Andrew Napolitano: Why Donald Trump will soon be indicted

[Dr. Jack]

He’s not usually my “go to” legal analyst but he does sometimes make really good points, and this is one of those times. He does not mince words in this article. He says Trump absolutely will be indicted and that Trump has virtually no defense to fall back on. According to Napolitano, Trump is 100% fucked.

It gives me no joy to write this piece. Even a cursory review of the redacted version of the affidavit submitted in support of the government’s application for a search warrant at the home of former President Donald Trump reveals that he will soon be indicted by a federal grand jury for three crimes: Removing and concealing national defense information (NDI), giving NDI to those not legally entitled to possess it, and obstruction of justice by failing to return NDI to those who are legally entitled to retrieve it.

…

But the Bush-era statute, the one the feds contemplate charging Mr. Trump with having violated, makes it a crime of obstruction by failing to return government property or by sending the FBI on a wild goose chase looking for something that belongs to the government and that you know that you have. This statute does not require the preexistence of a judicial proceeding. It only requires that the defendant has the government’s property, knows that he has it and baselessly resists efforts by the government to get it back.


…

What will Mr. Trump say in his defense to taking national defense information? I cannot think of a legally viable one.

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/31/why-donald-trump-will-soon-be-indicted/

[SWBTATTReg]

1. And as soon as Mr. Biden was sworn in as President, all of tRUMP's authority disappeared, hence,

he was illegally in procession of any and all classified/etc. documentation since Pres. Biden was sworn in. And to add further to the crimes (real and potential), what documents still haven't been found? Who else had seen these documents and who also rec'd these (if any) documents? Our intelligence services have their work cut out for them, in backtracking, seeing what other damages to our National Defense has occurred.

Traitor. I can't think of anything worse than what this scumbag did to our Country.

[Dr. Jack]

3. One lawyer I follow online said that Trump trying to claim "executive privilege"

would mean that a former President would be considered more powerful than a sitting President and if the courts somehow allowed that argument (which they wouldn’t) it would destroy the entire way the government works. Any legal defenses Trump has thrown out there are so poorly thought out that they would involve the complete destruction of the US government, if you take them to their logical conclusions.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Makes sense in what that one lawyer said (the one you follow online). I think that the entire tRUMP

clan is desperately trying anything to weasel their way out of this whole mess, but I think the balloon has went up and tRUMP is now suffering and will suffer more to come. tRUMP went way too far. Now he must face the music and the music that is playing isn't pretty.

[Dr. Jack]

7. Outside of a few Trump sycophants, the GOP has largely gone silent on thsi

And that is very telling. When was the last time you heard Kevin McCarthy screaming about Trump being unfairly persecuted by the DOJ? After the initial, knee jerk “outrage”, all defenses have ceased. Even the RNC is refusing to help cover his legal bills on this one. He’s being left to his fate, I think

[SWBTATTReg]

8. I noticed that too. You're absolutely right, that the GOP has gone silent. And, to be honest w/...

you, what in the world can the GOP / tRUMP enablers say?

[Dr. Jack]

9. Gym Jordan tried today

He made a big deal about the copies of Newsweek in the photo not being classified information. That was the entire extent of his defense. He of course didn’t comment on the piles of top secret document also in the photo.

Republicans trying to defend Trump are just in full blown trolling mode and aren’t even trying.

[brush]

11. And W Bush, Obama, Clinton and Carter...

are all still alive, so according to trump's silly contention, they could all declare executive privilege at any time.

God, how long before we are through with this halfwit taking up all the oxygen in the media sphere?

[lindysalsagal]

12. Wouldn't it be lovely to hear from them on this, right now? Sigh.

[KS Toronado]

14. A TV ad with G W Bush

bashing what his party has turned into would be awesome.

[SWBTATTReg]

21. Not soon enough!

God, how long before we are through with this halfwit taking up all the oxygen in the media sphere?

[wnylib]

15. That's what Trump has done all his life.

He obfuscates issues with lame arguments and smoke and mirror BS. It works in politics and even in business. But not in a federal court of law dealing with national security. Only facts matter in this case, not BS spin.

[Lonestarblue]

17. From what I've read, executive privilege goes with the office, not the person.

And only the current officeholder has it. That officeholder can grant executive privilege to something requested by others, but no one else has that privilege. As usual, Trump is blowing smoke.

[rurallib]

18. Thought for a long time his crazy claims aren't meant to be legal

but are aimed at riling up his 20 million (whatever) crazies and keep them agitated no matter how stupid the claim is.

[Justice matters.]

20. He also incited and sent an armed mob to kill the vp & lawmakers

(gallows seen in pictures)

And he is totally free to keep inciting them (those not in prison) up to over a hundred times-a-day!

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Napolitano is a realist Republican when it comes to the law

He wants to have a reputation for getting the law right, so if he's saying it looks really bad for Trump, it probably does.

[Dr. Jack]

6. I agree. This is one of those cases that proves not all Republicans are equally bad or delusional

And by that I mean this is a case where listening what this specific Republican is saying is probably a good idea.

[intrepidity]

4. My favorite part:

In a monumental irony, both Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks journalist who exposed American war crimes during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency employee who exposed criminal mass government surveillance upon the American public, stand charged with the very same crimes that are likely to be brought against Mr. Trump. On both Mr. Assange and Mr. Snowden, Mr. Trump argued that they should be executed. Fortunately for all three, these statutes do not provide for capital punishment.

Mr. Rothbard warned that the feds aggressively protect themselves. Yet, both Mr. Assange and Mr. Snowden are heroic defenders of liberty with valid moral and legal defenses. Mr. Assange is protected by the Pentagon Papers case, which insulates the media from criminal or civil liability for revealing stolen matters of interest to the public, so long as the revealer is not the thief. Mr. Snowden is protected by the Constitution, which expressly prohibits the warrantless surveillance he revealed, which was the most massive peacetime abuse of government power.

What will Mr. Trump say in his defense to taking national defense information? I cannot think of a legally viable one.

[ShazzieB]

23. Just more evidence that TFG thinks the rules apply to everyone else, but NOT to HIM.

On both Mr. Assange and Mr. Snowden, Mr. Trump argued that they should be executed. Fortunately for all three, these statutes do not provide for capital punishment.

If there's one key rule about trying to predict what Trump will do, it's this: Never, EVER, expect logic or consistency from him, especially when it comes to the penalties he should pay for behavior he finds to be deserving of the worst possible punishment when OTHERS do it.

In his mind, anything he does is, by definition, okay, because HE did it. The rules don't apply to him. They are for everyone else. He'll never admit he's done anything wrong, because in his mind, he can't BE wrong. Being called to account for anything (much less being punished) is unthinkable to him. When he acts like a victim, that's because he actually believes that he IS a victim.

If this sounds like an extremely screwed up way of existing in the world, that's because it is. But that's how a malignant narcissist's mind works.

[intrepidity]

24. In other words, sort of, "projection"

Although, he doesn't consciously recognize it. Of course.

[ZonkerHarris]

10. What will Trump say?... this....

[lindysalsagal]

13. Great article. Thanks.

[Mr.Bill]

16. The only question on my mind is

do we now let Trump skate on the 53,749 other crimes he committed?

(sorta)

[central scrutinizer]

19. Washington Times?

Have they had an epiphany? Used to be a right wing Moonie rag.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Trial Balloon?

A known hard right commentator makes a rational legal case why TFG is done and see the reaction.
If he doesn't get tons of death threats, more of his ilk can start creating distance from him.