Lie and deflect. Lie and deflect. Rinse and repeat.
That remains the Trump M.O. It’s his go-to move. Actually, it’s his only move.
Don’t lose focus. Don’t play his shell game. The issue is not that the FBI and DOJ acted improperly or illegally. They didn’t. That was strictly by the book.
The issue is not whether the documents Trump pilfered were blanketly declassified by his private and magical incantation. They weren’t. First, there is no legal way for him to do that without following a detailed process. And beyond that, a dozen and a half members of Trump’s political inner circle went on the record—by name—Thursday, saying that Trump had never said a word about mass declassification, calling his claim (among other things) “a complete falsehood,” “ridiculous,” and “bullshit.”
Here’s what we know. Trump illegally removed and retained government documents. That’s an established fact. That’s a crime. That’s also a fact.
There is evidence to suggest that he engaged in “willful retention” of national defense information that may be in violation of the Espionage Act. This is not a trifling matter. This is not, as Cultists love to label each and every one of Trump’s endless and outrageous misdeeds, “no big deal.” It’s a very big deal.
This investigation should proceed following established legal standards and procedures. Unsealing the affidavit would be a violation of all of those principles and precedents.
Once again, Trump is demanding that his opponents prove a negative. In this case he’s demanding that the government prove that this investigation is not “politically motivated.” No, man. That’s not the way it works. It’s kind of like, “Prove that the election wasn’t stolen from Trump.” No, man. That’s not the way this works.
The burden of proof is on Trump. And, as always, he lacks even a shred of supporting evidence. So just because the attorney general is Merrick Garland, that means that any challenge to Trump must be “politically motivated”? If we accept that absurd premise, that would give Trump carte blanch to commit any crime, would it not?
Lie and deflect. Lie and deflect.
Here’s what we know. He illegally removed and retained government documents. That’s against the law.