The drip, drip, drip of reporting about Donald Trump’s stash of super-secret national security documents may put him in the same company as US spies Richard Hanssen and Aldrich Ames.
But unlike Hanssen and Ames, IF Trump indeed kept highly classified Compartmentalized Secret Information (SCI) and violated the Espionage Act, he will never be charged. Because unless Merritt Garland is prepared to seek the death penalty against the Donald or charge daughter Ivanka thereby pressuring Trump to plead guilty, Trump holds all the cards in this hand.
Simply put, highly classified national security information has never been, and will never will be, discussed in open court. To avoid that, the Department of Justice uses all their instruments of power too squeeze a guilty verdict out of someone. Hanssen pled guilty to avoid the death penalty. Ames arranged for a light sentence for his wife in exchange for a guilty plea. Even 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has spent 15 year in the pre-trial process, which is expected to take another decade so that “sources and methods” (ie. the torture of KSM) used in the 9/11 investigation are not disclosed in open court.
Garland appears boxed in. He charges Trump, Trump calls his bluff and demands to stand trial and the government has the burden to prove documents in Trump’s possession endangered national security. The only way to do that is to reveal the content of the documents. Once again, Trump benefits from the very things he holds in complete contempt, in this case, a prudent justice system.
But this is not about waving the white flag at Trump’s crimes. Just a realistic assessment of how this one avenue of Trump corruption will play out and too suggest a different messaging frame. A frame that finally turns the public opinion dial significantly away from Trump. Ideally, to the point where there is a super majority of public opinion that supports indicting Trump for one of the many other crimes he may have committed related to Jan 6th.
Anticipating this and recognizing Garland has to offer a complete explanation for his actions. Garland needs to reveal what he can, which in general terms can be substantial, in a manner that starkly illustrates how irresponsibly dangerous and unstable Trump is. To maximize the amplification of this message, Trump opponents can not aim fire at both Garland and Trump, but solely on Trump the Madman. Without this unified message, the Trump echo machine will once again create doubt where there is none. But unified, Trump opponents can overwhelm the national dialogue and bring Trump’s support back into the thirties.
There are still several felonies that Trump committed. The problem is our country is so divided we can find not common ground to apply the Rule of Law regarding Trump. Trump’s potentially treasonous behavior creates a “narrative from heaven” that can develop a common ground of sixty to seventy percent of the country who understand that Donald Trump is not above the law and must face justice.
But the expectation CAN NOT be that Trump will face justice for the most egregious actions related to the handling of sensitive materials. Instead, if the evidence shows Trump committed other felonies, Garland will have a stronger public mandate to indict Trump after the public outrage of him escaping punishment for violating the Espionage Act.
Moving forward, the messaging mantra is “He’s a madman stupid”!