“Obstruction of justice in real time”
Donald Trump is every bit as bad at being a criminal as he was at being the president of the United States. The trouble is, so many people allowed him to get away with being both. Until now.
It turns out that, despite all the Trumpian protestations to the contrary, Trump (and I hope you’re sitting down for this) has not been working and playing well with others. He has not been cooperating fully with the FBI. He’s actually been lying to them.
It has been revealed that the DOJ knows there are still classified documents in Trump’s possession and that he has not — even now — turned them over to the government. All of which means Trump represents a clear and present danger to the security of the United States of America.
Trump could even be a clear and present danger to field agents and foreign operatives abroad working for the United States government. A classified document doesn’t need to name names or give nitty gritty details about moles or informers. All it has to do is reveal some heretofore unknown truth to a hostile foreign government (such as Russia) that contradicts the disinformation they are being fed by these operatives. Any suspicion raised about a covert operative could prove deadly dangerous to their lives and the lives of their families. But Donald Trump doesn’t give a crap about that.
Of course, Reality Winner was instantly arrested and speedily sentenced to five years and three months in prison for stealing a single classified document. Her goal, however misguided, was noble: to see that the truth about how the Russian government was rigging American elections became known to Americans in general.
Trump, on the other hand, has stolen thousands of pages of classified documents. His goal is clearly nefarious, dark, traitorous and dripping in villainy. Nevertheless, he’s still getting “pretty please” requests to hand them over by the DOJ. Well no more.
According to Constitutional scholar and Harvard professor emeritus Laurence Tribe, Donald Trump is finally going to be indicted after the election. The reason? What Trump is doing — still refusing to hand over classified documents after 18 months of desperate pleas that he do so — constitutes obstruction of justice in real time.
In other words, while you’re sitting there over your morning tea or coffee, Donald Trump is busy obstructing justice. He’s obstructing justice right this minute and he keeps on obstructing justice. To quote Henry Kissinger, “Sometimes, even the president of the United States can go too far.” Donald Trump has finally gone too far.
No matter how much of an impediment Judge Aileen Mercedes Cannon is, there’s nothing she can do about this. As I said, Trump is obstructing justice in real time, and she can’t make that go away with a ruling.
So this could turn out to be the best Thanksgiving and Christmas season any of us have had for a very long time. Think of it yourself: we retain the House and score a majority win in the Senate large enough to marginalise Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin, and then Donald Trump is criminally indicted! What joy! I don’t know about you, but that would make for a very nice holiday season for me.
Donald Trump has finally self-destructed. He could have easily avoided it but his arrogance and narcissism got in the way. All I can say is, if it happens, if we win the election and Trump gets indicted then it’s about time. We deserve a little good news. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.