A shower full of secret documents leads to a solid Trump indictment
No one should celebrate Thursday’s indictment of Donald Trump in a case involving classified documents improperly stored at his Mar-a-lago estate. Something has gone deeply wrong when, in a historic first, federal prosecutors reach the point of filing criminal charges against a former and possibly future president. Yet, in this matter, the defendant appears to have left them little choice.
The 38-count indictment against Mr. Trump and an aide, unsealed on Friday, includes disturbing details: “Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this,” the one-time commander in chief says in a transcript of a recording during which he described a “plan of attack” prepared by the Defense Department against a foreign adversary. His audience, according to the indictment, included a writer, a publisher and two members of his staff, none of whom had a security clearance. This was only one episode of gross mishandling of hundreds of pages of materials that included papers on U.S. nuclear programs and this nation’s potential vulnerabilities to attack.
Boxes were moved from a ballroom stage to a storage closet to a bathroom and shower, at one point spilling onto the floor (“Oh no oh no,” texted an employee). Mar-alago hosted more than 10,000 guests at 150 social events, including weddings and movie premieres, during the time the documents were on the premises.
It’s not only the alleged cavalier treatment of classified materials. It is also the extensive effort to avoid compliance with legitimate demands, from which a clear, prosecutable picture of obstruction emerges. Consider Mr. Trump’s alleged instructions to valet and body man Waltine Nauta, also indicted, to hide boxes from his team’s attorney, the FBI and the grand jury; the suggestion to his attorney to make false representations to the FBI and grand jury as well as to conceal or destroy some of the documents called for in a subpoena; and the submission to the FBI and grand jury declaring all relevant documents had been handed over when they had not. Mr. Trump reportedly even asked after receiving a subpoena for the documents’ return: “Well look, isn’t it better if there are no documents?”
These details support a story that has been unfolding in the media for months: of an elected official not only abusing his access to sensitive information but also of knowingly sharing it. They distinguish the Mar-a-lago documents imbroglio from the ongoing investigation by Justice Department special counsel Robert K. Hur into President Biden’s own retention of classified documents. Those materials were willingly returned upon discovery; so far, there’s nothing to suggest they were intentionally retained. Treating different cases differently isn’t necessarily an indication of politicization. On the contrary, it can be the sign of a job carefully done.
Similarly, it is the Justice Department’s duty to assure that no person, not even a former president, is beyond the reach of the law - regardless of the discord or division doing so could sow. Attorney General Merrick Garland and his staff have cautiously followed proper protocol to safeguard the department’s independence — from tapping special counsel Jack Smith, who assembled the case, to choosing to file charges in Miami rather go judge-shopping in more liberal environs. The presiding judge will be Trump-appointee Aileen M. Cannon, whose (eventually overruled) decision to freeze a portion of the Justice Department’s inquiry last fall set liberals aflame.
Nonetheless, even before the indictment was unsealed, voters were treated to an onslaught of GOP comments tarring the case as corrupt and unconscionable. See House Speaker Kevin Mccarthy (Calif.) decrying a “grave injustice.” Listen to former vice president and 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence contort himself into an impossible position arguing simultaneously that no one should be above the law and that the indictment shouldn’t have moved forward.
If anyone is guilty of turning the legal system into a political hand grenade, it has been the Republicans themselves. In the 2016 campaign, when questions were raised about Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, Mr. Trump himself urged rally crowds to chant “lock her up.” This time, however, they’re the ones on the defense with regard to the possibly illegal handling of sensitive government information.