Donald Trump’s Legal Problems Catch Up to Him – Donald Trump is one of the most dynamic political figures in modern America.
A billionaire (at least on paper) who lived the high life as both a powerful real estate developer in the cutthroat world of high-end Manhattan real estate, as well as a man who was a legendary reality television star, Trump ran a most unconventional campaign in 2016 to become the Republican Party’s presidential candidate that year.
He managed to win the presidency from the much more favored Hillary Clinton. Having achieved a momentous victory as an outsider to the political system, Trump appeared to have the world in his fingers.
As quickly as Trump had obtained everything he had desired, though, it all rapidly slipped through his fingers.
The permanent bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., had clearly aligned itself against Trump from the outset of his unlikely campaign in 2016.
Once elected, the Administrative State went to work undermining and stymying Donald Trump’s ability to lead.
Trump’s political opponents in the Democratic Party, academia, and the media, all piled on for good measure.
Donald Trump Can’t Help Himself
But the biggest problem for Trump wasn’t the presence of vicious political foes, both outside of his administration as well as within.
That was bad enough.
All these woes were compounded by the fact that Trump very often owned himself, in terms of providing ammunition his rivals needed to deploy against him.
In fact, many of Trump’s unforced errors over the last several years have been more damaging than anything his political foes could have concocted.
For example, the Russia collusion delusion was exacerbated by the forty-fifth president’s big mouth (his claim to Lester Holt that he had fired FBI Director James Comey for investigating his alleged ties to Russia).
Another absolutely shambolic self-own was with his current mishandling of classified documents scandal. Having been briefed on the proper procedure for declassification of documents, President Trump opted to ignore all standards and do as he pleased.
Certainly, there’s an argument to be made that, as president, he can declassify anything he wants.
But what a silly argument to have at such a dire time in the life of our country.
What’s more, that is an increasingly difficult position for Trump to take, especially considering the Presidential Records Act clearly outlines how and when a president can declassify information—especially in light of the fact that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has an email chain proving that their standards under the law for declassifying documents was relayed to the forty-fifth president.
And the Presidential Records Act of 1978 explicitly changed the ownership of classified materials from the President of the United States to the National Archives and Records Administration, meaning that Trump doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on.
Then, the former president was given over a year to respond to the National Archives’ request for the return of certain sensitive documents. Trump ignored those repeated requests, giving the Administrative State the window of opportunity it needed to pursue Trump legally.
As it appeared that the authorities were readying to move on Trump for the mishandling of classified documents, Trump instructed top aides to obstruct justice by deleting key videographic evidence pertaining to how and where he had stored the classified materials at his presidential home in Florida, Mar-a-Lago.
Piling On Trump
Recently, Department of Justice lawyer, Special Counsel Jack Smith, effectively issued what’s known as a superseding indictment related to the classified documents case. This superseding indictment pertained to Trump’s alleged covering up of information relevant to DOJ investigators seeking access to the classified documents in question.
The case is, of course, silly.
Given that the current president has been documented mishandling similar classified material going back to his days as a United States Senator, with little being done to rectify that issue, it is obvious that the viciousness with which Smith and his DOJ team are pursuing the former president is, at least partly, political.
Yet, had it not been for the absurdly irresponsible actions of the former president to begin with, there’d be nothing for the Administrative State to pursue Trump over.
This is the key point in this ongoing psychodrama.
Donald Trump is the most interesting political figure from either party in decades. He has a history of being unpredictable. That unpredictability has led to astonishing successes, given his relative lack of experience with the political system (as well as his lack of ideological rigidity compared to most other candidates).
As president, despite his downsides, there were several things that Trump achieved during his term in office that made the country better. He enjoyed many successes. But those successes have not just been overshadowed by the abuses of our democratic institutions by Trump’s political enemies.
They have also been outdone by Trump’s own irresponsible actions.
Donald Trump Should Have Been the Great Uniter, Not a Divider
Given his lack of ideological zeal, the fact that he came from the celebrity world, Trump should have been able to moderate his temperament from the campaign as president and truly bring the country together; to make all Americans proud of this great land, as Ronald Reagan had done.
Sadly, thanks in part to his own character flaws, Trump has been mired in scandals—many of them of his own making. These scandals continue dogging him as he runs for reelection.
Indeed, they are so serious (and his enemies are relishing in exacerbating his woes) that these legal problems may eventually preclude the forty-fifth president from effectively running for reelection (this, in spite of his overwhelming popularity in the GOP Primary election).
This was all avoidable.
Donald Trump should have avoided these obvious traps and focused on the future. His comeback is now completely swamped by elements of the Swamp, who are more than happy to take advantage of Trump’s self-induced legal drama.
Such sloppiness at this most precarious moment in our country’s history should not be rewarded, especially as it becomes clear that Trump has learnt nothing from his scandal-ridden time in office.
We should be fixating on repairing our systemic problems in this country. Not worrying about when the next Trump indictment is rolling down the legal hill.
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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