Another day, another criminal indictment against Donald Trump—this time from a federal grand jury of everyday Americans in Florida. The latest indictment focuses on charges over Trump’s mishandling of classified material and his potential obstruction of the investigation into that mishandling. This follows the first indictment of Trump, in New York for illegally concealing hush money payments during the last days of his heated 2016 presidential campaign.
No one is above the law—not even a twice-impeached, twice-indicted, disgraced Republican nominee for president. Still, the same MAGA Republicans who supported, schemed, and covered up for Trump—in order to enrich themselves and attack our freedoms—are once again coming to his defense.
The top lines of the 49-page federal indictment against Trump are bad, but the details are even worse. It provides a stark and detailed account of Trump’s recklessness with highly classified and sensitive documents, as well as the lengths he went through to circumvent investigators.
As Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas explains, not only did Trump carelessly dump dozens of boxes in unsecured rooms throughout his Mar-a-Lago resort, but “when the National Archives came to collect, and after them the FBI, Trump colluded with his lawyers and staff—on tape!—to hide the materials. He also admitted—on tape!—that he knew the documents were not declassified. He just didn’t give a damn.”
Still, Republicans continue to feverishly defend Trump at the expense of truth, the rule of law, and our democracy. Here are just a few examples:
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Fox News—fresh off the “largest publicly known defamation settlement in U.S. history involving a media company”—wasted no time rallying behind Trump, smearing Attorney General Merrick Garland, unleashing “unhinged demagoguery,” and spreading misinformation.
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise baselessly accused President Joe Biden and the Justice Department of engaging in a politically motivated investigation intended to curtail Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
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Multiple members of Congress, including New York Rep. Elise Stefanik—who was central to electing known liar, fellow New Yorker, and now-indicted Rep. George Santos—called it a “witch hunt.” Santos, for his part, also defended Trump.
This is in addition to Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan politicizing the House Judiciary Committee to continue pushing a thoroughly debunked “but her emails” narrative about Hillary Clinton and using false equivalence to make his case for acquitting Trump.
Others who have been accused of similar, and, in many cases, lesser offenses, have been prosecuted. Earlier this month, before the second indictment, Just Security prepared a sample prosecution memo (or “pros memo”) that laid out potential charges federal prosecutors could bring against Trump—including admissible evidence, possible charges, and legal issues. On page 88 of the document (page 93 in Scribd embed), the JS team lists previous federal cases of similar crimes that the Justice Department chose to prosecute to “determine whether bringing a criminal case against Trump would be consistent with other DOJ cases that were of equal or lesser merit.”
[T]here are a series of felony cases that the DOJ pursued based on conduct that was significantly less egregious than the present set of facts in the Trump case. We note here three factors that differentiate all these prior DOJ cases from Trump’s. First, Trump held the highest position in the federal government. To the extent that his criminal conduct occurred while he was still in that position, he abused his position of trust to an extent far graver than any of the other DOJ cases discussed below, which always involved people holding positions far below that of president and often involved people holding relatively low-level positions. Abuse of position of trust is a recognized aggravating factor. Second, his position as a former president, which enabled his taking of the documents, makes the need to prosecute such criminal conduct that much greater in order to promote respect for the law by all for the proper handling of government documents. If low-level government employees are prosecuted, but not the leader of those people in an egregious case of unlawful conduct, respect for the law and deterrence will be gravely undermined. Third, unlike the DOJ cases below,Trump involved numerous people in his illegal scheme, albeit some or all of them were unwitting participants. The US Sentencing Guidelines recognize such a leadership role of a defendant as an exacerbating factor.
It’s a thorough exploration, with a number of examples of lesser crimes being charged. The long and short of it is this: Declining to bring a case against Trump would be treating him more favorably for much worse offenses, thus undermining the rule of law.
Look, I get it: A number of MAGA Republicans built their careers on Trump’s tailwind, and he is the standard bearer and presidential frontrunner of today’s Republican Party, such as it is. Still, Trump’s alleged crimes have serious implications for our national security, our enlisted service members and diplomats, and our democracy’s future. By choosing to ignore the facts, defame and intimidate public servants, and obstruct prosecution, Republicans continue to endanger our democracy and undermine the rule of law.
Enough is enough. After two indictments, the GOP still defends the indefensible. It’s past time they pipe down and allow the criminal legal system to work.
Add your name: Tell Republicans to stop defending Donald Trump.
