(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Could Trump have returned the boxes of documents? [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-06-16
Over the last few days, much has been made in the media over the former president doting on the document hoard. An example from the NYT :
At the Heart of the Documents Case: Trump’s Attachment to His Boxes
One can picture Maggie Haberman, one of the authors, fantasizing about DT as a sort of puffed up, orange-stained Smaug and Mar-a-Lago as the Florida Erebor.
Later in the article, Ms Haberman et al. let us know that scrap booking has long been a pastime of the former president. He’s always loved putting bits of shiny, colored paper in cardboard boxes!
Mr. Trump’s attachment to the contents of the boxes has now left him in serious legal peril, but it appears to be in keeping with a long pattern of behavior. Mr. Trump has always hung onto news clippings, documents and other mementos, according to more than a half-dozen people who have worked for him over the years, including before his presidency.
Other articles, including reporting here at DK, have noted that Trump chose to follow the advice of Tom Fitton to keep the documents rather than his lawyers who were urging him to return the boxes of stolen property. Various pundits have also suggested that if only he had listened to his lawyers and returned the documents he would not be in this legal peril now. It is certainly possible that Trump is simply a deluded, insecure buffoon who likes to keep evidence of his past “glory”. And like all narcissists and megalomaniacs, he likes to listen to those who tell him what he wants to hear. But reading between the lines, this also seems to be the story the former president and his toadies are pushing. With airwaves filled with speculation about why Trump wanted to keep the documents, it’s easy to forget that that question might be completely irrelevant, and a much more interesting question might be “could he have actually returned the boxes of documents without incriminating himself?”
As more astute commenters pointed out when the first photos of the stolen classified documents emerged, it was clear many were illegally made copies. The consensus has been that making those copies is a crime, and it therefore follows that handing them over to the authorities is tantamount to handing over evidence of criminal conduct. In addition, we have no idea what other evidence of criminality lurks in those boxes. Sure, the clumsy attempts to hide the evidence are a toddler’s response to getting caught red handed, but this foolish, simplistic attempt to obstruct is much more in keeping with the former president’s past conduct than the image of a man so in love with “his” “special” papers he is willing to risk criminal charges in order to keep them.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/16/2175846/-Could-Trump-have-returned-the-boxes-of-documents
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
