Donald Trump’s federal indictment represents far more than a battle between the government and an ex-president over national security secrets that he kept in a stunningly insecure fashion.
When Trump appears in court in Miami on Tuesday to be arraigned, a new clash will unfold between a judicial system rooted in the core principle that no one is above the law and an ex-president who has vowed, if returned to the White House, to purge the system of the accountability he now faces.
A 37-charge indictment alleges that Trump mishandled national defense documents after he left office and tried to conceal his possession of highly sensitive classified materials from government investigators. It teems with evidence including photos and details of audio tapes.
While Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence like any other American, the indictment appears to underscore his personal belief that the law does not apply to him and that he has the power to do exactly as he likes. That behavior defined his administration and post-White House life.
“This indictment really is a reflection of the former president’s arrogance, his disdain for the rule of law, which is so repugnant to people who have worked in law enforcement, who have worked for the Constitution, bipartisanly over the years,” said former Watergate special prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” on Friday.
Even Trump’s own former attorney general, William Barr, called the indictment “very damning” on “Fox News Sunday,” pushing back on the former president’s claims that he’s a “victim” of political persecution. “He had no right to maintain them and retain them,” Barr said of the documents. “And he kept them in a way in Mar-a-Lago, that anyone who really cares about national security – their stomach would churn at it.”
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