Updated: June 17, 2023 First impressions gained from those reporting about the details of the indictment are that if Trump is guilty of anything, it is he cannot be trusted with national security secrets and should never be let close to the Oval Office again, whether he is found guilty of breaking the letter of the laws or not. It is the act itself that is the legal basis under the espionage act. NSA Staffer Sentenced to 5.5 Years in Prison for Taking Documents Home - Government Executive (govexec.com)
Trump's chief loyalty was obviously to himself, not to the Constitution or any law of the land, with the irresponsible handling of the national security documents by him or others under his supervision. The documents he tried to hide concerned nuclear secrets and military plans of us, our allies, and our adversaries. These were not dirt on domestic politicians he went to extreme measures to hide, but secret national security information. This is what his actions put at risk. For what purpose? Ego, souvenirs of past glory, bargaining chips for future transactions to benefit himself, business, or political advantage in foreign dealings?
Trump may be presumed innocent until trial, and the indictment document contains alleged evidence, waiting for a trial jury to verify, but whether he himself was guilty or not of violating espionage laws, there is no denying the documents in his possession were not kept secure. This visual impact of the stacked banker boxes alone was explosive in the indictment documents' pictures sashed in bathrooms, bedrooms, office rooms, and ballrooms. The photo of the spilled box of national secrets was taken by his own staff. For sure, the documents were not kept in a secure place by any standards.. Most of the evidence found in the indictment documents did not rely only on FBI findings but also on text messages and staff photos, recordings, and interviews with Trump's own attorneys. See pictures from Trump indictment that allegedly show boxes of classified documents in Mar-a-Lago bathroom, ballroom - CBS News
With the release of the indictment detail of Trump in the Mar A Lago documents case, the political howl has just begun, and so has the Trump campaign fundraising. "Biden is out to get him. The Justice Department is political, too." Ok, deep breath. Some of the issues are more serious than others. In fact, the indictment was not about violations of the records act procedures but about elements of the espionage act. The least legal problem is he made his own judgment that he declassified the documents in his own mind, so no foul was committed. The bigger issue is what he did to play keep away and hide the documents once informed he had to return them (both Pence and Biden did return them), defying the law with obstruction of the investigation. Far more seriously would be if he used the purloined documents to harm national security (espionage act) and also used them for personal monetary gain or personal power enhancement. FYI: the espionage act is not about just sharing classified documents, but any documents, classified or not. What is certain, the potential to do great harm to national security is serious enough. We may never know if some foreign actor took advantage of the low-hanging fruit to put it to good use on behalf of their own national interests. The dilemma the DOJ faces is exposing sources and methods to make any evidence like that public.
All we know is that Trump waived some documents and revealed contents before those unauthorized and without security clearance. That spies from foreign adversaries made photos of them so easily accessible or that, indeed, it resulted in serious damage to US intelligence services, we the public may never know, per former CIA director John Brennan on MSNBC on June 9. The disclosure of such information could be too sensitive and damaging to national security interests.
Per a large variety of legal experts on the espionage act, the reasons or motivations for keeping unauthorized personal possession of national security documents are not elements in determining guilt. Recently, an NSA staffer took some documents home and was sentenced to 5.5 years in jail. Her reason? To catch up on work. It is the act itself that is the legal basis under the espionage act. NSA Staffer Sentenced to 5.5 Years in Prison for Taking Documents Home - Government Executive (govexec.com)
Update June 17. 2023.What we also got a clue from the indictment documents is what motivated Trump to refuse to gi.ve up the boxes full of national defense secrets. I had speculated and wondered if it was sheer ego and narcissism, or had he planned to use the documents to blackmail or induce others to behave or deal in a way that benefitted him? I was a little closer to the truth about ego and narcissism than I had speculated when the indictment text was released.. From the indictment text, there was an exchange between staffers presented as evidence. A staffer at Mar a Lago referred to Trump's obsessions with the bankers' boxes full of national security secrets as Trump's "beautiful mind boxes", indicating it was like the Academy award-winning Russell Crowe 2021 movie depicting the mental illness of a math genius who hid in a shed to" realize" a paranoid delusion. I must admit that did not cross my mind to explain Trump's refusal to give up the documents when he had two chances to do so, to lie, and to hide them: he was obsessed with their possession (not only of those but of other boxes when he was in office). He knew what was in them, wanted them easily available to him, and did not want them to go to storage. That is the reason the staffers stashed them in the bathroom. Trump Indictment: Docs Moved to Bathroom After Staffer Requested ‘Beautiful Mind’ Papers Be Kept Out of Storage (yahoo.com)
Once he left the White House, Trump no longer had any cover of executive power. He became just like any citizen in the eyes of the law. That declared candidates are immune from prosecution 60 days before the election is an internal FBI policy, and we are nowhere near election time. If Trump is convicted of a crime, his only way out was to get re-elected so he could pardon at will anyone he wishes, and maybe even himself.
Trump risked national secrets, prosecutors allege in indictment | Reuters
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