I no longer have any doubt in my mind. Donald Trump is going to be indicted, and Donald Trump is going to be convicted. And I don’t just mean being indicted by Fulton County, Georgia DA Fani Willis on election fraud charges, possibly state RICO charges, including the 17 GA public officials that are targets, along with Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows. I’m talking about being indicted by a US grand jury, and convicted in federal court.

It was today’s hearing in front of Judge Dearie, the Special Master appointed by traffic court judge Aileen Cannon to oversee the dispute over the documents that Trump stole from the US government, and hid in Mar-A-Lago that made it clear. Today’s hearing was a shining example of what The rule of law looks like in this country, and what Trump is going to have to face when he goes to trial.

Trump is an egocentric, delusional, fascistic, narcissist, who sincerely believes himself to be invincible. And from day one of his legal troubles, he has ignored the rule of law, believing that he could win by pure mental superiority and the force of his superior will. His legal team has so far eschewed legitimate legal arguments in favor of It’s true because Trump says so.

To be fair, force of will can occasionally work. In August of 1914, as German forces swarmed into France, the top French general, Marshal Foch refused to accept the inferiority of the French army. He repeatedly issued Stand and fight orders that stalled the Germans, and issued advance and attack orders that caught the Germans off guard. And when the Germans screwed up their advance, Foch rolled up their flank and started a 4 year stalemate that led to Germany’s defeat.

But this isn’t 1914, and Trump sure as shit isn’t Marshal Foch. And the hearing in brooklyn today finally laid bare the central weakness to Trump’s defense, which is basically Trump has no defense! Remember, in the Florida case that now has the Special Master in Brooklyn, the DOJ isn’t prosecuting anyone. The case is Donald Trump vs The United States. and Trump has no case.

Trump is the plaintiff in this lawsuit, which means that he, and not the DOJ has to prove his case with a preponderance of the evidence. And Trump’s legal team as not presented a shred of of evidence of his propriety of the documents, preferring to throw shine on the DOJ’s case, who don’t have to prove anything. And the judge gave them the back of his hand.

The Espionage Act is crystal clear. The unauthorized possession of documents relating to national defense is a federal crime. There is no reference to the classification of the documents, if the government decides that the document deals with national defense, then you’re in the hurt locker. Classification is immaterial, all the government has to aver is that the documents dealt with national defense. 

Which doesn’t even take into account the classified and Top Secret documents that the FBI recovered. Trump’s lawyers have steadfastly refused to tell the court that any of the documents were declassified, for one simple reason, They weren’t. And there are no documents more covered by the concept of national defense than the unauthorized possession of Top Secret documents.

But all of that is already known and accepted, it isn’t what made me write this piece. What made me write this piece was Attorney General Merrick Garland’s speech at Ellis Island, swearing in 200 new US citizens. He spoke emotionally about the fqct that the US admitting his grandmother saved her from the holocaust. But then he laid down a marker. He said that Even is a country as polarized as this one, the rule of law must prevail. At least twice he reiterated that No man is above the law. 

It is my belief that Merrick Garland has already made up his mind to charge and try Donald Trump. And charges under the Espionage Act would be perfect placekeeper charges to get Trump officially in the federal judicial system while the DOJ and FBI continue to explore his role in the Capitol Insurrection. garland is a DOJ traditionalist, he won’t announce any charges or indictments in the 60 day window to the midterm election, but after that, all bets are off.

 

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9 COMMENTS

  1. Leaving aside arguments about justice and the lack thereof, this is also about institutional survival. Make no mistake; inpt though it was, Trump DID attempt to topple our government. But as usual, he was so lazy about it because he thought Plan A was guaranteed to work. You can NEVER do that when your opponent is the size and scale of the federal government. In the event that you fail, such an opponent will make an example out of all the conspiring parties. The kind that discourages future attempts.

    24
    • Facts have nothing whatsoever to do with hope, Tammy. The stakes for an institution in this kind of situation are EXACTLY this high. It ends either with its death or that of the parties that tried to kill it. Meanness without brains only works on the weak. That’s why I fear Liz Cheney now FAR more than I do Trumpers. The former wants what the latter does but has the brains and connections to make it happen.

  2. Agree. Wake the bear. You get mauled. The latest poll, and I know people lie, seems to indicate people’s #1 concern is saving democracy not all the so called cultural issues. They will help sink elections due to Roe, but the fascists have overplayed their hand. Hitler was doing things to hide it until he had the upper hand, like hiding as much as he could when they hosted the Olympics in 1936. Frumpy isn’t that smart nor does he listen to anyone smarter than him. Get earplugs cause the squealing will be loud and long.

    16
      • I’ve seen not just one but numerous polls showing exactly that. Reproductive rights and preventing any more climate change also rank almost as high or, as in the case of reproductive rights, higher–depends on the poll. You quite obviously do not obtain any information outside of faux, news “min”, etc. Hell, come to think of it, even faux nuz has reported polls showing the same so you’re not even getting their little bit of info. Just so you know, bannon is not a journalist nor is jones. Nor liar tuck, hannity, etc. They have OPINIONS and nothing more. Furthermore, their opinions are merely stated to enrage people because they think it will make them, and/or their bosses, money.

        Arguing/disagreeing is important, it keeps the dialogue lively and interesting and in fact is a necessary component of a healthy democracy. When you fail to do even the most minor research before disagreeing with someone who has, you look like an ignoramus and it is not a good look.

        Read a fucking newspaper.

        • This person doesn’t CARE about fact & Usually responds with ‘you’re stupid.’ Despite being told that virtually EVERYONE on this site, while they support Biden, would rather have some other democrat be President, there is plenty of room for debate. Unlike them, We ACTUALLY are able to CHANGE our opinions when we encounter new factual information. That said, if they had an actual fact-not a sincerely held belief, but a fact-they might actually get a dialogue going with someone here. But I suspect this person is not interested in that. I think this person thinks they are VERY well informed and thinks that they are trolling us with their superior information and is completely unaware of the reality of the situation.

  3. Former guy will be indicted and convicted ONLY if the democrats win and keep majorities in at least one and preferably both houses of congress. If they do not I suspect things will happen to stop, or slow, the legal process and in 2024 the ‘pubes/magats will destroy this nation. The rule of law only works when a majority of the citizens agree with the concept and when they elect politicians who also agree with the concept. Should we get majorities of pols who do not, i.e. republicans, the rule of law will be shit-canned and former guy will have nothing to worry about for the rest of his worthless life.

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