This is going to be a long-ish rant. Sorry about that…
So Trump was arraigned Tuesday for 31 charged violations of the Espionage Act, along with various and sundry obstruction and conspiracy violations in the Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents Caper. And as much as we all anticipated this day, it’s been a let-down.
It’s not just because we didn’t get to see the bastard in court, angry, dejected, and with arms crossed over his chest. (Though that would’ve been great.) It’s not because we didn’t get to see Jack Smith stare at Trump through the entirety of the hearing, with Trump never meeting his gaze. (Because even Trump could recognize the alpha male in the room when he saw one. I imagine Trump at the hearing looked a lot like he did after his meeting with Putin.) It’s not because he basically gets nothing from this–certainly no time in a prison cell, only has to post a personal bond, and doesn’t even have any limits placed on him for travel inside AND OUTSIDE the US. Nope.
He’s a candidate running for POTUS, doncha know? And we can’t treat him like any other person who’s ever been charged with violations of the Espionage Act!
And it’s not as if most of us expected the bulk of GOP elected pols to finally have a “Come to Jesus,” “Road to Damascus” moment. No, that ship sailed on Friday when the indictment dropped and we got to read it for ourselves. And, of course, most of the GOP half of Congress didn’t bother. Because knowing the facts could possibly prevent them from spewing idiotic talking points.
Okay, maybe it is in large part that last thing. Trump took classified documents, refused to return them when asked, lied to his attorneys and investigators about still having them, and conspired with an employee to play “Musical Chairs” with them to prevent anyone discovering what he’d done. He even told his attorneys to commit crimes to help him cover for his crime. (Or lie to them so they’d unwittingly commit crimes to cover his ass.)
And, rather than stand up and honor the oaths they swore when they became Congressmen and Women, they let Trump–once again–be the thing they defended, rather than our country and its national security.
I’m so fucking pissed with these evil bastards…
And, honestly, should I be? I can’t possibly be surprised they’d do this, can I? That after years (About a damn decade!) of “But her emails!” suddenly these people think possessing classified documents is fine and dandy and totally not a crime. Well, at least if a republican does it. It’s still a crime if literally anyone else did it, though. It’s also totally not a crime that he was–allegedly–showing some of these classified documents to people who had no security clearance and no need to know.
(Is anyone wondering what the “other side” defense of that charge is going to look like?)
Trump: Well, Kid Rock was a trusted advisor when I was still POTUS.
Prosecutor: Yet you weren’t POTUS when you showed him those classified maps, doofus!
And the defenses… Good grief! How weak they are.
There’s the “The Presidential Records Act says he totally had the right to possess those documents!” defense. Yeah, no, it doesn’t.
Establishes that Presidential records automatically transfer into the legal custody of the Archivist as soon as the President leaves office.
Presidential Records Act (PRA) of 1978 Synopsis on the National Archives Site
Unless their argument is that classified documents were Trump’s personal papers and not subject to the Act, then, yeah. So much for that line of defense. BTW, it took me a minute to look that up on that Googley-thing.
“Bathrooms have locks” so the documents were totally secure, said Kevin McCarthy, after Rep. Byron Donalds workshopped the glib quip. Let’s not mention the fact that bathroom doors lock from the inside, not the outside; so unless the boxes locked the door, the only ones who would benefit from those locks would be the spies copying or photographing the docs…
Also, in case McCarthy isn’t aware, garages also have locks. And those would actually be able to lock from the inside or outside…
Donalds also came up with another defense, this one that with Security and Secret Service all over the place, nobody could get to the documents. Except, dude, they weren’t there to provide security to the documents. They were there protecting Trump. So unless Trump was in with his “Beautiful Mind boxes,” the nation’s secrets weren’t being guarded. Also, on CNN, a woman who had been in the Trump admin and was familiar with MAL (Stephanie something. Sorry, didn’t catch her last name) said the bathroom in the boxes photo was next to an area where guests would gather and play poker. So the bathroom wasn’t in some remote, secure area of MAL.
And let’s talk about “But her emails!” and how Hillary and Biden did the same thing! (Only somehow worse, because, apparently being a democrat makes it worse?) Yeah, that argument falls apart, too. And even if it was true, do we want to live in a country where we just sweep crimes under the rug because, “Hey, that other guy got away with this! Why can’t I?”
Or better yet, do we want to live in the country Ben Shapiro describes, where only Democrats can prosecute Democrats and Republicans prosecute Republicans? (We already know the end to that horror movie, Benny. The GOP simply won’t do that. See Impeachments I and II as evidence.)
In case you want to listen to Ben say this monumentally stupid thing:
For anyone who says the docs were secure and in remote areas, the NYT has a handy video of MAL and where the boxes were stored. (See tweet below this paragraph.) Spoiler Alert: the doors to the “basement storage area” are by the pool, and were sometimes left standing open during large outdoor events with hundreds or thousands of guests. Anybody could’ve wandered inside. Maybe even a Chinese spy or two…
There’s the ever-classic “This is a political persecution because Biden wants to take out the person who’s leading in the polls!” Except–hey stupids–Trump wasn’t running for office when this investigation first started. Duh. And it wasn’t Biden or Merrick Garland who did this; it was a grand jury of average Americans who agreed with the prosecutor that there was enough evidence to believe Trump might have committed these crimes.
Also, why should Trump get a free pass now? Because even the deplorables have a stray qualm or two about casting their vote in support of a guy who’s facing conviction against 31 violations of the Espionage Act? “He’ll get elected and then immediately pardon himself!”
Do they even hear how appalling that sounds to sane people?
And then there’s the related, “This is a political witch hunt!/There’s two tiers of justice in this country!” Here’s my idiot Senator Marsha Blackburn, with my reply:
I hate all the divisiveness and all the bullshit from people who crap all over Biden for not being “uniting” enough. From people who put their own reelection bids before our nation’s security and what is right. For those who want to “both sides” this or downplay it when they wouldn’t be so cool if it was Biden or Hillary who’d done what Trump did. And I really hate the RW media and pundit class pushing us to hate each other and undermining our country and for what? Money? Because they’re on Putin’s side? It’s probably just for the money…
This is what I’m talking about:
An actual banner that just aired on Fox.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) June 14, 2023
This is not a legitimate news organization that should have privileged press credentials. pic.twitter.com/D0xNjfwEtQ
Assholes.
I’m not the only one who’s out of chewing gum and has moved to the kicking ass portion of the show. General Mark Hertling, is too…
I’m sorry for the cursing and the anger. I just had to vent. Thanks for listening.