Last night, Twitter was abuzz with speculation about whether the FBI has an informant and who it might be. There are no publicly available facts supporting the assertion that the FBI even has an informant, never mind who it might be. But, for what it is worth, Mark Meadows was trending for a long time as people asserted that Meadows checked all the boxes – pun fully intended – regarding the type of person that would have the motivation to flip while also knowing what Trump kept and where materials were located. It turns out that Twitter isn’t the only one convinced that someone flipped on Trump. The group often referenced as “Trump World” also believes that someone flipped.
According to Axios:
Trumpworld is abuzz with speculation about which close aide or aides has “flipped” and provided additional sensitive information to the FBI about what former President Trump was keeping at Mar-a-Lago, sources tell Axios. Trump’s orbit is always an environment rife with mistrust and paranoia. Now, that’s intensified.
The fact that Trump himself is paranoid has been documented by many Trump insiders for years. This is a man who had everyone close to him sign an NDA. Anyone with any military experience or organizational training knows that the “unit” takes on many of the characteristics of the leader. Fear and paranoia can flow down from officers to staff. It is not surprising that they are often paranoid.
But just because someone is paranoid doesn’t mean that they are not being watched, and it’s possible that the type of evidence sought is of the type that only a select group of people would know to exist and where it might be found. Perhaps Trump World knows that the FBI could only have the information it had if they had someone talking.
Axios says that the fact that the Mar-a-Lago basement was the focus of the raid is almost “novelistic” and yet it is true:
Christina Bobb, a lawyer for Trump, told The Washington Post his lawyers held discussions with the Justice Department this spring over materials held at Mar-a-Lago. Bobb said Trump’s legal team searched through two to three dozen boxes in a basement storage area, hunting for documents that could be considered presidential records, and turned over several items.
As to whether someone has flipped? There are a lot of people facing serious consequences, and any fear must be forming at an accelerating pace, given DOJ’s relatively sudden aggressiveness. It is beginning to look like there is a real possibility that Trump will be charged. Fear of being labeled as the fall guy would provide a lot of motivation to come forward first. There is no evidence that Mark Meadows or anyone else is that guy but – symbolically – that would be the type of person, close to Trump, and in danger, that would flip.
Trump World is right to be paranoid about a flip. And when people are paranoid that someone is talking, it can often unleash a zoo-break of close associates wanting to talk, to flip themselves. No one wants to be the one left holding the bag.
@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.