THE DAILY NEWSLETTER - TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2022

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Maggie Haberman

New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman broke yet another story on the FBI search into former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Haberman, who has consistently been on top of the story, reported that Trump had more than 300 classified documents at his residence, making her the first to report an amount.

“Mr. Trump went through the boxes himself in late 2021, according to multiple people briefed on his efforts, before turning them over,” the report said.

“The highly sensitive nature of some of the material in the boxes prompted archives officials to refer the matter to the Justice Department, which within months had convened a grand jury investigation.”

The bombshell report quickly gained media attention, especially as Haberman reported Tuesday that the initial trove of documents Trump turned included 150 marked classified.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) reacted to the report in real-time while speaking with Chris Hayes on MSNBC’s All In.

“Jesus,” Swalwell replied in apparent disbelief, adding, "It could relate to our nuclear posture or the nuclear posture of our adversaries.”

Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy later questioned Jared Kushner on Haberman's stunning report, asking, "Why would the former president have that many classified things at Mar-a-Lago?”

Haberman also expanded on another scoop while speaking to Anderson Cooper, reporting that Trump's back-channel message to Attorney General Merrick Garland was an “implicit threat” of violence from supporters over the search.

MEDIA LOSER:
John Solomon

John Solomon, the pro-Trump founder of “Just the News," published documents about the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort home intending to damage President Joe Biden — but did the exact opposite.

Solomon wrote that memos and letters show “the Biden White House worked directly with the Justice Department and National Archives to instigate the criminal probe into alleged mishandling of documents, allowing the FBI to review evidence retrieved from Mar-a-Lago this spring and eliminating the 45th president’s claims to executive privilege.”

But leading DC journalists were baffled by the leak, as the letter showed that Donald Trump was knowingly in possession of top secret material.

Pundits also noted that the leak confirms Trump and his team were given plenty of opportunities to comply but instead drew out the process.

Leading the pack was New York Times correspondent and today's Media Winner Maggie Haberman, who wrote:

"Confusing to assess how this letter helps Trump, which whoever gave it to Solomon seemed to think it would. Among other things, it confirms our reporting that SAP material – highly restricted information – was part of what was returned from MAL.”

There were at least 700 pages of classified material given to the National Archives and Records Administration in the 15 boxes, per the letter.

The letter also confirms that Trump's team was given extensions throughout the process, and makes clear that there’s no presidential privilege in a case like this.

Lachlan Markay of Axios also called it an “Amazing own goal by Team Trump.”

The A-Block

Twitter's whistleblower

A former security chief for Twitter filed a shocking whistleblower complaint against the company, warning of major security flaws, extreme mismanagement and a significant lack of oversight.

CNN and the Washington Post obtained a redacted 200 disclosure filed last month to the Justice Department, the FCC, and the FTC.

The filing, submitted by Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, claims the platform's top executives allowed many of the company’s employees to have access to some of its main controls, as well as sensitive information.

The complaint also claims that these executives have deceived federal regulators, tried to cover up security deficiencies, and falsely portrayed Twitter’s data management in a positive light.

“There’s an analogy of an airplane,” Zatko said in an interview with CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan.

"You get on an airplane, and every passenger and the attendant crew all have access to the cockpit, to the controls. That’s entirely unnecessary. It might be easy, but it’s too easy to accidentally, or intentionally, turn an engine off.”

Zatko's complaint alleges that Twitter’s executives “withheld dire facts about the number of breaches and lack of protection for user data,” according to the Post, “instead presenting directors with rosy charts measuring unimportant changes.”

Twitter spokeswoman Rebecca Hahn offered a rebuttal to Zatko’s complaint, referring back to the claim he was fired because of his “poor performance and ineffective leadership.”

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal later decried what he called a “false narrative” from Zatko, claiming it was "presented without important context.”


In Other News...

Fauci Rails Against ‘Very Troublesome’ Political Climate in Exit Interview With Maddow: ‘A Complete Distortion of Reality’

Republican Gov. Says ‘It’s Not Appropriate’ for Trump to Have Government Docs and the Case ‘Needs to Be Wrapped Up’

Trump Sues Over FBI Mar-a-Lago Raid, Wants FBI to Stop Reviewing Recovered Documents

Fox News Publishes Op-Ed Defending FBI Raid on Trump’s Florida Estate: ‘Let The Justice System Run its Course’

RATINGS: Brian Stelter’s Final Episode of Reliable Sources Draws Most Viewers on CNN Sunday

Must See Clip

Oklahoma police chase

A man driving a truck-towing boat led Oklahoma cops on a wild car chase on Monday after he reportedly shot two deputies -- killing Sgt. Bobby Swartz.

Oklahoma City’s KFOR-TV aired the chase, showing a Dodge pickup truck speeding on I-40 as police cars trail him at a distance.

The vehicle eventually hit construction barrels, but the driver regained control only to hit more barrels moments later while passing other vehicles.

The driver can later be seen stepping out of the vehicle with his hands up and was ultimately apprehended.

Watch the chase here.

Links We Like

- Lachlan Cartwright, The Daily Beast - Jim Swift, The Bulwark - Amber Phillips, Washington Post
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