What led up to the FBI's raid of Mar-a-Lago

+ sunscreen could threaten marine life US Edition - Today's top story: Why searching an ex-president's estate is not easily done – 4 important things to know about the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago [View in browser]( US Edition | 10 August 2022 [The Conversation]( The FBI’s raid of former president Donald Trump’s Florida estate and club, Mar-a-Lago, seemed to be a stealth operation – until, at least, Trump released a statement on Aug. 8 decrying the “siege,” as he called it. There’s a complicated legal background and history that set the stage for the FBI’s search for boxes of classified materials that Trump took from the White House and never delivered to the National Archives. In one story today, presidency scholar Shannon Bow O'Brien explains how the [presidential archives work](. And in today’s lead story, Georgia State University scholar Clark Cunningham explains the different legal and policy barriers the FBI and the Department of Justice had to overcome – and why the investigators could have walked away with more than what they were expecting. “There seems little doubt that the Justice Department had compelling, perhaps overwhelming, legal justifications for conducting this unprecedented search of a former president’s home,” [Clark writes](. Also today: - [Centuries ago, people lived longer than you’d think]( - [Cigarette companies are targeting kids in low-income countries]( - [Cable news still bears the brunt of the blame for America’s polarization]( Amy Lieberman Politics + Society Editor Palm Beach police officers stand near the Florida home of former President Donald Trump on Aug. 8, 2022. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images [Why searching an ex-president’s estate is not easily done – 4 important things to know about the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago]( Clark D. Cunningham, Georgia State University There’s a high bar for a federal judge to grant a search warrant, indicating there is probable cause that Trump committed a crime by holding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Politics + Society - [How the FBI knew what to search for at Mar-a-Lago – and why the Presidential Records Act is an essential tool for the National Archives and future historians]( Shannon Bow O'Brien, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts A presidential scholar sets the history and context for the battle over President Trump’s official records – and says it isn’t the first records battle between the government and a former president. - [Don’t be too quick to blame social media for America’s polarization – cable news has a bigger effect, study finds]( Homa Hosseinmardi, University of Pennsylvania Studies of online echo chambers don’t paint the full picture of Americans’ political segregation. New research shows that the problem is more Fox News Channel and MSNBC than Facebook and Twitter. Science + Technology - [Old age isn’t a modern phenomenon – many people lived long enough to grow old in the olden days, too]( Sharon DeWitte, University of South Carolina Nasty, brutish – but not necessarily short. Here’s how archaeologists know plenty of people didn’t die young. - [What is a semiconductor? An electrical engineer explains how these critical electronic components work and how they are made]( Trevor Thornton, Arizona State University Semiconductor chips are electronic devices that store and process information. Today they can contain billions of microscopic switches on a chip smaller than a fingernail. Ethics + Religion - [American Sikhs are targets of bigotry, often due to cultural ignorance]( Simran Jeet Singh, Union Theological Seminary On the 10th anniversary of the Oak Creek massacre, a Sikh scholar writes that there is little understanding of the Sikh faith in the U.S. Economy + Business - [China-US tensions: how global trade began splitting into two blocs]( ManMohan S Sodhi, City, University of London; Christopher S. Tang, University of California, Los Angeles Welcome to an era of two parallel worlds in global business. Environment + Energy - [Do chemicals in sunscreens threaten aquatic life? A new report says a thorough assessment is ‘urgently needed,’ while also calling sunscreens essential protection against skin cancer]( Robert Richmond, University of Hawaii; Karen Glanz, University of Pennsylvania Rising concern about possible environmental damage from the active ingredients in sunscreens could have ripple effects on public health if it causes people to use less of them. - [Boosting renewable energy use can happen quickly – and reduce harm to low-income people if done thoughtfully]( Erin Baker, UMass Amherst While a US transition to renewable energy by 2030 is possible, streamlined policies with clear goals and incentives are necessary to get there, says an industrial engineering professor. Health + Medicine - [Cigarette advertising aggressively targets kids in low- and middle-income countries, a new study finds]( Jennifer Brown, Johns Hopkins University In places around the world that lack restrictions to combat the problem, tobacco companies are using marketing strategies aimed at children, like displaying tobacco products at kids’ eye level. Trending on site - [How does monkeypox spread? An epidemiologist explains why it isn’t an STI and what counts as close contact]( - [The climate bill could short-circuit EV tax credits, making qualifying for them nearly impossible]( - [Who was Ayman al-Zawahri? Where does his death leave al-Qaida and what does it say about US counterterrorism?]( Today's graphic [A chart showing the total megawatts produced by US coal power plants from 1993 to 2021.]( From the story, [3 reasons US coal power is disappearing – and a Supreme Court ruling won’t save it]( - - About The Conversation: We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. [Donate now to support research-based journalism]( [The Conversation]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]( 303 Wyman Street, Suite 300 Waltham, MA 02451 [Forward to a friend]( • [Unsubscribe](