Well, kind of. The court appoints a CSO (Court Security Officer) who already has the appropriate clearance to facilitate all the classified stuff. Once appointed, the CSO is considered an officer of the court.
FBI Search and Seizure at Trump's Mar-A-Lago Residence, August 8, 2022, Case Dismissed July 15, 2024
Fair enough, but the jury isn’t going to be determining if a document warrants classification. There isn’t even a question about that part.
Robert Mugabe regularly travelled with a similar size entourage, including an ambulance. Of course Zimbabwe does not have 7 lane highways.
I will posit the conspiracy theory that Jack Smith actually wants Mr. Trump to feel like a dictator, in order that he gets all puffed up and then spouts more self-incriminating bullshit.
Well he is the rPOTUS after all.
Which would be true to form.
My initial expectation was that the documents themselves would be somewhat nothing-burger in themselves (not that that is an excuse) but then I read that the indictment says they contain actual internationally sensitive security information and I was surprised.
Much as it would suit my biases to believe he was planning on selling them to the Russkies, I suspect he barely knows what’s in them. I strongly suspect he kept them because (a) it suited his ego to believe he didn’t have to give them back because he is still rPOTUS and/or (b) he wanted to have something to show off to Kid Rock.
If that’s right then it will just add another chapter to the book someone’s going to write called “The Downfall of the USA - how a once great nation’s entire system of government was destroyed to save the ego of a rich man’s deadbeat son”
Yeah, I’m sticking with brilliant. He was clever and Trumpy enough to get the rubes frothing, he spouted all the right algorithmic words (Biden, computer, Hillary, end of democracy as we know it etc) that nobody could bear to shut the telly off before he’d finished! Alas, my Aus telly station shut him down halfway for more important local news, but still, I loathe the man but his speech was nothing short of brilliant (for excepting values of brilliant yada yada).
Given Trump’s family, I don’t see a down side to this.
Oh no. Poor Ivanka. Poor Don Jr. Poor Eric. Oh no.
I think Melania and Bannon would be ok, though.
Fox News with its normal unbiased and accurate reporting.
As the they both gave their speeches, Fox ran a graphic that said, “WANNABE DICTATOR SPEAKS AT THE WHITE HOUSE AFER HAVING HIS POLITICAL RIVAL ARRESTED.”
Helluva Freudian slip there.
Trump campaigned on just that un-Constitutional/un-American activity (locking up his rival, largely for the crime of belonging to the other party).
It’s part of his halo of reasons for being unfit for office.
Well, him too. Though even Melania doesn’t deserve to spend hours with the Hobo Monthly centerfold.
I wonder if we’ll ever get a book from Barron about all of this.
I’ve said for years, that’s the one book I actually want to read out of all this mess. Did he see the utter mess that his family made of the country, or has he fallen under the Trump spell like most of his siblings? If he has kept his wits about him, he has a unique perspective on all this crap.
Good points.
nevermind
If this were a movie, or a shitty soap opera, I’d give him about a 50/50 chance of hurting himself before adulthood. What a family!
Clarification: My post was about Republicans not bothering to read the indictment.
Those like McCarthy who dismiss security concerns at MaraLardo need to be forcibly reminded that bathroom doors only have a lock on the inside!
Speaking of assholes, I’m I the only one creeped out by hardcore trumper Clay Higgins?
Re: whether the jury will need to see the documents. Absolutely.
The prosecution needs to prove the documents were “national defense information”. This is now a term of art that Courts have defined to mean closely held national security information, classified or not. Closely held is further defined, meaning not in the public domain or known publicly.
So, Trump could have a top secret document, but if the public is aware of the information, then it’s not national defense information and there is no crime. For example, if I had the document Reality Winner sent to the intercept, I’m not committing espionage. It’s public info.
How the jury sees the documents is through a process called CIPA (discussed upthread). The Govt would prefer a “trust us” approach, the defense would like and probably deserve to know what’s on the document to defend themselves. The jury will see a redacted version of it that the Judge determines how much or little they see. If the information is too sensitive and the Judge would allow the jury to see more than the Govt is comfortable with, the prosecution would generally drop the charge.