I feel like being in possession of that amount of incredibly sensitive national security data (according to the unsealed indictments) ought to have been no-knock warrant territory, personally
Anyone who has had to take any kind of training about dealing with government documents should be beside themselves after seeing the bathroom picture. It’s just insane.
I mean… the STAGE?!?
“Look at all my top secret documents! Pillage them! Then kill or imprison dozens of our assets for an encore!”
RIGHT??
Like, I 100% understand how the president would unintentionally take classified information with them when leaving the White House. Half their meetings every day are classified, a large proportion of the documents they handle are classified, and any notes they take about classified information are also classified. It is not reasonable to expect the President to be 100% perfect about the storage of the thousands of documents he will see in a month, let alone over the 4 years in office. They rely on their aides to help keep track of this stuff, and mistakes happen. A file gets put in a briefcase, or a desk drawer, then an emergency happens and everyone forgets it was there.
I get that, that’s normal IMO. Where this becomes exceptional is that AFTER he was notified that he still had classified information they were STILL storing them in a damn public bathroom. He was bragging about having these documents and showing them to people, KNOWING THEY WERE CLASSIFIED.
Literally all he had to do was hand them back, like every other president has, and go “oops, sorry, these got mixed into the wrong box.” Nobody would fucking care if that had happened, because everyone recognizes that mistakes happen and we aren’t going to prosecute the president for accidentally taking home a classified document and giving it back when they find it. Yes, we would do that to a normal low-level person who did the same- but I think that’s fundamentally different in the scope and volume of the job. The president has more important things to think about than the security classification of the document he’s holding, or the notes he took earlier. It’s other people’s jobs to consider that for him so he can focus on the actual problems he is facing every day in administering the entire federal government.
That’s exactly why Pence didn’t get charged as well. Yeah, he had classified docs, but he surrendered them without any issue. Trump and his conspirator(s) on the other hand actively worked to deceive the US Gov’t about the return of these documents.
If he had handed everything back, okay, there’s nothing to talk about anymore, shit happens from anyone in a high level position (like POTUS, VPOTUS, SecDef, etc) where, like you said, they handled those documents on a daily basis for briefings, took notes, etc. to make decisions with. Sometimes things slip through the cracks, that’s why there’s the step of agencies saying “Hey, you still have some classified docs and we need those back.” Complying with the request under the assumption of an honest mistake results in nothing occurring as a result. Pretending to comply and conspiring to further hide those docs, while leading your lawyers down a different path though is very much a violation of any good will the federal government is giving you.
Trump kept boxes of documents in a bathroom that shows evidence of having been in use. There are photos. If you want to, go to the Legal Eagle channel on youtube and watch the video on the topic. It shows some of the photos. “Trump’s Bombshell Federal Document Indictment” - at the time of the posting it’s the latest.
Title definitely got me 😂. But this is so true.
Shouldn’t everything be equitable here. Why does he get a pass when someone else who did the same thing would be sitting in Jail.
This article came out around the time of his NY arraignment and did a really good job making this point
The arrest and arraignment of former President Donald J. Trump may have been an unprecedented moment in American history, with seismic implications for the political process. But as a legal process, it was more routine: On Tuesday, he became just another one of the roughly 31,000 people arraigned for felonies in dreary courtrooms across New York State each year.
Constitutionally, those people are entitled to equal treatment — but practically, we all know that’s not true. Usually there are handcuffs and mug shots, two indignities Trump himself avoided. (Law enforcement officials told the New York Times he wasn’t considered a flight risk.) But he couldn’t get around the fingerprinting.
There’s also no evidence that Trump spent time in an overcrowded holding cell, an experience that seems to cut through the haze of memory for many defendants, who described moldy sandwiches or pee-filled plastic cups.
By contrast, Trump was allowed to self-surrender and arrived in a multi-car motorcade, escorted by the Secret Service officers routinely assigned to a former president.
We asked people what the experience is like when you’re not a high-profile White defendant, arrested for a white collar crime, with access to top-flight lawyers, campaign donors, crowds of well-wishers and supporters. Some were indicted before their arrest, some after. The picture they give — as mostly defendants of color, mostly arrested for violent crimes — is of disorientation and hopelessness.
And usually the world is not paying attention.
I’ve been arrested twice… both times misdemeanors with no jail time.
The most memorable part for me was being instructed to strip naked, then squat and spread my cheeks so they could see my asshole and make sure I didn’t have a plastic baggy of cocaine or shiv turtle-heading.
I seriously doubt Trump had to suffer the same indignity, despite being charged with felonies.
Yet again was not arrested at the arraignment. No mugshot, or fingerprinting, and no bail, they sure are treating him unfairly. Can’t he just choke on a big mac already so we can be done with this cheeto?
Former President Donald Trump has been arrested at the federal courthouse in Miami. He will soon face charges related to mishandling classified documents. During the proceedings on Tuesday, deputy marshals took electronic copies of his fingerprints.
However, they did not take a mugshot of Trump because he is easily recognizable, as reported by CNN.
Source: Former US President Trump arrested, The Nation, June 13
