History, Karl Marx observed, repeats itself — first as tragedy, then as farce. So it was fitting that on the 48th anniversary of President Richard M. Nixon’s Watergate-spurred resignation, Aug. 8, the Department of Justice should search former President Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, for his alleged failure to return documents belonging to the National Archives.
Trump — who allegedly flushed pieces of paper down the toilet while president, with still legible names and words in his signature Sharpie style — had already shown himself to be a somewhat cavalier record-keeper when the National Archives finessed the return of 15 boxes of documents in the possession of Former El Presidente back in January. Six months later, the government realized there were still 21 boxes at Mar-a-Lago, the former Marjorie Merriweather Post estate that is now a country club and Trump’s primary residence. But contrary to the notion promulgated by Trump and many on the right that he was under siege and his beautiful home was raided, DOJ merely issued a subpoena for the documents. Only when that failed did the DOJ seek a search warrant, signed by a judge.
Trump has fallen back on the “Teacher, teacher, Johnny stuffed Susie’s pigtails in the inkwell, too,” defense, noting that former Presidents George W. Bush and in particular his nemesis Barak Obama took tons of unauthorized stuff, a notion that has been debunked. Now we hear from him that the documents were privileged; they were planted by the FBI; they were declassified, which seems to be moot; they were his lawyer’s responsibility; the cat ate his homework; blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. (Perhaps the funniest excuse was that they were part of the work the Golfer in Chief took home.) The bottom line is that Trump allegedly failed to return documents he shouldn’t have had, which is a definition of espionage, with the Espionage Act being cited in the warrant. But that doesn’t mean Trump will be indicted.
DOJ could decide not to pursue this further, having proven its point — a strategy that is not without its own risks of seeming cowardice, given the ramped-up rhetoric and actions of the far right — and the demands of an outraged left. Trump could argue that he delegated such paperwork to aides and lawyers, throwing them under the bus, which has its own risks, especially that they might flip the boss. In any event, a ball has been set in motion that will have to be played.
The Republicans, who have already castigated Attorney General Merrick Garland, are looking to make political hay of this, although there again it’s tricky. The traditional party of law and order can’t appear to be too anti-feds. And you might imagine a Trumpian rival like Gov. Ron DeSantis secretly pleased at the turn of events, even if he also realizes that there but for the grace of God goes any overweening politician.
DeSantis and other GOP contenders — and to a certain extent President Joe Biden, who’s been having a good summer, with the passage of much of his agenda — must be kicking themselves. They may be in the ascendance, but once again it’s Trump’s moment.
Perhaps that’s part of the reason he misbehaves. It’s a way for narcissists to retain the spotlight and control. But it may be transactional as well: The documents could be used as trophies, leverage and items for sale to the highest bidder, like a taunting Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s already saying he’s got some of the goods. (I doubt it.)
The question to ask is not why Trump took the stuff — the reasons are myriad and obvious — but why he didn’t act in a more subtle manner. Why not photograph the documents with his phone? For that matter, why not shred papers or tear them up and stuff them in McDonald’s hamburger wrappers and adios them that way?
Are his actions the product of a lazy mind — or also the acts of a man brazen enough to think he can get away with anything and everything?