Secrets and Lies
Believe it or not, Trump might have done something even worse than inciting January 6th.
Remember when August was traditionally a slow news month?
This week I had a whole essay about Donald Trump’s theft of classified documents ready to go when even bigger news on that front broke. The kakistocracy, apparently, is a fast-moving train. A shinkansen even.
I’m sure Republican hypocrisy will still be going strong next week, so no worries about wasted effort or the perishability of that story. In the meantime let’s dive into the latest breaking news. But first, let’s be clear about our terms, because the media largely has not been.
What’s being investigated here is not merely “the unauthorized possession of classified material,” as it is often coolly described. Trump hasn’t been caught holding, like a kid with a joint. He actively and illegally took classified documents containing state secrets — some of them, evidently, highly classified — from secure government facilities to his personal post-presidency residence at Elba-Lago. That’s called theft, and is subject to laws regarding espionage and worse. And it is not a mere allegation; that part of the story is already established fact.
What remains to be explained is why he did so and what he intended to do with that material…especially if, as alleged, it contained…
