It was the pictures that may be the most shocking part of the thirty-seven count indictment against Donald Trump. Boxes and boxes of classified and top secret documents piled up in a shower, bedroom, ballroom stage, storage rooms, and an office. One photograph shows the boxes spilled out on the floor after they fell off the pile. It looked like the home of your crazy uncle who hoarded books, newspapers, magazines and other junk and piled them floor to ceiling. It was a look into the madness of Donald Trump, a man who held the most powerful position in the world for four years. The indictments boil down to the charges that Trump knowingly took the hundreds and hundreds of documents out of the White House. Then when it was discovered he essentially stole the documents, he lied and refused to return them to the National Archives. When he finally did return some, his lawyers lied and said all the documents had been returned. When it turned out they weren’t, it led to the FBI search warrant and raid last summer of Mar-a-Lago.
Trump showed and discussed these highly sensitive documents with several people who had no right to hear or see any of this information endangering the national security of the country. Trump’s reaction was the usual. I did nothing wrong. It’s a “witch hunt”, one his favorite phrases when he’s caught doing something wrong. I could declassify these top secret documents “just by thinking about it.”
Of course, this comes as the race for president in 2024 is already in full swing. Trump still leads the almost dozen Republicans running for the party nomination in all the polls. Two of the more well known Republicans jumped into the race this past week. Mike Pence, Trump’s Vice President and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Pence, holier than thou conservative Christian, who followed Trump around like an obedient lap dog for four years, now says Trump’s not fit to be president. But he says Trump shouldn’t be indicted. He compared it to the indictment of leaders of “third world nations.” Well, if you didn’t know those pictures of the boxes were in the home of a former American president, you might guess this has to be the home of the leader of some third world nation.
Chris Christie, Mr. Tough Guy, is going to go after Trump head on. While the other candidates are very careful not to offend Trump, Christie is openly critical of Trump. Saying , “He’s a baby” and not fit to be president and Trump blames everyone but himself for what’s happening to him. Christie supported Trump in 2016 after his own campaign failed quickly. He was suppose to head Trump’s transition team until he was forced out by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. When Christie was US Attorney in New Jersey, he convicted Kushner’s father and he served time in prison. Christie helped Trump prep for debates before the 2016 election. Christie also caught a bad case of Covid while at the White House introduction of Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court nominee. No one was wearing a mask. An example set by Trump. Christie now says, “Turns out I was wrong about Trump. I couldn’t make him a better candidate and I couldn’t make him a better president.” Do we want a guy with that kind of judgment to be president?
Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith is the man who brought the thirty-seven count indictment. Smith is in his mid-fifties with salt and pepper beard and a stern continuance. He’s a Harvard law school graduate with a long career in the Justice Department. He was Chief of the public integrity unit from 2010 to 2015. He also served as Chief Counsel for the special court in The Hague where he investigated war crimes in Kosovo. He’s described as intense and focused. Young prosecutors were told to watch him in action. For fun, he competes in Iron Man Triathlons. He’s facing one of the most important cases in American history. In a brief three minute long announcement, Smith said, “Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principal of the Department of Justice and our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the rest of the world. We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.” Smith is also expected to bring indictments of Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
This will be a challenging time for the country and our democracy. Our system of justice will be on trial as never before. Trump has lied and cheated his way through life. But now he can’t run and hide. The hunter is closing in for the kill.
great summary and accurate conclusion. in the end what will be known as the Trump era will be much more about why otherwise reasonable people would choose to follow him than about Trump himself. without his followers and voters he’s just a bazaar and distasteful sideshow. the lesson learned (yet again) is that people are willing to support a person against their interests if by doing so it just makes them feel better emotionally.