It was just a few days after I published my last piece, Don Documento, that The Don was officially indicted by a grand jury in Florida. That makes two indictments in the last 3 months, as well as a guilty verdict of sexual assault in a civil suit brought by Jean E. Carrol. My gut tells me that by the end of the summer we will have two more indictments: one in Georgia, for his attempt to tamper with the election results and one for what cynical Republicans refer to as the January 6th jamboree.
The evidence against The Don in the documents case turns out to be so damning and outrageous that even his former protector, former Attorney General, William Lower the Barr, has called The Don “toast.” To that I ask: White, Rye or Whole Wheat or Kaiser Roll? Maybe a different kind for each indictment/conviction? Call me unforgiving, but after the stunts Barr pulled as Attorney General, his “resurrect his reputation tour” makes me want to gag.
In a tale that has come full circle, the man who attacked Hillary Clinton at every turn for the use of a private email server (remember his continual refrain of “30,000 emails”?), has been indicted for such egregious actions that it makes Hillary’s emails look like 30,000 communications about the weather.
Here is just one of the many statements of The Don’s from back then:
“I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.” Mrs. Clinton’s cavalier handling of the sensitive information, “disqualifies her from the presidency.” I guess you should withdraw from running? Fat chance. How many times have we heard The Don rail against something and then turn around and do the same?
When the indictment came down, The Don took to his social media site, “Lie Social,” and did his dance of denial. “I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election.” “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!”
If you remember, during his presidency, this “Innocent Man”, already had a predilection for disclosing and messing with classified information. He shared highly classified information to Russian officials visiting him in the White House; he posted sensitive satellite imagery of Iran online; he continued to use an unsecured mobile phone even after he was told that it was monitored by Russian and Chinese intelligence. He even tore up official documents and threw them to the floor once he was done with them despite laws requiring that they be saved and cataloged, leaving aides to collect the ripped-up pieces and tape them back together.
Despite “toast-like” evidence, Republican outrage appeared right on cue. Rantings about the corruption of the F.B.I and D.O.J were rampant. And then there was the frightening call to violence.
Here’s Kari Lake, a rising star in MAGA world, who, lost the Arizona Governor’s race and refused to accept the outcome of the election.
“If you want to get to President Trump, you are going to have to go through me, and you are going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me. And I’m going to tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the N.R.A.” “That’s not a threat, that’s a public service announcement.”
On Pete Santilli’s talk show, the conservative provocateur, declared that if he were the commandant of the Marine Corps, he would order every single Marine to grab President Biden, “throw him in freakin’ zip ties in the back of a freakin’ pickup truck and get him out of the White House.” A guest on the show, Lance Migliaccio, said that if it were legal and he had access, he would “probably walk in and shoot” Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and someone Mr. Trump has identified as one of his enemies.
Every time you think that finally this is a bridge too far, that the devotion to The Don will finally turn, the Republicans double down. No facts matter. His messianic grip on his base can’t be broken. Except for a few exceptions, the silence on the part of elected officials in the Grand Offal Party continues for fear of alienating the base. The reality that The Don possessed and flaunted secret documents that could impact our national security is responded to with a resounding, meh? Fomenting violence evinces barely a peep of approbation. If violence does break out, they are all complicit. Their desire for power trumps all else, even if it means blood spilling and the end of our democracy. So be it!
So what was in those cherished boxes? It was chilling. They included weapons and defense capabilities of the U.S. and foreign governments, nuclear programs, military vulnerabilities of the U.S. and allies.
Reading the indictment (I encourage everyone to read it), it is clear that The Don’ obstructed and defied the D.O.J, in their attempt to retrieve the documents. He allowed easy access of secret information to anyone visiting Mar-a-Lago (“Hey, you’ll never believe this, but I ran out of toilet paper when I was in the bathroom and I was desperate so I wiped myself with some paper labeled “Top Secret.” ) He also shared the shared classified information to people not entitled to view it. (violation of the Espionage Act.)
The boxes, oh those cherished boxes of documents. Here’s what The Don said to one of his lawyers about his boxes.
“I don’t want anybody looking. I don’t want anyone lookin through my boxes, I don’t. I don’t want you looking at my boxes.”
“Well what if we, what happens, if we don’t respond at all, or don’t play ball with them?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we didn’t have anything here?”
“Well, look isn’t it better if there are no documents?”
The handling and movement of the boxes, described in the indictment really does have the feel of a Marx brothers movie gone rogue.
Boxes were at times in the ballroom, bathroom, and shower. There were even some special boxes referred to as “beautiful mind” boxes. The indictment also sites that in December of 2021 boxes in a storage room had fallen and spilled over the floor, including one that said “Secret” on it.
“Beautiful mind” boxes? That could be a reference to the movie of the same name which is about a genius mathematician who suffers from Schizophrenia. Could it be the one with the nuclear codes? After all, there are numbers in those documents.
It’s clear from the indictment that The Don not only was aware of the documents but was involved in orchestrating a hide and seek game. Who knows, but maybe he organized a treasure hunt for some of his most valued guests? Or how about a Mar-a-Lago dance marathon, where the couple that is still standing gets to choose one of the boxes as their trophy?
And let us not forget The Don’s “Box Whisperer,” Waltine Nauta. Now that’s a name you can really play with. Saltine Nut? Salty or looney? How about Walnut, for short?
According to the indictment, The Don directed his “Box Whisperer” (who was named as a co-conspirator in the indictment), to move about 64 boxes from a storage room and bring about 30 boxes back to the storage room — without informing the Trump attorney who was supposed to be reviewing the material. He lied to his lawyer’s face, who reported to the D.OJ. that there were no more documents to be found.
From the looks of it there is only one conclusion. The Don and his “Box Whisperer” seemed to be boxed into a corner with nowhere to hide. I guess they could always hide in the shower.
The Grand Offal Party 