The Stakes for the Rule of Law vs. trump (w/ Update)

MAGA trump voter: My President committed 37 counts of federal criminality!
Every sane person who voted for Hillary and then Biden: In a row?
-- I'm Gen Xer dammit, of course I fucking quote from Clerks

So, the day after the big announcement, more details emerged as the Special Counsel moved to unseal the indictments (because trump just wouldn't shut up about them on social media).

Special Counsel Jack Smith showed up, gave a brief speech about the importance of national security, the seriousness of obstruction and espionage, the right of trump (and fellow defendant Walt Nauta) to presumption of innocence before a court of law, and the need for a speedy trial. (via Emily Olson and Barbara Sprunt at NPR): 

"We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone," Smith said. "Adhering to and applying the laws is what determines the outcome of an investigation. Nothing more, nothing less...

"Today, an indictment was unsealed charging Donald J. Trump with felony violations of our national security laws, as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.

"This indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida. And I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged.

"The men and women of the United States intelligence community and our Armed Forces dedicate their lives to protecting our nation and its people.

"Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced.

"Violations of those laws put our country at risk.

"Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice, and our nation's commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world...

"It's very important for me to note that the defendants in this case must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

"To that end, my office will seek a speedy trial on this matter consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused. We very much look forward to presenting our case to a jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida."

The actual indictment count might be 38 - I keep reading different numbers - but 37 is more poetic and I don't wanna lose the quote above, so let's roll with that. ANYway.

Emptywheel takes a moment to document the 31 times trump allegedly withheld documents (all the times he refused to return them to the National Archives), which included the ones he eventually returned in June 2021. Consider 5. June 2020 concerning nuclear capabilities of foreign country (TS/XX/XX/ORCON/NOFORN), or 8. October 4, 2019 military capabilities of foreign country (S/REL TO USA FVY), or 13. Undated document concerning military capabilities of foreign country and United States (TS/SI/TK/NOFORN), or 19. Undated document concerning nuclear weaponry of US (S/FR), or... AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa.

What's important are the dates of each document and the importance those documents had as classified materials, and you'll spot a lot of those documents involve the military capabilities of foreign nation(s) that could be pretty valuable commodities for the nations opposed to them.

In this, you see how damaging trump's mishandling of these documents are: Our allies' military secrets exposed, or worse exposure of our ability to gain intel on our antagonists. Worst of all, our own nation's military and nuclear secrets, exposed to the world while sitting in trump's Mar-A-Lago ballroom (or in the bathrooms. /headdesk).

Digby over at Hullabaloo has her thoughts:

I just read through it quickly and it’s much, much worse than we thought. He had very sensitive documents including war plans and classified info about America’s nuclear arsenal and showed them to people. He kept them in totally insecure locations, including an unlocked bathroom and a ballroom at Mar-a-Lago. When they asked for them back he moved them around, rummaged through them and tried to get his lawyer to lie about what was in them...

There's a link to the full indictment if you want to read it all. Apparently, by the second page of the document you w-- OH MY FUCKING GOD.

Well okay it probably won't get worse than t--

Did trump AT LEAST keep all these documents in secure parts of Mar-A-Lago?

(blank stare) The White and Gold Ballroom?!?!

Great. Not only could the Chinese guests sneak in and snap photos of all the classified stuff, they could bring their own DJ and dance to Milli Vanilli songs 'til the sun came up.

I shouldn't joke. This is serious business. We are dealing with the reality that a former President of the United States violated his oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend" our nation. We're dealing with - considering the number of classified documents trump released to the wild where any visitor without clearance could access them - one of the largest failures of national security since the likes of Robert Hannsen and Aldrich Ames.

As David A Graham points out at The Atlantic:

But Trump faces his own political complications. Voters have proved fairly willing to forgive politicians’ personal failings, especially in recent decades and especially when it comes to Trump. (The Manhattan case, for example, stems from hush-money payments to an adult-film actor who has claimed a sexual liaison.) But the removal of the documents is an act that stems directly from his role as president, and it implicates the very security of the country. The documents removed are reported to have included detailed information about Iran’s missile program and intelligence programs in China—the sorts of things that are kept under tight wraps in government facilities, but were reportedly stuffed haphazardly in storage areas at Mar-a-Lago...

In Trump’s long career in and out of the courts, he has not yet faced a legal peril this serious, but just how serious it is will not be clear until the charges emerge. Prosecutors could use several laws to bring those charges, with different standards and different penalties.

His defense will face difficulties, including the huge amounts of evidence obtained in the search, as well as a ruling that one of his lawyers had to turn over information that otherwise would have been shielded by attorney-client privilege. Trump will likely try to spin the charges as concerning “process crimes,” as though those are not just crimes, and deflect from the papers themselves. He has also claimed that he declassified all of the papers at the end of his presidency, but he produced no evidence for that, and his lawyers have avoided making the claim in filings. Reports last week said that prosecutors have a recording in which he seems to acknowledge that he cannot show a document to visitors because it is classified. And if he’s charged for refusing to return the documents, their classification status will not matter. (Graham wrote this before the indictment's release, and the charges do point out trump acknowledged he held classified docs AND refused to return them)

The number of charges do not shock me, because this is trump and to me his flagrant abuse of the legal system is limitless (I was hoping for more). I'm also aware these are merely the charges being brought in South Florida: There are pending federal indictments in DC on these classified documents matters as well.

And for all the details provided in this matter, we're talking about the human element of any criminal prosecution: The jury. It's going to be their job to weigh the state's evidence and listen to trump's arguments about why this is a witch hunt why he shouldn't be found guilty. Even with the legal system's batting averages of oft-times getting at least one Guilty verdict out of a major crimes case, there is no given of victory for the rule of law here. This is trump: his shamelessness can translate into convincing enough jury members to believe his gaslighting (then again, his failures in recent courtroom matters suggest juries can suss out the gaslighting for what it is and convict). trump can easily push for jury nullification in some form, especially a hung jury forcing a mistrial. Everything is at risk.

The greater risk is if trump survives this - and other - felony indictments at the federal and state levels. If he does, he goes into the Republican 2024 primaries vindicating his "success" and ability to thwart those who would stop him. If trump can then win a second term, you can look to how he behaved in pushing out those who were disloyal to him and how he insisted on using the Justice Department to persecute those opposed to him. And then multiply that by 100, because trump will know he can't leave unfinished business like the way it was left in 2020.

trump will shred every intelligence agency he felt complained about his lack of security protocol, he will decimate the Justice Department and fill every opening with lackeys regardless of skill or experience (he will likely fill them with incompetents whose only value is loyalty to him alone). trump will resume his plan of filling the federal benches with judges who will owe him favors (SEE: Aileen Cannon, who is reportedly in line to preside over this case!). trump will gut the federal government across every department and every branch, and he will ensure complete control to where he will never face accountability like this again.

trump is, based on the evidence presented by Smith, a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. trump is a threat to every allied nation we have, who will immediately close off every shared intel we have with them because they know what he will do with it. trump will turn our nation away from our strongest, most reliable allies we've had over the centuries - France, the UK, NATO, Japan, half of South America, most of Central America and the Caribbean - and align us with corrupt regimes like Russia, who profits from trump's reckless disregard for the Constitution and rule of law.

This is what you're still voting for, Republicans. What the hell. You're doubling down on a business failure and national security risk. You have a chance to choose better - well, sort of - this time. Take it. 

And let justice be done.

Update: It keeps getting worse. There's photographic proof trump stored multiple boxes in the Mar-A-Lago bathrooms.

From the Slate article

Where's the toilet paper?

AND WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A CHANDELIER IN THE BATHROOM??!?!?!!?!?!