The Rude Pundit: The Gnawing Anxiety That Trump Will Get Away With All of It

[babylonsister]

https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-gnawing-anxiety-that-trump-will-get.html


The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
9/24/2022
The Gnawing Anxiety That Trump Will Get Away With All of It


I can't get past something when it comes to the multiple crimes of Donald Trump, who really was president (something I still can't fucking believe happened - I mean, I know it happened. I'm not denying the existence of facts, like Trump and his braindead legions do. I'm just always gonna be like "Fuck us that we let that happen&quot . And it's really simple, one of those elegant confluences of circumstance that should have complete clarity. It's this:

The law is intensely clear: With a few exceptions that need to be approved, the records of a presidential administration belong to the nation, not the president. All of it, classified, unclassified, and declassified, go to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, an office set up to take care of those records that are, again, by law, the nation's. There's no wiggle room on this. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals made it crystal-fuckin'-clear in its decision this week in favor of the Justice Department when it comes to the hundred or so documents found by the FBI at Trump's shitty fake castle, Mar-a-lago. "They are ‘owned by, produced by or for, or . . . under the control of the United States Government,'" it wrote.

And this is what bugs the shit out of me. I get that rich people are treated differently when it comes to legal matters. I get that presidents are treated with kid gloves for some goddamn reason. But Trump and the people around him took those documents that don't belong to him. Then NARA gave them the benefit of the doubt (or pretended to) and said, "Hey, you took these documents that by law don't belong to you. Please give them back." Then, not only did they not give them all back, they lied and said they did, which means they fucking well knew they had shit that didn't belong to them. Under the most generous of definitions, that's theft. They fucking robbed the country.

So I cannot wrap my brain around the idea that Trump and everyone involved in keeping the documents were not immediately arrested when the FBI fucking caught them with stolen fucking property. As just about everyone sane who has commented on this, from across the political spectrum, has said, if anyone else had been caught hiding government documents, let alone super-duper Top Secret Classified documents, the FBI would have sealed them in concrete until trial.

snip//

Yeah, fucking enjoy Trump's shitty week. Enjoy the shitty weeks to come. But we're not playing a fair game here. Or that dull orange motherfucker would be sitting in a cell, awaiting trial.

[Scrivener7]

1. This. Dammit, this.

[Firestorm49]

25. Reality Winner didn't catch a break.

[Hugin]

2. Okay, so not one single person has had a cavity search yet...

Because, blah blah… eyes… yakitty… blah… blah.. tees… once installed as an unpopular president… and so forth.

Could we PLEASE, at the very least, put the kibosh on the self-fellating rallies and golf tournaments entirely funded by a monarchy hostile to the United State’s best interests?

[SouthernDem4ever]

4. If he were in jain he wouldn't be having rallies

So yes, as the OP states, he should be in jail awaiting trial. He's a flight risk at the very least.

[Zilli]

33. Yeah

Rallies where a modified nazi salute is used like a hallelujah after every sentence. There is definitely a 2 tiered legal system where justice is absent.

[mountain grammy]

3. K&R

[Stuart G]

5. K & R....Please read this one. Especially the last ..." TWO SENTENCES.'. GREAT POST..!!!

[Hotler]

6. What! Are there no lower level crimes that he has committed that we can arrest him for without

any Grand Jury? Something with jail time, 30-90 days, six months, something. How about for not paying his bills or bouncing checks. A good cop will look for the littlest thing to haul your ass in.

[Blue Owl]

7. Can always count on TRP for a dose of reality

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. Unfortunately, he is spot on.

[dchill]

9. "...sitting in a cell, awaiting trial."

And THAT would be too good for him.

[Orrex]

10. I have been insulted and belittled when I said he should have been arrested

I've been told explicitly that I don't understand the law, and that my perception that the rich are treated differently is false.

The Rude One gets it. Trump should have been jailed the minute the MaL raid was executed. Instead he's running around free as a bird, saying whatever the fuck he wants and raking in millions.

[CrispyQ]

11. Elie Mystal says we have the laws, we just need to enforce them.

I'll be surprised if he ever goes to jail. Our side has too much reverence for the office of the president.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Agree!

[Mad_Machine76]

22. "Our side"

Which side would that be?

[llashram]

39. the law abiding side?

[Mad_Machine76]

45. I was wondering

about the whole "too much reverence for the office of the Presidency"

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. Except..

Some brave Dems DID try to get rid of him in Nov of 2017. They saw runaway freight train coming.

And,. Still don't get why NARA does know EXACTLY what TS docs are missing. If TS Doc #25, for example, got checked out to John Doe to review with insane FG, why isn't that logged in and why isn't John Doe screaming? Or maybe they do????

[Mr. Ected]

13. There must be a missing page to the Constitution, or to our federal criminal statutes

A page that explains that politicians, particularly Presidents or ex-Presidents, by virtue of their unique status and the popularity that comes with it, are immune to our laws because pursuing them criminally might be viewed as anti-democratic by those who made him or her popular.

Thing is, no such page exists, this is the work of men and women entrusted with applying the laws who cower from their duty because of the fear of indignation and backlash from a political party. And let's not beat around the bush: the only party this applies to is the Republican Party, and God knows they're not trying to protect Trump or McCarthy or McConnell or any of those other scumbags shielding themselves with an -R next to their names. No, this is to protect the oligarchs, the billionaires, the corporations, the puppeteers, the ones who give the GOP their marching orders. They are the ones that cannot be touched. Trump's protection has nothing to do with Trump, but rather, those who prop up his party. The media is indeed complicit because they, too, are in the pocketbook of the mega-wealthy.

Please, Merrick Garland, prove me wrong. I'd like to think that the ideals of our founders are still alive and well and haven't been displaced by rabid capitalists intent on impressing their will on our democracy.

[llashram]

40. ++

[I_UndergroundPanther]

46. This ☝️

[Lonestarblue]

14. I have the same gnawing anxiety because Trump has gotten away with a life full of crimes.

I can only hope that we have enough federal judges who are willing to ignore his satus as a former president and treat him as any other citizen.

[Zilli]

36. Even if those federal judges did uphold the law

The SADISTIC court, filled with his sycophants, would probably rule for 45 and declare him above the law. I think this every day and then hope I'm wrong.

[Farmer-Rick]

15. Trump is being protected by the oligarchs thru the DOJ

Last edited Mon Sep 26, 2022, 11:56 AM - Edit history (2)

Even Matt Gatez would be in jail for stealing classified information and selling it to our country's enemies. But not Trump. (Gatez got away with child sex trafficking with witnesses willing to testify against him but no ..... can't prosecute him because it will look bad on him for having sex with a girl he trafficked. Yeah, you guessed it just like Epstein in Florida.)

The justice department is no longer about justice. It's a filthy rich criminal protection program. Or in this case a big ugly sack of crap protection program.

Pedophiles and traitors all safe and secure roaming around free to whine and lie while a guy who sells cigarettes gets shot down in the streets. America the land of the free filthy rich criminals.

[uponit7771]

17. K&R Trump is another Whitey Bulger ... Alphabet crew screwed up with him

[Joinfortmill]

18. Yup. It's coming. Slowly.

[niyad]

19. Spot on, RP.

[Mr. Sparkle]

20. I hope im wrong, but i think..

that our leadership are afraid to prosecute the Gop, for fear they will be prosecuted when they leave office in an revenge attack.

[Septua]

27. If our leadership has committed a crime...

..prosecution will be justice.

[kentuck]

21. I suspect if Trump escapes accountability...

...it will be the Republican Party that will suffer the consequences.

[Kablooie]

30. Trump will convince his stupid base the documents belong to him

And Republican politicians will support him so his support will only grow.

[Septua]

23. I'm guessing DOJ is considering their "options".

And there are a number of options.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/13/trump-warrant-classified-answers/

Violating the records act would be a civil, not a criminal, offense.

“Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information” — is known as the Espionage Act. It’s a broad law, and violating it does not necessarily mean that someone committed espionage.

Section 1519 — “Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy" — criminalizes the destruction or hiding of documents to obstruct an investigation.

Section2071-"Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally” — makes illegal the willful theft or destruction of any government document. Every offense of this act could carry a sentence of up to three years of prison. A person convicted of violating this section is barred from holding federal office, according to the law.

Previous cases led to misdemeanor charges.

Government officials who have been accused in the past of mishandling classified information include David H. Petraeus, a CIA director during the Obama administration, and Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger, a national security adviser during the Clinton administration. Both eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for unlawfully removing secret documents.

Berger, who had classified documents hand-delivered to his desk when he advised President Bill Clinton, pleaded guilty in April to unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. He admitted to stuffing copies of documents in his coat jacket as he left the National Archives and then destroying some at his office and pretending he had never possessed them. Berger had been reviewing the records about the Clinton administration's response to reports of terrorist threats in 2000 as he was preparing to respond to questions from the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

David H. Petraeus, a retired general considered one of the greatest military minds of his generation, pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified materials, ending a long-running legal saga that had threatened to send him to prison.

I would hope DOJ is going for the jugular.

[orangecrush]

24. KICK

.

[Kablooie]

26. Yep. I've felt all along that he will get away with it.

I do not expect any real consequences to come from this.
In fact Trump will continue to say that all the documents belong to him and he may sue to get them back and the justice department will play along and let him try.

Its insane and hope I’m wrong but the fact everything is just dragging along by letting Trump call the shots instead of indicting him and preparing for a trial tells me I may be right.

[czarjak]

28. He made Vlad glad. Mission Accomplished

[Paladin]

31. K&R. I lost my optimism about trump facing justice long ago. (nt)

[PatrickforB]

32. I hear you. I do. And this is definitely not the first time this has come up - presidents

being held above the law. I can remember Tricky Dick and Ford's pardon. Because he would have been prosecuted for sure.

And look at all the Confederate traitors who were freely forgiven for their treason, though they had the blood of half a million of us on their hands.

But there is hope. There is always hope. The jaws are closing on Trump. I hear he has delayed his announcement for 2024 because of legal problems, and he is still working to raise funds from a shrinking base to defray his mounting legal bills. A few prosecutors have been intimidated - the guy in NY, for instance, who had two senior people quit in protest because they knew that Trump did in fact commit crimes, but he chose not to prosecute him. Sure. Trump is mobbed up, intimidates witnesses right an left, and threatens people who are in position to hold him accountable. He is threatening violence now if he is prosecuted. It has come to that.

And the guy has driven hundreds of small businesspeople into bankruptcy because he refuses to even pay his effing bills. And he gets out of it by using the courts to hold things up for years.

But here's the hope. There really IS a law of cause and effect. It is also known as karma, and colloquially we know it as, "What goes around comes around." The bible says, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap," and talks about sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind.

This is what is happening to Trump now. Trump, his family, his accomplices, and all those whose support he has captured with his lies are increasingly being confronted with facts, facts, facts and more facts. About treason, about crime, about corruption, about extortion, about criminal incompetence.

Remember, friend Babylonsister, stuff like this always grinds slowly - far too slowly for many of us, particularly we who saw Trump right away for the conman he actually is. But it is inexorable. The jaws of the universe are tightening as we speak.

Will he escape justice in the end?

I think not.

Here's a poem called Retribution from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that says it:

Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience he stands waiting,
With exactness grinds he all.

I cannot speak for the rest of you, nor should I presume to do so, but for me - I have hope, and in fact the sure faith that Trump will, in the end, get all he deserves. It won't be merely a jail cell. His business will be ruined. His crooked kids will be bankrupted. His accomplices in the House, Senate and the Executive Branch will be ruined, at least careerwise, and many of them will end up bankrupted and some will end in jail.

As to the Republican party, they have been lying to us for decades, and that is finally coming home to roost. People are waking up. We've seen this in the right wing media, who routinely sneer at 'woke' Democrats. But you know the opposite of woke is asleep, and when the American people are awakened by something like they are formidable indeed.

So let us take a page from Barack Obama, and be hopemongers. Yes. That feels good. I am a hopemonger.

[40RatRod]

34. The wheels of justice...

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.

One of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow‘s translations was a 17th century poem, ‘Retribution,’ by Friedrich Von Logau:

[wendyb-NC]

35. I totally agree

He should be in jail. I am not getting my hopes up that he'll be held accountable, like anyone else, until he is.

[Icanthinkformyself]

37. Add

the issue of finding twelve unbiased jurors in any jurisdiction and the likelihood of a trial goes down even further. The best we can hope for, IMHO, is for him and his bad seed spending the rest of their days paying exorbitant legal fees (bank check for the retainer, first) and looking over their shoulders from their cardboard box housing.

[Richard58]

38. Exactly my fear too.

Call me crazy but I can't understand why Trump isn't in prison. If you or I had done the same thing we would be in Gitmo in a heartbeat. But yet this traitorous Orange jackass is running around free as a bird. Or could any one of you imagine demanding a "special master" to review the documents and getting your wish granted by a Judge? No you couldn't. Why are they treating Trump with kid gloves? I find it so frustrating! Just once I would love to see Trump punished for his many crimes.
Over the years he has refused to pay his bills, ran multiple scams, lied about his holdings and his taxes and yet nothing has happened to him! Not one day in jail for any of it. To be sure he has had to pay minor fines here and there but he has never suffered any real consequences for his actions and it infuriates me! If he gets away with this I will completely give up on America.

[mnhtnbb]

41. He belonged in jail a long time ago

awaiting trial.

[Heather MC]

42. If he does the great American experiment is over

🤷🏾?♀️

[llashram]

43. I still hold out

a slowly eroding hope that JUSTICE which we as citizens would have gotten served on us quickly with unavoidable guaranteed jail-prison time visits all these traitors to our Constitution. May the law triumph here when I see all these grifting poisonous people(to our democracy)in handcuffs.

[barbtries]

44. the title alone

pretty much expresses where i'm at. it's really stressful. i let it go when Biden was announced as the winner but as per usual of course trump wasn't about to let it go. it's not just his cult that feeds that either, it's the media. such a failure of their charge, because news is now for profit instead of being the way for the people to know what's up.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

47. We have to disempower the ogliarches

If that means taking away thier money,so be it. They have corrupted everything.
America would be so much better if the ogliarches are neutered.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

48. Would I walk freely after stealing Top Secret documents? Would you?

Jail the orange motherfucker until trial.