By the metrics prosecutors use to gauge cases having to do with the unauthorized removal of documents containing national defense information, no one historical analog seems to have the unique combination of factors that Trump brought to Mar-a-Lago.
And what was the penalty for Martin? I think that’s a fairly important piece of information that’s omitted here.
Not only did tfg steal national security documents he belligerently refuses to return them and lies to investigators every step of the way. He basically contends that HE is above the law. He is backed in his obstruction by the all-too-large fascist cult and they threaten civil war if he is held accountable.
There is no precedent in our history and he needs to be indicted, prosecuted and convicted if we have any hope of being an actual nation guided by the rule of law.
I compare TFG to Aldrich Ames, head of the russia desk at the CIA during the later cold war, who sold CIA colleagues and agents within soviet union to the KGB for personal profit and to pay down credit card debts. People died and the credibility of US intel was significantly injured.
Ames eventually confessed under questioning and plead guilty. He is serving a life sentence, without the possibility of parole, in the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana
And he says they’re his.
Apparently no one, not one single solitary person, explained to Trump that nothing, zip, nada, belonged to him. President may be the most powerful person in the world but they are still an employee only, not an owner, no stock options are granted, he’s got one share just like everyone else.
It was probably explained multiple times, in multiple ways, in multiple contexts but it couldn’t stick because the concept of “not rightfully mine” does not exist for him; can’t hang the conceptual coat if there is no hook.
There’s really only two things to know:
Debate me, bruh!!!
How to do the job of Presidenting, how it is an actual job-Presidenting, that unlike his little boutique real estate/golf club firm most of the people in the US government don’t work for him. And an inauguration is not a coronation.
“Anytime someone is willfully retaining classified information or national security information, it’s going to be an instant automatic priority for investigation and potentially prosecution,” Tim Perry, a former federal prosecutor, told TPM
This was all fine right up to the potential part.
Harold Martin got 9 years in plea agreement…
In 1987, Pollard pleaded guilty to spying for and providing top-secret classified information to Israel. He was sentenced to life in prison for violations of the Espionage Act, making him the only American to receive a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally of the U.S.
Indeed, I was surprised to see that missing from the post. It takes just a few seconds of Googling to find out that Martin was eventually sentenced to 9 years in prison, with 3 years subtracted for time already served.
Apparently he had some mental issues as a hoarder (sound familiar?) so here’s where he is now. Note that the mental issues didn’t prevent imprisonment: From Wiki:
As of May 2021, Martin is housed at Federal Medical Center, Devens, a facility for federal inmates with ongoing long term physical or mental health treatment needs, located in Devens, Massachusetts.
We still don’t know the full extent of what documents he possessed, and perhaps more importantly, his intentions for them. While removing NDI materials is a crime, answers to those questions will likely determine whether he’s indicted and the severity of the charges. Like it or not (and I don’t), he has some degree of protection as the immediately former President.
I absolutely agree that there were people who told him in no uncertain terms. But I also absolutely believe that the mad sycophants like Stephen Miller and others were whispering in his ear that he was king and therefore above all laws.
What he didn’t want to hear, he ignored, and sidelined the nay-sayers. We saw that again recently when, after paying out $3M for Kise’s supposedly excellent counsel, when Kise told him to cool his jets a bit, Kise was demoted to JV.
Let us not forget that Skanky’s family received $2 billion from the Saudis shortly after the sensitive classified documents were stolen.
IANAL but I believe intent doesn’t matter for the three criminal statutes listed in the MAL search warrant. He willfully withheld national defense information and government records (the first two) and obstructed the government’s attempt to retrieve them (the last one).
Whether he just thought the docs were his as souvenirs, or sold them to the Saudis, the reason doesn’t matter. The crime was willful retention and obstruction. Motive doesn’t matter, any more than it did in sentencing Harold Martin to 9 years of prison who was apparently a “hoarder.”
The only degree of protection he has is a potentially contaminated jury pool, due to the fact that he’s an ex-President and he won’t keep his mouth shut about being politically persecuted. So the DOJ will have to be especially careful to bring an airtight case that will give a carefully selected jury no option other than to convict on the evidence.
That’s the only real protection he has. I’m taking AG Garland at his word that he’s not doing Trump any special favors just because he was President. The time it’s taking to bring indictments is not unusual considering the complexity of this case, and the interference of MAGA judge Cannon in Florida.
Legal questions surrounding Trump’s mishandling of classified documents, important as they obviously are, may make prosecution of Trump on that front difficult or undesirable (if the prosecution would require revealing the contents of highly sensitive classified documents). Charging him with obstruction of justice (which carries heavy penalties) and unlawful possession of government documents (per the Presidential Records Act), classified or unclassified, seems already a no-brainer.
I’d add that tfg took positive efforts to conceal his continued retention of classified documents by having his lawyers attest that all sensitive materials were returned in June. And, that appears to be continuing with the remaining missing docs. And where are they? Does he even have control of them anymore?
Something is seriously amiss here and I don’t buy that it’s just his psychopathology – there’s just too much weighing against it at this time.
I hate to say it, but I don’t believe the DOJ has the balls to charge the Orange Asshole with anything more than misdemeanor absent mindedness. As far as I’m concerned, he’s guilty of espionage, and should be on his knees waiting for one in the back of the head. However, as usual, our useless and cowardly government will do nothing. Sad!
The amount of time he’s likely spending on this says he’s giving this case special treatment.