Posted on 06/20/2023 10:02:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
If former president Donald Trump’s case ever makes it to court, federal prosecutors will use his own words against him — spoken on national TV to Fox News host Bret Baier on Monday. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t even play one on internet video. So when it comes to stories like this one, there are a few people I turn to for sharp analysis and good advice.
On the surface at least, what Trump said could cause him trouble in court.
When Baier asked, “Why not just hand [the documents] over then?” Trump replied, “Because I had boxes — I wanted to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I don’t want to hand that over to NARA yet. And I was very busy, as you’ve sort of seen.”
“These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of [personal] things.”
You can read more of the transcript here and decide for yourself.
I’m not here to pass judgment on the many indictments against Trump… except that I can’t let the opportunity entirely go. If we’re going to start prosecuting high-level executive branch people for keeping classified documents they shouldn’t have had, let’s start with Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, neither of whom, as secretary of state or (then) as vice president, had any legal power to declassify those documents. Trump did, which is maybe a strong mitigating factor.
That out of the way, it’s both easy and proper to dismiss Twitter hot takes like this one from Erick Erickson:
Guys, Trump admitted on TV tonight he withheld documents from the grand jury. Game over, legally. What an idiot.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) June 20, 2023
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
Smells like a bunch of useless current and former scumbag government employees that never had the nuts to make their mark in the world by building something tangible. They would know what a chief executive is if they did that.
From the Eisenhower administration through the Obama administration, NARA and GSA have sent people to the out-going White House to sort out and box the documents destined for National Archives. They did not do that for Trump. He was left on his own to do the job. Why???
In any case, the indictment ignores the PSA anyway and absurdly claims a violation of the Espionage Act.
Er, meant PRA not PSA.
Everybody on the Internet is an expert on everything.
I’ve been involved with a bunch of subpoenas because of my time working at a bank that did a lot of work with middle eastern companies.
They come with a list of what they want, and when they want them. There isn’t a line item on the paperwork that says “when you feel like getting around to it.”
When two laws apply to a situation, the more specific law takes precedence over the more general. The PRA is more specific. That will be immediately argued by Trumps lawyers. It will kick the espionage act charges out. Then they have two avenues. 1.) The PRA does not specify penalties, and 2.) The PRA is unconstitutional.
Well yes, I think the Trump lawyers will likely argue that. I am just saying the indictment has no merit because it applied the wrong law. Of course the reason they applied the wrong law is because they wanted to make Trump a felon and there was no way to do it if they had applied the correct law.
That’s right
And your point is?
By whom? The keyboard judges on FR?
By whomever is keeping his poll numbers up.
Trump is going to win no matter how much DeSaint Ron losers want Trump thrown in jail.
Trump is in some serious legal jeopardy and people need to come to realize that.
Trump’s legal jeopardy whatever that may be is minor compared to the peril brought by the illegitimate authoritarian rule which has put Trump in legal jeopardy.
Trump has NO fear of his mortal enemies.
Whether he should have is an entirely different matter.
“By whomever is keeping his poll numbers up.”
Yep, and they have 0% impact on the consequences of a conviction.
“From the Eisenhower administration through the Obama administration, NARA and GSA have sent people to the out-going White House to sort out and box the documents destined for National Archives. They did not do that for Trump. He was left on his own to do the job. Why???”
Sincere question: Did they not do that, or did they try to do that and Trump told them to go away? Knowing Trump (so to speak), either answer seems plausible.
wet dreams of Trump being incarcerated.
Do you categorically reject that possibility? I wish that I possessed that certainty today.
I reject no possibility when it comes to whoever is calling the shots which is definitely not Biden.
But Thomas Paine said it best,
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: It is dearness only that gives every thing its value.
“By whomever is keeping his poll numbers up.”
Yep, and they have 0% impact on the consequences of a conviction.
I restate my the opening of my original comment,
What’s the law got to do with it?
Compared to the entire Country, Trump’s legal issue are indeed minor, his trial is coming up in August, he’s likely to be a convicted felon by the end of the year.
If Trump is the guy people want to vote for to turn this country around, being a convicted felon is not going to help the cause.
Comparing Trump’s issue with Hillary’s issue or illegitimate authoritarian rule, is immaterial at this point, Trump is going on trial and winning that case is all people should be focused on, if he is convicted, his chances of ever doing anything about the corruption would have a taken a serious blow.
“Fallacious argument. Sometimes it’s in everyone’s best interest to be silent, until the situation/timing is right.”
Yes, for most people - but the obsessed think he’s still playing 490D chess.
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