One discouraging note from former prosecutor Joyce Vance on MSNBC today: Part of the DOJ's big decision to prosecute is that if this goes to trial against Donnie, those national security secrets may have to be exhibited in open court, for a jury to consider. It's gonna be a tricky decision because of course the agencies don't want to expose that stuff.
I would hope so, but I just don't see Biden/Garland putting a political rival in jail. They are old school and they know that they will be next. Their enemies are not past fabricating evidence to convict them.
More questions than answers right now on what this means for Trump's future.
First of all, why was he keeping classified documents, including one set marked top secret and only meant to be viewed in a secure government facility? What did he want to do with them?
Trump claims they were all declassified. Clearly the Department of Justice disagrees.
On the politics: the fact Trump is being investigated under the Espionage Act sounds dramatic, but will it cause any of his supporters to think twice about his fitness for office? Seems unlikely.
Millions of Americans are now convinced the federal government is unfairly targeting Trump.
On the law: legal scholars are in uncharted waters and will have to examine the implications of this. The big question being, if found guilty, would it make Trump ineligible for a re-election bid?
Early reaction to this week's drama suggests a clear split between those who are galvanised to support the president and those who are reminded how exhausted they were during the Trump presidency.
There are classified things that a president cannot declassify. TS/SCI and TS/SAP are in that category and that’s what he claimed he declassified. His claims of declassifying the high level stuff is bogus.
Trump’s supporters have no concept or idea of what those kinds of things are, why they are so tightly held, and why adversaries want them. Their compromise is a grave danger to the US and even the world.
Trump needs to answer for these crimes - because they are crimes. Big ones.
It seems crazy that his fans don't comprehend the danger of leaky national security. Aren't a bunch of them military veterans? They should understand this better than most people.
I think they stop questioning when they hear “trump”. Also, military vets might not understand the higher classification levels and the nature of those things - especially the stuff that is so tightly held that the number of people who have access is kept very limited. The average vet would likely only have seen restricted manuals and other stuff that isn’t so tightly held.
Also, they don’t grant access to the high classification stuff without a very good reason simply because each person who knows can be an espionage target (see also Donald Trump) or can decide to go rogue and sell or trade access for all sorts of things (again, see also Donald Trump, Benedict Arnold, Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen). You don’t get the training around high level stuff until you are granted access, too.
And guess what training trump and kids didn’t take back when trump took office - training on handling classified documents. And guess who couldn’t pass regular background checks to get access - lots of trump people.
Bet you a dollar trump was holding that information to buy his freedom in another country. It was trump’s insurance policy where he could trade for protection from US prosecution. I just wonder if anything was already compromised since it was amazingly kept unlocked for some time. Or maybe “conveniently” left unlocked…
One discouraging note from former prosecutor Joyce Vance on MSNBC today: Part of the DOJ's big decision to prosecute is that if this goes to trial against Donnie, those national security secrets may have to be exhibited in open court, for a jury to consider. It's gonna be a tricky decision because of course the agencies don't want to expose that stuff.
I would hope so, but I just don't see Biden/Garland putting a political rival in jail. They are old school and they know that they will be next. Their enemies are not past fabricating evidence to convict them.
From the Beeb.
More questions than answers right now on what this means for Trump's future.
First of all, why was he keeping classified documents, including one set marked top secret and only meant to be viewed in a secure government facility? What did he want to do with them?
Trump claims they were all declassified. Clearly the Department of Justice disagrees.
On the politics: the fact Trump is being investigated under the Espionage Act sounds dramatic, but will it cause any of his supporters to think twice about his fitness for office? Seems unlikely.
Millions of Americans are now convinced the federal government is unfairly targeting Trump.
On the law: legal scholars are in uncharted waters and will have to examine the implications of this. The big question being, if found guilty, would it make Trump ineligible for a re-election bid?
Early reaction to this week's drama suggests a clear split between those who are galvanised to support the president and those who are reminded how exhausted they were during the Trump presidency.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-62527797
Hi Charon.
It should be jail, but my confidence is low.
I believe the rot and corruption is deep and wide.
Trump is a symbol of the wealth that is admired and protected, above all else. It's the justus system.
Theranos was an exception, Holmes overplayed her hand, and pissed off some wealthy people.
Bet you a dollar trump was holding that information to buy his freedom in another country. It was trump’s insurance policy where he could trade for protection from US prosecution. I just wonder if anything was already compromised since it was amazingly kept unlocked for some time. Or maybe “conveniently” left unlocked…