Beyond a shadow of a doubt
If, brothers and sisters, you haven’t yet read the text of the Trump indictment, that is, “United States of America v. Donald J. Trump and Waltine Nauta, defendants,” I strongly encourage you to do so. It is a tour de force of how not to conduct yourself, whether you are a former president of the United States or not. It is a manual for self destruction, a primer best described as “High Treason For Dummies.”
It is a must read, a cautionary tale for all Americans interested in the preservation of their sacred democracy. It is a testament of why Donald John Trump should never, ever have been elected to the presidency and why he must never,ever be elected to the presidency again.
In reading the indictment one is immediately struck by the vast scope of the theft and the casual, almost contemptuous way those stolen documents were dangerously exposed to literally thousands of guests at Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s residence became a goldmine, a kind of clearing house for any hostile foreign operative wishing to harvest spectacularly important American intelligence. Mar-a-Lago contained the kind of top-flight state secrets for which traitors the likes of Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames sold their souls. Foreign governments would pay hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars for intelligence of that calibre.
The indictment notes that, even though Trump himself remained under constant protection of the United States Secret Service, that protection did not extend to the hoarded boxes and files containing the classified materials he stole from the American people. The agents of the Secret Service assigned to Trump knew nothing of those documents and Trump made a point of concealing their existence from them.
The documents included those intended for the very highest levels of security clearance. Some could only be viewed by authorised personnel in a “SCIF” (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.) There are nontrivial reasons why information of such high sensitivity is stored this way. A SCIF is analogous to lead shielding used in handling radioactive materials. Only in this case the radiation could endanger field operatives, compromise American military secrets or even put at risk the security and safety of all Americans.
It quickly becomes clear in reading the indictment that none of this meant anything to the insouciant, twice-impeached, twice-indicted, disgraced ex-president. He either didn’t understand the gravity of his violation or he understood and didn’t care. He relegated boxes anywhere he could find room for them from bathrooms to ballrooms, showers to desk drawers, anywhere he could stuff them for reasons wholly opaque to rational common sense.
The indictment does a deep dive into Trump’s inconsistencies, even his hypocrisies. (By the way, I love how throughout the indictment they refer to him as “TRUMP” and never “president TRUMP.”) The indictment quotes several statements and promises Trump made to the American people concerning classified documents including when he said, on august 18, 2016, “In my administration I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.” [Italics mine.]
There is also a perfectly bizarre anecdote, lacking context, on page 22 of the indictment. There the indictment says that on May 23, 2022, Trump revealed to “Trump Attorney 1” and “Trump Attorney 2” that he “was the one who deleted all of her [Hillary Clinton’s?] emails, the 30,000 emails, because they basically dealt with her scheduling and her going to the gym and her having beauty appointments. And he was great. And she didn’t get into any trouble because he said that he was the one who deleted them.”
I don’t entirely understand what that all means, but it sounds like he knew that Hillary was not guilty of any wrongdoing. Anyway, you can use it to trap any MAGA monkey who claims to have read the indictment. You can also use it to deflate any Hillary whataboutisms, which are even now being unlimbered and road tested for another tedious MAGA outing by Trump idolators.
The three lawyers mentioned in the indictment, Attorneys 1 through 3, are somewhat exposed by their pronouns. Number 1 and 2 are identified as “he” and 3 is identified as “she,” so they may refer to Trump attorneys James Trusty, John Rowley and Lindsey Halligan. Once again proving that pronouns matter.
“After his presidency,” the indictment begins, “TRUMP was not authorised to possess or retain classified documents.” Jack Smith’s indictment then takes the reader, indictment by indictment, on a merry chase. It shows how Donald Trump, together with co-conspirator Walline Nauta, wilfully withheld, misled, deceived, conspired, confederated and criminally obstructed federal officials trying to secure the return of the classified documents that Trump stole. All 38 felony counts are lovingly detailed in the indictment.
Perhaps the most damning parts of the indictment were the numerous instances where Donald Trump obstructs or conspires to obstruct the lawful return of the classified documents to their rightful owners. Most legal analysts agree that Trump’s personal involvement in deliberate deceit and unlawful concealment of state secrets will turn out to be what puts him behind bars for the longest time. At Trump’s current age (he turns 77 on Wednesday, the day after his arrest) and appallingly poor health, any sentence over 8 years will effectively be a life sentence. He will probably get at least 10.
Spoiler alert: Mr Smith proves his case not beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond a shadow of all doubt. Donald Trump’s options for staying out of prison at this point are all illegal. Apart from fleeing the country, suicide of jury nullification, I don’t see how he can do it. Read the indictment and see if you don’t agree. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.