I wrote the other day about the distinct possiblity Donald Trump will be indicted for SEDITION in regards to the ASSAULT of our nation’s Capitol on January 6th, 2021. In that piece I suggested the only way this could get worse (for him) would be if the charge became TREASON. Of course, at that point in time I had no idea what the government was dealing with as they were attempting to get Trump to return documents which SHOULD never have been taken from the “White House” and are subject to the “Presidential Records Act” which says that any records of ANY converstation, written document, etc. etc. MUST remain with the National Archives for a number of years after any president leaves office. They belong to “we the people.”
OK, so I KNEW Trump could potentially be in deep “doo doo” because he had returned 15 BOXES full of documents which belonged in the Archives several months ago. Well, lately we’ve learned there was – as there always seems to be – MORE. On Monday of this week (it’s 8/12 as I’m writing this) the FBI executed a search warrant on the resort home of Trump at Mar a Lago in Southern Florida. This, of course, set off the right wing “blogosphere” with all kinds of threats and recriminations toward the FBI and Justice Department. For example, Kevin McCarthy issued a THREAT to Merrick Garland for when republicans take back control of the House. (Heaven forbid!)
Those who belong in the “basket of deplorables” began issuing threats of VIOLENCE aimed at the FBI, the Judge in the case, Mr. Garland, and who knows who else. SO, Garland did what the republican enablers of Trump were requesting and that was to “unseal” the warrant along with the list of items taken by the FBI. Well, had they given this a little thought, they may have waited a few days before “popping off.” After all, the original 15 boxes included several which contained “classified documents.” Plus, there was much we didn’t know then – we know more now, but there’s still much we don’t know. Trump apparently believed this documents were “his.”
Here’s where the term “STUPID” seems to come back in to play – sadly, that’s often the case with these republicans and when you think about it their “ditto heads” who will believe anything they say. There were ANOTHER 20+ boxes of documents which SHOULD have been either where they originally came from (ie “TS/SCI” ie “Top Secret” file room) or in the National Archives. Some of this stuff has the highest level of classification and, as you would expect from Trump’s sycophants, they’re claiming he waved his magic fingers over each box of classified documents – at some point in time – and de-classified them. Considering he thinks he’s still the president, maybe he did this just the other day.
Naturally, none of that makes sense to anyone with a logically working brain – which apparently excludes Trump and his republican sycophants – and, consider this: We also found out Justice Department agents visited Mar a Lago back a few months ago and didn’t get the documents (for some unknown reason back then) and, then, in early June Trump was subpoenaed to return the documents. Of course, that wasn’t good enough for Trump – he refused to honor the subpoena, which would have ENDED this whole thing (apparently) – so, now here we are. In the interim something happened to cause the Justice Department to feel they had to act PROMPTLY – supposedly there was someone who reported something to the Department which set the process into high gear.
That sends all kind of questions into my head. Like, “why did Trump feel he wanted these documents, which included highly classified information?” – some reports are suggesting there are documents relating to our nuclear capability. Who helped him gather the documents in order to ship them to his Florida home? How many people have seen ANY of these documents in the 18 months they’ve been where they’re NOT supposed to be? Are there fingerprints on any of the documents? (I ask that because, undoubtedly, Trump will LIE when asked to answer any of those questions) And, finally, when are republicans to begin the process of pulling away from their sycophantic behavior supporting this common CRIMINAL? (Don’t hold your breath!)
Marjorie Taylor Green has already begun selling hats and shirts with “defund the FBI” written on them. Ted Cruz DEMANDED that the “warrant be made public” – likely, until the warrant was made public. Josh Hawley sent me an email – with a photo of him raising his fist to the January 6th rioters just prior to when he was seen RUNNING away from them – asking me to send him money. I think you know how that ended. The list goes on and on and, in virtually EVERY instance, whatever the republican speaking says just seems STUPID! When will they learn to keep their mouths SHUT until at least some of the FACTS have become known. Again, don’t hold your breath.
So, just this week, Trump pled the “fifth” over 440 times in a deposition to the AG of New York regarding an investigation of his “Trump Organization” – with some people suggesting his organization has been committing various forms of FRAUD over a number of years. This could cause the demise of his personal business (not including his grifting of the “ditto heads”). This issue with the documents in Mar a Lago which SHOULDN’T have been in Mar a Lago now appears to be a much MORE serious issue than MOST people thought – one of the CRIMES of which their was “probable cause” has to do with the ESPIONAGE Act – and, trust me, that’s a bad one to be facing. Even if you’re our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president.
Getting back to “Stupid” – it’s fairly obvious that is a “bipartisan” term. In the past couple of days, for example, I’ve been reading about Andrew Yang’s response to the FBI executing a Search Warrant on Trump’s estate. Remember, Yang was one of the candidates for the democratic nomination for president back in 2020. At the time, I had no idea where this guy came from and what should make me want to vote for him for president – but, soon after the primaries began he morphed back into obscurity. That is, UNTIL he decided to attempt starting a “third party” – the so-called Forward Party. In response to the FBI “visiting” Mar a Lago Yang apparently tweeted (I don’t do “Twitter” so I got this in a MSNBC blog post) “I fear we will look back on this as a day that activated extremism and not the opposite.”
That “tweet” puts Yang in the same category of a number of democrats who’ve come before him (apparently, Yang believes the democratic party is “too liberal”). Just look the other way when there’s misbehavior at the top, because we don’t want to make all these republicans angry. Here’s what I say to that type of thinking: “FOOEY!” (I hope that’s a word) In EVERY instance where lawbreaking by republican leaders has been IGNORED they’ve viewed the democratic response as weakness – and, the next time it ALWAYS gets worse.
Reagan and George HW Bush got away with their CLEAR involvement in the Iran/Contra affair because the Clinton administration apparently didn’t want the “distraction” – plus people felt sorry for Reagan because he had alzheimer’s. That emboldened George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, and others to feel perfectly “at ease” in authorizing TORTURE, claiming they could declare someone an “enemy combatant” by fiat, and that they could hold political prisoners indefinitely without charging them with a CRIME. That was BAD! But, obviously, Trump has been “exponentially” WORSE!
And, at this point in time, we don’t know how much WORSE Trump is? The reality, when you do a LITTLE checking is that Trump has been flouting the LAW for, well, forever. (Ok, most of his life would be a better way to put it) The New York AG is investigating alleged CRIMES which go way back in Trump’s “organization.” If you had read Robert Mueller’s report you would know Trump’s first couple of years in office were full of potential serious CRIMES – and, during the campaign of 2016 he not only solicited help from the Russians, but he paid off a couple women who he had illicit affairs with leading to him being given the monikker of “individual 1” by the Southern District of New York’s US Attorney’s office in a CRIME which led to Michael Cohen, Trump’s previous “fixer” going to prison for THREE years!
He topped all that off (he “got away” with all of it) by inciting an ASSAULT on our nation’s Capitol in a desperate attempt to remain in office despite the FACT he resoundingly LOST the election he was claiming he actually had won. Sadly, his followers seem to believe virtualy ANYTHING without a shred of evidence to support what has become a steady flow of LIES. Now, other “leaders” in the republican party have assumed they must spout the same LIES if they want to remain in POWER. (You could call today’s republican party a LYING hoard) And, now, it appears, Trump is facing a possible charge of violating the ESPIONAGE Act!
Yep, ESPIONAGE Act. That means the government suspects Trump has somehow threatened our national security – the thing republicans used to be most worried about. He had documents with the HIGHEST level of classification there is – sitting in Mar a Lago for the past 20 months. I listed some of the questions I have above, but I find it very interesting republicans are soiling themselves once again in a scurry of attempts to rationalize away the seriousnes of what Trump just might be up to. Once again, who else saw these documents?
Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Marco Rubio are just some of the republicans who I’ve heard/read about attacking the FBI for having the “nerve” (my characterization) to search the home of a former president. Keeping in mind they appear to have lost contact with the reality Trump is simply another citizen at this point in time. It appears they all believe, as he portrays himself, that Trump is STILL president – therefore he can’t be “touched” for his lawbreaking. Well, I’ve got news for the whole bunch of them. This “ESPIONAGE” thing is just the “tip of the iceberg.” He’s facing a plethora of other potential CRIMINAL and civil charges which, as I’ve been predicting for at least 4 years now (since I read Mueller’s report), will keep him busy defending himself for MOST of the rest of his life.
If, as Yang fears, prosecuting Trump for his ILLEGAL behavior pulls the “right” together behind him, so be it. This “looking the other way” to CRIMES by leading politicians or powerful corporate leaders needs to be a thing of the past. As I’ve said in many of my previouis posts, there is so much “EVIDENCE” in the public realm that NOT prosecuting Trump will cause MORE division than doing what is right – which is PROVING to “we the people” that “no one is above the law.”
Final Thought: I believe this degeneration of the republican party showed itself in its FULL “glory” back with the emergence of the so-called “Tea Party.” This “wave” was what brought us Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows plus “a whole lot more.” Well Meadows, in my view, is facing some serious legal issues going forward, and I’m not even thinking about his election FRAUD in North Carolina (I’m still wondering how many times he voted in 2020?) Was Jordan involved in Trump’s conspiracy??? My point is, it was the “Tea Party” which brought all the white nationalists out from under their rocks in response to the election of Barack Obama. (You’ll notice Trump still mentions his middle name when referencing Obama – I wonder why?) Trump won their “hearts” by taking the lead in the “birther” movement.