In my column “Donald Trump vs the Department of Justice” on Aug. 10, I was wrong about the “cat and mouse” game that had been going on between Garland and Trump.
Like many commentators, I had not imagined that Trump had already been served a subpoena, which he had already defied, necessitating the unannounced FBI search of his home.
I got the Plaintiff-in-Chief’s responses to the FBI Search of his home at Mar-a- Lago correct. He would weaponize the law against his opponents as he always does—taking it to the court of public opinion. As expected, the GOP and Fox News all chimed in on cue.
Without the law or the facts on his side, which is often what Trump is up against, he would attack his opponents instead. This time he would be going after the Deep State, the FBI, the DOJ, and casting them all as the enemy of the American people.
Without disclosing of course, the content of the search warrant, he, and nobody else would be talking and lying about his abuse at the hands of the FBI, while thinking that he had an open field to do so. Trump was totally wrong and caught off guard by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Turns out Garland was playing chess and Trump and his attorneys were playing checkers.
At a press conference Thursday, without releasing the details of the search, the AG informed the world that he had personally signed the search request from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart of the Southern District of Florida, and that he was now filing a motion with Reinhart for the list of classified documents to be released to the public.
We have now learned that the FBI found “top secret” classified documents involving national security. Apparently, documents they were looking included ones about nuclear weapons.
Interestingly, Trump was violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as amended and signed into law by Donald Trump in 2018.
We further learned from Garland that he was going to push back on Trump and his allies on behalf of the rule of law. He would also defend the FBI from such lies and absurdities as they would plant evidence against the former president, even though Trump was present and allegedly cooperating back in May.
This was when he was actively turning over 15 boxes of documents, while busy hiding another 12 boxes in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Trump now finds himself between the proverbial rock and a hard place as the AG has called his bluff about transparency and daring Trump to share the content of the search warrant. Trump has until 3:00 PM today to say yea or nay.
Although Trump has until 3: 00 pm Friday to decide whether to release the contents of the search warrant, late last night the former president stated on his social-media site he wouldn’t block the court documents, encouraging the “immediate release,” while adding he viewed the process as partisan.
But the double-talk continued. Trump , on his social-media platform, insisted he had been “cooperating fully,” adding that the “government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it.”
Will Trump allow the facts to come out as he says, or will he come up with some lame excuse at the last minute and not share the content of the search warrant in order that he can continue to lie?
I am betting that he does not share, and that the GOP naysayers or whatever, will say, oh we only wanted to know about the process and not the substance. Then they all can continue to perpetrate their false narrative of witch hunts and persecutions against victim Trump.
Well, I have been wrong before.
As we know, Trump has been violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as amended and signed into law by himself in 2018. The new law upped the crime from a misdemeanor to a felony, and from a maximum of one year in jail to a maximum of five years in prison.
Either way, a criminal indictment is coming sooner than any of us thought.
Conviction should be rather quick, but one never knows with Trump. The punishment for stealing classified documents will be more complex because Trump also violated the subpoena when he failed to turn over all the documents, compounding his criminality and increasing the likelihood of a more severe penalty.
Assuming that Trump is convicted, it seems to me poetic or ironic justice that Trump will become the first person subjected to his own law.
Gregg Barak, Ph.D., is an emeritus Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Eastern Michigan University, the co-founding editor of the Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime, and the author of the recently published Criminology on Trump
1 Comment
Mr. Barak, you need to change the name of this blog to “The Crime Opinion” as I have YET to see any serious reporting on this site. It has been nothing but accusations, conjecture and opinions. It is no wonder that a majority of the country no longer trusts the media. The “nuclear papers” that you claim were “allegedly” found was based on a NY Times article that has since been proven false. And your legal argument that Trump broke the law by keeping papers deemed classified has no merit as a president can declassify any document, at any time and in many different ways. Thanks, Obama. He made the executive order regarding this. So, there’s no hamburger. All you are doing is attempting to whip up the very under-educated leftist base with your so-called “reporting”. Do some research, verify your sources and information, state only the facts, and keep your opinions to yourself. Let the readers decide based on the evidence.