If DOJ brought charges against Donald Trump regarding the Top-Secret SCIF files that he took to Florida, it would be easy to prove that Trump knew what he had and knew he wanted to keep it, no matter what anyone else said. After all, he’s never claimed, “Some staffer put those there, I never knew…” No, he’s claimed they were his under executive privilege, and today, in a rage-filled rant on Truth Social, Trump says that the documents belong to him and that he can better protect the documents at Mar-a-Lago than the people who specialize in collecting and protecting the country’s documents at the National Archive.
This is especially laughable in the context of Top-Secret SCIF files, some involving another nation’s national defense and nuclear capability. Trump has been labeled a walking counter-intelligence threat for some time, and the government is not just protecting the country’s security. They are protecting these secrets from Trump himself.
Of course, none of this registers as meaningful to Trump. From the post:
“NARA lost a whole hard drive full of HIGHLY SENSTITIVE information from the Clinton White House. More than 100,000 Social Security numbers and addresses, Secret Service and White House operating procedures (EXTREMELY SENSITIVE!).
There is no security at NARA. I want my documents back!”
One can safely assume that the National Archives have “lost” documents from time to time, but they haven’t lost these. This is especially true with Top Secret documents, and – this is laughable, the fact that there have been past failures doesn’t mean that the documents are safer with Trump. Even if there was a universe in which Trump could better protect the documents, they are not “Trump’s documents” and thus he has no right to assert he can protect them at all.
In any potential criminal case, a big element is almost already proven. Trump knew what he had and intended to keep the files, knowing the government had demanded them back. Even in that context, Trump is still asserting ownership or control of the files. It is just another Trump ode to King Louie XIV, L’état, c’est moi. “The state, it’s me.”
It is too bad that it might take a document with a factsheet setting out “The United States v. Donald J. Trump” to make it clear to Trump that he is not “the state.” He is a citizen under the law.
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