One of the most dangerous symptoms of Trump Derangement Syndrome is bitter disappointment, as any anti-Trumper would admit if they were being brutally honest. The 45th president’s 2016 election victory, his vindication when the special counsel probe into his alleged “collusion” with Russia turned up nothing, and his two impeachment acquittals caused great despair among those most afflicted by TDS. Now, it appears at least somewhat likely that the FBI’s recent Mar-a-Lago classified documents raid is set to induce a fresh bout of disappointment as the official narrative slowly unravels. The latest hit? Trump’s lawyers claim they had certified in June that no classified records remained at the Palm Beach estate.
[substack align=”right”]On August 8, FBI agents executed a search warrant to retrieve, well, pretty much every piece of paper Trump had either signed or looked at during his four years as president. But this wasn’t the agency’s first visit to Mar-a-Lago. Agents had previously searched Mr. Trump’s private storage, with his blessing, and had advised him to install a more secure lock on the door of a room that contained documents.
Trump’s lawyers had reportedly already met with senior Department of Justice and FBI officials, presumably to discuss the issue of classified materials. And while both the DOJ and the FBI find themselves – fairly or not – on the receiving end of considerable vitriol from Trump’s loyal supporters, it is reasonable to ask if the FBI’s search for Mar-a-Lago classified documents was necessary at all, considering that the feds were not exactly in the dark about what the former president had retained when he left the White House 19 months ago.
Why the Delay in Retrieving Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents?
The timeframe is important. Just days ago, a certain Washington, DC, newspaper reported that Trump was suspected of having spirited away documents containing information about America’s nuclear arsenal. Was he planning to make Florida the world’s newest nuclear power? Did he perhaps intend to give, or sell, these documents to the Russians? Maybe he just thought this information would be safer in his hands than in the hands of the Biden administration – and that might be a worthy reason indeed. All this speculation is a waste of time, of course, because the most important question is why the federal government took 19 months to realize the documents were missing or take action to retrieve them from Mar-a-Lago? Surely, the Pentagon has already launched a major investigation to find the answer. High-level heads will roll in the coming weeks, no doubt.
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Then again, maybe that Washington newspaper has, not for the first time, concocted a ridiculous tale it attributes to anonymous sources in its apparently never-ending attempt to pin something – anything – on Trump.
There is much talk about espionage charges and – the old favorite – obstruction of justice. Leftists are currently acting like a four-year-old on a sugar rush. They can barely contain their glee at the thought of Trump being barred from seeking public office again. Better still, they imagine him going to prison or – as MSNBC contributor Michael Beschloss and former CIA head Michael Hayden appear to prefer – being executed. Following the publication of the unverified and unverifiable story about the nuclear documents, Beschloss posted on Twitter that “Rosenbergs were convicted for giving U.S. nuclear secrets to Moscow, and were executed June 1953,” along with a picture of Julius and Ethel Rosenburg, the infamous communist sympathizers and Soviet spies. Hayden retweeted the post with his own comment, “Sounds about right.”
The level of euphoria on the left has perhaps reached a crescendo when a left-leaning historian and a former senior federal official call for the execution of a former president. And that is, after all, what they did. There really is no “perhaps” about it. But the high that Beschloss, Hayden, and their ilk are feeling right now might be about to fade. Could Trump be indicted? It is entirely possible. Could he be convicted? Not of espionage – unless the FBI can produce solid evidence that Trump not only had records of a highly sensitive nature but intended to provide those records to an enemy of the US.
A Pit of Despair Awaits?
Could the former president be prevented from running for elected office? Some legal minds would argue that, yes, in theory, he could be – assuming that Trump’s lawyers are lying about the Mar-a-Lago classified documents removed by the FBI. But even then, other legal experts contend there is very little chance 45’s enemies will be successful in any attempt to prevent him from running in 2024.
It will be heartbreaking enough for leftists if Trump avoids federal lockup. It will be devastating for them if the 45th president secures the Republican nomination to be the 47th. How will they cope? A good businessperson will point out that one of the secrets to success is to under-promise and over-deliver. Again and again, when it comes to Trump, the forces aligned against him have over-promised and under-delivered. Are they about to do it again in spectacular fashion?
The future of the American way depends, in part, on presidents not imprisoning their predecessors or their political rivals – not without cast-iron evidence of some truly heinous crime, in any case. And any legal action taken to deny Trump the chance to run in 2024 will be seen by at least half the country as a banana republic move. It would be the most dangerous of precedents to set, and it will leave a deep scar across the nation that will not heal for generations. And so, the tea leaves warn anti-Trumpers to curb their enthusiasm for the time being, lest they fall into a pit of despair so deep, they might not crawl out of it for many years.
