The Lawyer
A lawyer for Trump signed a letter in June asserting that there was no more classified information stored at Mar-a-Lago, sources tell CNN, confirming NYT. Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb attended that meeting. Trump-world maintains it was all declassified.
I've run into Christina Bobb's name before, mostly in the context of her raising money for the AZ audit while simultaneously covering it for OAN. I had no idea she was an attorney until the FBI search.
I remember her from Election Day. She was v mad at Fox News.
Bobb did a wild OANN segment on Nov 6 saying that Fox had revealed its “leftist agenda” in calling AZ for Biden on election night.
"Trump’s interest has been fueled by conversations he has had with an array of figures who have publicly touted false claims of election fraud. Among them, according to advisers, is Christina Bobb, a host at the One America News network" https://wapo.st/3yZXC1S
The instant wingnut turn against Fox News, the network that gave Trump thousands of hours of free airtime to blather about whatever, really was a sign that we'd crossed the Rubicon of stupid.
She wasn’t just fundraising and covering it for OAN.
Going to browse through these real quick, will drop highlights in this thread.
Don't forget to donate to @weareoversight: https://americanoversight.org/donate
It wasn't exactly a secret that OANN provided the streams of the Arizona audit...
...but I'm surprised that Charles Herring had a personal hand in making it happen
Interesting to see Lyle Rapacki send an email to Doug Logan, Gene Kern (Wake TSI) and Phil Waldron on 3/18/21.
Rapacki worked closely with Waldron since at least 12/2020, when Waldron referred to him as ASOG's "local consultant and advisor" in an email to two AZ senators
In a thread with Doug Logan and Chris Witt and Gene Kern (both from Wake TSI), Logan says "Lyle is providing 120 people per day"
...who is Lyle? Is he referring to Lyle Rapacki? Doesn't seem like it would be a Lyle that worked for StratTech or Wake TSI...
If it is Lyle Rapacki that Logan's referencing...was it previously known that he had a hand in supplying counters for the audit? cc@JenAFifield
Wild that Christina Bobb seems to have provided the NDA boilerplate that the audit team had media sign...
Bobb also provided the volunteer agreement boilerplate.
On 5/19 Doug Logan sent an email to Chris Witt at Wake TSI saying he "will not be making any more payments to Wake TSI until we get the breach of contract issues resolved." By 5/25/21, TSI was officially off the audit
It's interesting to me that until 05/25, when Wake TSI's exit was announced, no one had mentioned StratTech's involvement with the audit. Wake's exit provided a great opportunity to sneak in StratTech's involvement by making it seem like they were brought in to replace Wake...
But we know from emails that StratTech had been involved since at least 04/13/21.
When the FBI stormed former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday, agents were confronted by his attorney Christina Bobb, an ex-U.S. Marine and a former anchor on the far-right news network One America News (OAN).
Bobb arrived at Trump’s Florida retreat around 10:30 a.m. to find about 24 FBI agents “rummaging” through the former president’s belongings.
She was the senior legal representative for Trump during the raid at Mar-a-Lago, which is closed for the summer, but was ordered to stay near her car while agents swept through the house, she told OAN on Wednesday.
The attorney has since joined the chorus of people speaking out against what they say is a politically motivated operation against a former president mulling another run for office.
Bobb told OAN the raid was a sham because authorities recently met with the former president, who she said has been “very cooperative” with the investigation.
“I’m a little bit befuddled as to why they would do such a drastic thing, so disrespecting and so dishonoring, other than the fact it’s a political tool,” she said.
Bobb also said there was “not anything there” for the FBI to find, claiming the investigation would not yield any damning results against Trump.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly obtained a warrant for the search as part of an investigation into allegations that Trump took classified documents home, which he was supposed to turn over before leaving the White House in accordance with the Presidential Records Act.
The DOJ opened an investigation into the matter in April, following a request from the National Archives, which in February said it had obtained 15 boxes of classified material from Trump.
While the president released a statement attacking the DOJ for the search, Bobb has been making media appearances on far-right channels to discredit the investigation and the FBI search of a former president’s home.
Her spotlight in the media comes just months after she joined Trump’s legal team. Prior to that, Bobb had worked at OAN since June 2020. She covered the White House and eventually became a news anchor for the “Weekly Briefing” show.
While working for OAN, Bobb began volunteering to help Trump’s legal team and assisted with the effort to overturn certification of the 2020 election in battleground states, The Washington Post reported.
Bobb, a passionate supporter of Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen, also vigorously supported the 2021 Arizona election audit in Maricopa County, even raising money through a fundraising platform for the audit, which ultimately did not find any widespread fraud that would have changed the outcome of the election.
In March, Bobb quit her job at OAN to work for Trump’s political organization Save America.
Bobb said in an interview on the podcast show “Coffee and a Mike” that she decided to leave OAN to “make a bigger difference” doing legal work on “some of the efforts that need to be undertaken with everything happening in the country.”
The former president had also asked her to take the job.
“Which was amazing, that was great,” she said. “He knew a lot of the efforts I was taking, through One America News. … We had a good relationship. I was telling him some of the things I was working on, and he said, ‘Hey, would you want to do that for Save America?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ I jumped at that opportunity.”
Her work includes “election integrity” representation and helping Trump with the Jan. 6 investigation, Bobb said. She was among six Trump lawyers subpoenaed by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bobb has a history working under Trump extending back to at least 2019, when she was employed as the executive secretary for the Department of Homeland Security in his administration. She also clerked at the Office of Legal Counsel for the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Before her involvement in politics, Bobb, who has a master’s in law from Georgetown University Law Center, was a judge advocate in the U.S. Marines, representing sailors and soldiers involved in court-martials or administrative separation hearings.
On Wednesday, Bobb’s media rounds on conservative news channels helped fan the flames of those opposed to the raid, doing the work of previous Trump attorneys who robustly defended the president when he came under attack or scrutiny.
Bobb told Real America’s Voice that the latest investigation into Trump “does not carry any weight.”
“It’s not going to hold water and it’s not going to stick,” she said. “They just don’t have a leg to stand on.”
Trump's lawyer said the former president watched the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid from New York.
Christina Bobb said the property's security cameras transmitted a live feed from the Florida home.
Bobb complained earlier this week about not being able to observe the FBI's search.
Former President Donald Trump's attorney said Trump watched from New York as the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Monday.
Christina Bobb, one of Trump's lawyers, made this comment during a Thursday appearance on the right-wing media network Real America's Voice. Bobb told host Gina Loudon that, contrary to rumors that the security cameras had been turned off, the property's security feeds were on for most of the FBI's search.
"I think the folks in New York — President Trump and his family — they probably had a better view than I did. Because they had the CCTV, they were able to watch," Bobb said.
She added that she had not witnessed the raid as she was busy answering investigators' questions, but said the Trump family had seen "the whole thing."
"So they actually have a better idea of what took place inside," Bobb said.
She added that the cameras were only turned off for a "very short period of time" while agents spoke with lawyers about them being on.
Bobb complained this week about not having been allowed to observe the search. She also claimed without substantiation that the FBI could be looking to "make stuff up" about what they found at Mar-a-Lago.
"We'll see what they come up with. If they did, it will be interesting — especially since they precluded me from watching what they did," Bobb said.
The FBI has not given a reason for why the search of Trump's former residence was carried out, though this may come to light soon if the DOJ's motion to unseal court records regarding the raid goes through.
Numerous media outlets along with Trump's son, Eric, have suggested that the search concerned material that Trump may have taken to Mar-a-Lago from the White House. The Washington Post also reported that the FBI had been searching for classified documents about nuclear weapons.
In February, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from the former president's Florida residence. It also requested that the Department of Justice investigate whether Trump had broken the law by taking official White House documents to Mar-a-Lago.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Christina Bobb, former-president Donald Trump’s senior legal representative, appeared on something called NewsNation on Thursday to discuss the FBI’s raid at his Mar-a-Lago compound. “Will the president and his team object to unsealing the search warrant and the evidence recovered?” host Leland Vittert asked her (the Department of Justice is looking to unseal the warrant and make its contents public, which Trump can either consent to, or file a motion to block its release). Bobb gave a, let’s say, peculiar answer.
“It doesn’t appear at this time like we would object, but the court has ordered the Department of Justice to coordinate with us and to work on how that release would take place, and what that would look like. Our team has responded. We have reached out to the Department of Justice to coordinate that and have not been able to make contact,” she said (via Mediaite). Bobb continued:
“So, we’re waiting to hear back from them and we’re very eager. We know that people want information and we’re eager to respond as best as possible in coordination with the Department of Justice. So, we’re just waiting to hear back from them.”
That’s quite the word salad, which is weird, because Trump hates salads (unless it’s in taco bowl form).
Vittert pressed Bobb, wondering if “you guys have a copy of the warrant, and you’re given a receipt at the end of an FBI search warrant, why wouldn’t you just release that yourselves?” She answered, “Well, this is part of the discussion with the Department of Justice, of course we’re trying to do everything in accordance with the law —” Vittert cut her off to note that there’s nothing stopping them from doing just that. Bobb replied, “Other than decorum. I mean, we’re trying to work well with the Department of Justice.”
Trump is very concerned with decorum.
Christina Bobb
As the Executive Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, Christina oversees the management of written communication intended for, and originated by, the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. Under her leadership, the Office of the Executive Secretary (ESEC) governs the Department-wide processes for responding to correspondence and preparing the Secretary’s briefing book, congressional authorization reports, hearing testimony, and questions for the record (QFR) related to congressional authorizing committees.
Prior to joining DHS, Christina served in the United States Marine Corps as a Judge Advocate. During her time on active duty, she was as an operational law attorney in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, assisting the Command in all legal matters relating to operations and intelligence. While stationed in Quantico, Virginia, Christina worked as a defense counsel, representing marines and sailors in courts-martial and administrative separation hearings. Christina also mobilized to Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa in Stuttgart, Germany as an operations officer. In this role, she was responsible for briefing the senior leadership on current operations in both Europe and Africa on a daily basis.
In addition to her military service, Christina spent several years as a civil litigation attorney, representing clients in all stages of trial, negotiations, mediations, and arbitration at the law firm Higgs, Fletcher, & Mack LLP in San Diego, California. Most recently, Christina clerked at the Office of Legal Counsel for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Christina holds a B.A. from Arizona State University, an M.B.A. from San Diego State University, a J.D. from California Western School of Law, and an L.L.M. in National Security Law from Georgetown University Law Center.
Last Updated: 09/20/2019
Christina Bobb became the Executive Director of Policy at Customs and Border Protection in the Trump administration. During those days, she was also seen with Trump officials in the conference room with the rest of the president's team. Her presence created confusion among campaign personnel whether she was there as a reporter to embed with Trump's legal "strike force." But, Bobb supported former US President Trump's long-shot legal initiative and took up a double position as a pro-Trump lawyer and as a pro-Trump television host at One America News Network.
Attorney for former President Donald Trump Christina Bobb dubbed the warrant used in the FBI’s raid on Trump’s home "clearly politically motivated" Friday on "The Ingraham Angle."
CHRISTINA BOBB: The warrant proves that everything the Democrats have been pushing down our throats for the last few days is absolute baloney. None of it passes muster. This warrant is clearly politically motivated and for no other reason. As you mentioned in your monologue, the fact that the warrant was signed on a Friday — most likely a Friday afternoon, Aug. 5 — they didn't want to work on the weekend. "Let's take the weekend to think about it, regroup on Monday."
And what's even weirder about this is this grave national security matter that was so important that we had to violate fundamental rights of a president of the United States — the judge gave them two weeks to execute it. The warrant didn't expire until Aug. 19, and it was signed on Aug. 5, meaning they had two weeks to execute this.
Former President Donald Trump and his lawyers have baselessly peddled a conspiracy theory that the FBI may have "planted" evidence during its raid on Mar-a-Lago because "nobody" was allowed to watch. But Trump's lawyer admitted on Thursday that Trump and his family watched the "whole thing" go down from New York through CCTV footage from the resort.
Trump and his attorneys, Christina Bobb and Alina Habba, immediately claimed that the FBI may have "planted" damning evidence during the Mar-a-Lago raid on Monday without any proof, citing only the fact that Bobb was prevented from observing the search as is standard in such FBI operations. Trump, Bobb and Habba in numerous statements speculated about what the FBI may have done while "nobody" was watching.
"The FBI and others from the Federal Government would not let anyone, including my lawyers, be anywhere near the areas that were rummaged and otherwise looked at during the raid on Mar-a-Lago," Trump ranted on Truth Social on Tuesday. "Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be left alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, 'planting.' Why did they STRONGLY insist on having nobody watching them, everybody out?"
Bobb acknowledged on Thursday that while surveillance cameras at Mar-a-Lago were shut off for a "very short period of time" while FBI agents spoke to Trump's legal team, the former president and his family were able to view the entire raid through surveillance video.
"I think the folks in New York — President Trump and his family — they probably had a better view than I did. Because they had the CCTV, they were able to watch," Bobb told the right-wing outlet Real America's Voice.
Bobb said that she was busy speaking with investigators during the search but the Trump family saw "the whole thing."
"So they actually have a better idea of what took place inside," Bobb said.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that FBI agents asked for "surveillance cameras to be turned off, citing officer safety."
"You're telling me they didn't?" Real America's Voice host Gina Loudon asked Bobb.
"They did. So initially they said that... need to turn off all cameras and of course, the staff complied... oh the FBI is making us turn off the cameras and then lawyers said that you don't actually don't have to turn them off," Bobb said. "So shortly after they turned them back on."
Eric Trump confirmed in an interview with the Daily Mail that staff refused to turn off the security cameras and that he was able to view video of the raid. He also claimed in the interview that the FBI "would not give her a copy of the search warrant" even though Bobb acknowledged that she received it.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday called Trump's bluff, announcing that the DOJ had filed a motion to unseal the search warrant from the raid, which targeted secret documents related to nuclear weapons, according to The Washington Post. Trump on Truth Social claimed that he would encourage the "immediate release" of the document even though he could release it himself.
Garland confirmed on Thursday that Trump's lawyer received a copy of the search warrant.
"Copies of both the warrant and the FBI property receipt were provided on the day of the search to the former president's counsel, who was on site during the search," Garland said.
Bobb offered a novel defense for why Trump's team is refusing to release the warrant in an interview with NewsNation on Thursday.
"We're trying to do everything in accordance with the law," she argued.
"There's actually nothing preventing you guys from releasing it, though," anchor Leland Vittert shot back.
"Other than decorum. I mean, we're trying to work well with the Justice Department," Bobb replied amid a torrent of attacks on the DOJ from TrumpWorld.
Donald Trump’s attorney has revealed that he and Trump family members watched nearly the entire FBI search of Mar-a-Lago on surveillance cameras, further dashing the former president’s claims that agents likely “planted” any evidence that was taken.
“The folks in New York — President Trump and his family — probably had a better view than I did. Because they had the CCTV, they were able to watch,” the former president’s attorney Christina Bobb said in an interview on Real America’s Voice on Thursday.
The Trump family was “actually able to see the whole thing,” she said. “They actually have a better idea of what took place inside.”
Trump was in Manhattan on Monday when FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago. Bobb was on the scene at the resort in Florida but said she spent much of the time in a Mar-a-Lago parking lot to “collect paper and answer questions” from investigators.
Eric Trump told The Daily Mail in an article Wednesday that he watched the search via surveillance cameras.
FBI agents removed 20 boxes of documents, including 11 sets of classified information, from Mar-a-Lago on Monday, according to the warrant and property receipt used by the FBI to conduct the search of Trump’s Florida residence.
Some of the classified information was top secret and designated to remain only in a secure government facility. Sources told The Washington Post in a report Thursday that some of the classified documents were believed to be related to nuclear weapons, which was a key reason for the urgency of the search.
The warrant indicated that Trump is under investigation for a possible violation of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and removing and destroying official documents. Bobb said agents at Mar-a-Lago initially asked the staff to turn off the surveillance cameras, reportedly citing agent safety. But the lawyers quickly ordered them switched back on.
“The cameras were only off for a very short period of time,” Bobb said.
Trump has repeatedly claimed on Truth Social that the FBI likely “planted” damaging evidence at Mar-a-Lago. It’s an accusation that has been widely picked up by his followers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Trump has never mentioned on his social media platform that agents were in view of surveillance cameras throughout most of the search and were being watched by him and family members, according to his own attorney. He has insisted there were “no witnesses” to the search.
“Planting information anyone?” Trump sarcastically wrote in a recent Truth Social post.
Trump indicates again on Truth Social that the FBI "planted" evidence. (Photo: Screen Shot./Truth Social/.Donald Trump)
Bobb said of the FBI in an interview earlier this week that there was “no security” to prevent the FBI from planting evidence. But she quickly added: “I’m not saying that’s what they did.”
Bobb also noted: “I don’t necessarily think that they would even go to the extent of trying to plant information.”
Sounds like she is up to her neck in this or is a loyal patsy.
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