Did the dominoes finally line up today?
In the three weeks since the DOJ had the FBI carry out a search and seizure warrant at Donald Trump’s home for the classified documents he stole, we’ve said it was anybody’s guess as to when the DOJ would decide to indict and arrest Trump. There’s been the primary question of when the classified documents charges will be procedurally ready to go. And there’s the secondary question of whether the DOJ will indict Trump now for the classified documents scandal and then indict him later on 1/6-related and election related charges, or if the DOJ will wait until it has all the charges lined up against Trump before bringing any of them. Now we’re suddenly getting what may, or may not, be hints of what’s coming.
First the DOJ revealed on Monday that it’s already finished sorting the documents it seized from Trump’s home. This revelation was further explained by reporting on Monday evening that the DOJ had been lining this up since May, so that once it did seize the documents, it could process them immediately, despite their sensitive nature and limited access.
Then the DOJ asked the judge for permission to make a whopping forty page filing about the criminal case it’s built against Trump – a rare move – and the judge agreed. This suggests the DOJ is looking to dump a ton of information out there about Trump’s guilt, so that the public will have a full sense of what Trump has done wrong, and what’s coming.
So is this truly a sign that the DOJ is preparing to imminently indict Donald Trump? That’s still anyone’s guess, depending on how one interprets the above moves. Just for kicks, there’s also President Biden’s primetime speech this Thursday, during which he’s expected to touch on Trump’s extremism. And Trump’s money man Tom Barrack reportedly just parted ways with his criminal defense attorney ahead of his trial. It’s being blamed on scheduling issues, but changing an attorney just before a trial can sometimes be a precursor to cutting a plea deal.
So those dominoes are all worth watching. It could be that they’re all just coincidental, aren’t set to knock each other over, and aren’t a sign that anything is imminent. But they could also be a sign that the DOJ really is on the verge of arresting Trump, and that everyone else is making moves accordingly. Stay tuned.
