-and-Order Party is a thief who tried to destroy democracy through a violent coup attempt.

Music note: I listened to the Kinks.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

President Precedent

Here’s your cartoon for this week’s CNN Opinion newsletter. Please sign up to get these in your inbox every Sunday. 

Is Donald Trump the kind of guy who would sell classified secrets, even nuclear secrets, to foreign adversaries?

Well, he’s the kind of guy who’d ask Russia to help him win an election.

He’s the kind of guy who’d invite Russians inside his campaign headquarters to give him dirt on his political opponent.

He’s the kind of guy who’d read the information from Russian hacks at his campaign rallies.

He’s the kind of guy who’d give Russians classified information while visiting the Oval Office.

He’s the kind of guy who’d tweet pictures of classified information.

He’s the kind of guy who’d hire people who worked for Russia, like Michael Flynn.

He’s the kind of guy who would appoint his son-in-law to his campaign and to his White House staff after that son-in-law attempted to create a backchannel to communicate with Russia.

He’s the kind of guy who’d stand next to Vladimir Putin at a press conference and take his side over the claims of our intelligence agencies.

He’s the kind of guy who’d fire the director of the FBI for investigating his goons.

He’s the kind of guy who’d fire others in our law enforcement agencies for investigating his goons.

He’s the kind of guy who’d fire his Attorney General for appointing a Special Counsel and recusing himself.

He’s the kind of guy who’d hire a new Attorney General based upon TV interviews where he said he wouldn’t pursue investigations into Trump’s collusion with Russia.

He’s the kind of guy who’d publicly pressure his Justice Department to go after his political enemies.

He’s the kind of guy who’d pardon his goons.

He’s the kind of guy who’d give credibility to North Korea’s dictator.

He’s the kind of guy who praises other dictators.

He’s the kind of guy who congratulates the president of Russia on winning a fraudulent election where his opponents are thrown into prison.

He’s the kind of guy who defends the Russian president when accused of murdering and poisoning political opponents.

He’s the kind of guy who’d extort a foreign president for dirt on his political opponents by withholding weapons granted by Congress.

He’s the kind of guy who’d call state election officials and tell them to find him votes that don’t exist.

He’s the kind of guy who’d attempt a coup.

He’s the kind of guy who’d send an angry mob of white nationalist terrorists to stop Congress from certifying the election victory of his opponent.

He’s the kind of guy who’d refuse a peaceful transfer of power.

He’s the kind of guy who’d tell over 30,000 lies.

He’s the kind of guy who’d get impeached twice.

He’s the kind of guy who assaults women and brags about it.

He’s the kind of guy who hangs out with and endorses pedophiles.

And he’s the kind of guy who’d take dozens of boxes of classified information that doesn’t belong to him with him to his bedbug-ridden golf resort for who knows why.

He’s the kind of guy whose home is searched with a warrant by the FBI on suspicion of espionage.

So, is Donald Trump the kind of guy who’d sell government secrets to foreign adversaries?

Music note: I listened to a bunch of Foo Fighters and Soundgarden while drawing this.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw:

Hating On The FBI

Elected officials from city councils to the presidency are supposed to represent their entire constituencies, whether they voted for them or not. A president should be president even to those who hate him. Donald Trump has only represented one constituency, angry racist white people. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone else, and quite frankly, he doesn’t really care all that much about the angry racist white people either. He’s just using them. Trump really only cares about Trump. But, he will send those angry racist white people out to hurt you. And the proof he doesn’t care about them either is that he puts them in harm’s way too. Ask Ashli Babbitt. Oh, wait. You can’t because she’s dead.

Maybe you can ask Ricky Shiffer. Oh, wait. He’s dead too.

Ashli Babbit was killed by a Capitol Police officer while she was engaging in a terrorist attack instigated by Donald Trump over a lie. It was the Big Lie.

Ricky Shiffer was killed by police after trying to attack the FBI office in Cincinnati with an AR-15-style assault rifle and a nail gun. Why? Because he was upset the government took stuff away from Donald Trump that he didn’t own. Donald Trump got Ashli and Ricky both killed. Donald Trump has gotten a lot of people killed.

Since the FBI executed a search warrant on Donald Trump’s gaudy home in a ridiculous Florida golf resort (come for the buffet, stay for the treason), he’s tweeted, er…”truthed” or “re-truthed” over 40 attacks against the FBI and Department of Justice. And the Republican Party has been doing the same.

Trump has accused the FBI and DOJ of being corrupt, of being communist, of being directed by President Biden, and has made claims of them attempting to turn off security footage at Mar-a-Lago and of rummaging through Melania’s closet which is in a totally separate bedroom than where Trump sleeps because she doesn’t sleep with Trump, and nobody blames her for that, but yeah…her clothes were like taken off hangers and left on the floor and that might be the greatest injustice here. Do you know how tedious it is to put all your clothes back on hangers? Ugh. I think I got off topic a bit there. But thankfully for Melania, Trump has hired undocumented migrants to do her laundry. Hope they’re not the rapists and killers Mexico sent.

Trump has “re-truthed” goons like Jon Voight, Mike Pompeo, Marjorie Taylor Greene who’s calling to “defund the FBI,” and has even re-truthed someone using the racist frog avatar (Pepe) and a “truth” of a cartoon by the racist Branco who stole my sippy cup because he can’t come up with his own shit or even possess the intelligence to understand why the sippy cup works with Trump but doesn’t with President Biden and yeah…I’m getting off track again.

In case you haven’t noticed, Trump has yet to…”truth”… any condemnation against the attacker in Cincinnati and has yet to release a statement telling his goons to be peaceful. In fact, he’s doing everything he can without explicitly calling for violence to make sure there is violence.

Before the court unsealed the warrant, Trump apparently leaked it to some conservative outlets. I mean, who else could have leaked it? Not the FBI or DOJ because they were having it unsealed by the court. But, Trump didn’t have to leak it. He could have just “truthed” it on his shitty hater platform and had shown the world all the details except maybe redact the names of the FBI agents. Guess what Trump did not do.

Donald Trump, who once called for the death penalty for leakers, leaked the warrant to the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and Steve Bannon’s Breitbart. Donald Trump did NOT redact the names of the FBI agents. Breitbart published the names. Now, the names of those agents are all over Hater platforms. They’re on Truth Social, Telegram, Gab, 4chan, and all the ones we don’t even know about.

I was going to post a link to Breitbart so you can see it for yourself, but I’m not in the mood to surf Breitbart today. Go look it up for yourself if you must see it.

News anchor Ed Greenberger tweeted. “So… when Trump leaked the warrant docs to WSJ, FOX & Breitbart this afternoon, the names of the FBI agents in moved were not redacted. Anyone who thinks Trump cares about America, or Americans, is a damn fool.”

Donald Trump has a history of endorsing and calling for violence. He’s encouraged his supporters at his rallies to attack protesters and promised to pay for their legal fees. During Black Lives Matter protests, he tweeted, “When the looting starts, that’s when the shooting starts,” which probably inspired Kyle Rittenhouse to drive 90 miles to defend himself with an assault rifle. Hate crimes increased during Trump’s rise to power and he often praised the attackers as people who love their country and are passionate. Racist Mass shooters wrote manifestos praising Trump. He told the hate group Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his debate with President Biden. He told his white nationalist terrorists to come to Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, and promised it was going to be “wild.” He gave them a pep rally before their attack and then sat in the executive dining room in the White House for hours watching the attack unfold. Instead of calling off the attack, he tweeted an attack on Mike Pence. When he finally did tell them to go home, kinda sorta, he told them he “loved them” and that they were “very special.”

This is the same motherfucker who said good people marched with Nazis in Charlottesville.

I don’t have the time or motivation to chronicle all the times Trump endorsed violence, But Vox has a very good timeline you can check out, and you won’t get the feeling of ickiness crawling all over you like when you click a link to Breitbart.

If you think Donald Trump cares about anyone who’s not Donald Trump, you’re a damn fool.

Music Note: I listened to Kings of Leon and Alice in Chains while drawing this.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw: