It’s a well known adage, Hanlon’s Razor, which states, “Never attribute to conspiracy that which can be explained by plain stupidity.” Bear that in mind as we examine the latest freak out of Donald Trump on Truth Social.
You may have read stories about a month ago about boxes of Joe Biden’s files being found in the office of a Boston attorney. The contents of the boxes were supposed to go to the JFK library. This was not a massive story.
But a desperate Fox News is billing it as an “exclusive” story tonight — and they’re probably right, it is their exclusive story — because it’s a sleeper to every other news outlet. The “exclusive” reveals there were NINE boxes. And of course Trump is all over this. He sees salvation in this mirage.
NARA has done everything they’re supposed to do.
“Please ensure that the boxes in your office in Boston remain secure in a locked space and are not accessed by anyone,” General Counsel for the National Archives Gary Stern wrote on Nov. 7, 2021.
A day later, Stern asked Pat Moore, then a law partner at Hemenway & Barnes as well as a lawyer for Biden’s 2020 campaign and former White House attorney, whether the boxes could be moved to the JFK Library the following day.
Moore responds on Nov. 9 to connect Stern with his law partner, “who can work with you tomorrow to access our office and pick up materials there.”
It is not known whether the files are classified. The president is currently under investigation by a Justice Department special counsel over his handling of secret documents dating from the Obama administration.
This is from the Washington Examiner story linked to above.
Trump has discovered a true nothing burger and I’m not surprised Fox News is highlighting it. They want to draw any attention that they can away from the Dominion law suit.
And Trump, or whomever is running his account this evening, is salivating, hoping that this somehow becomes a meaty story. He’s hoping he’s got an out.
Sorry, Donald. False alarm. You didn’t get in this much trouble overnight, you’re not going to magically get exonerated.
The phrase ‘grasping at straws’ comes to mind.
The key point here, that it’s not the possession of documents which is a crime, it’s the refusal to be accountable for their return when asked to do so, escapes him. He just can’t get it. Whether that’s willful stupidity or Trump believes that everything in the world he touches is automatically his, I have no idea.
He has the insight of a stump.