Let’s wait to see what is in the indictment
Conn Carroll
Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his lawyers have been informed by the Justice Department that a grand jury in Miami has indicted him on federal criminal charges, including willful retention of documents in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements.
Importantly, neither Trump nor his lawyers have seen the indictment yet, nor has DOJ released it, nor has DOJ even commented on the matter. That DOJ hasn’t commented isn’t surprising since Trump has been told to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday to be arraigned.
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There is no doubt Trump took documents from his time in the White House, and there is little doubt that whatever legal claim Trump thinks he has to the documents, he almost assuredly did not follow the proper legal procedures in keeping them.
That said, as the National Archives and Records Administration has testified before Congress, every president has mishandled documents. The difference with Trump appears to be that he knowingly did so.
But should this be a criminal matter? What is really at stake here?
If Trump took a list of CIA undercover operatives worldwide, that would be bad. That would be a threat to national security if they weren’t secured properly. But what if all he took was letters from President Obama and Kim Jong Un, and birthday dinner menu? Are those items really a matter of national security?
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Attorney General Merrick Garland is not a stickler for the law. He chooses not to enforce our nation’s immigration laws against literally millions of illegal immigrants every day. He has a proven track record of ignoring flagrant law-breaking for political purposes.
If this indictment is all about harmless letters and dinner menus, Garland has made a terrible terrible mistake.