Law-and-order Republicans are silent
To the Editor:
It is truly disheartening to see the response of elected Republicans to the indictment of Donald Trump.
During the Watergate saga, it was Republicans who showed Nixon the door. True conservatives, such as Berry Goldwater, confirmed that Nixon had to go.
Contrast that to the current response in this era of depleted ethics. Instead of being outraged that Trump blatantly violated the law, Republicans and Trump supporters claim that the issue is political rather than a violation of law. The “law-and-order” Republicans want to attack the FBI and other law enforcement when Republicans are under investigation. Taking and keeping documents to which he was not entitled and then lying about retaining some of them are clearly violations of the law. If Obama had done this, Republicans would be shouting for his indictment from the rooftops.
Instead, Republicans are making excuses and using the old “yes, but” routine. Trump bellows about the boxes of documents Biden gave to the University of Delaware. Those documents are from his years in the Senate, which are not covered by the Presidential Records Act of 1979 enacted after Watergate.
While legally everyone is innocent until proven guilty, the publicly known facts in the case strongly suggest that Trump has violated the law. Given the facts, anyone with two functioning synapses will conclude that laws were violated. Ten salient facts are:
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1. Trump took (stole) documents to which he was not entitled to his Florida residence.
2. The documents should be secured in the National Archives.
3. Some of the documents where highly classified.
4. Reports state that there was information on nuclear capabilities. This could be a serious security threat.
5. It has been reported that some of the documents appear to be related to intelligence operations. Such information could endanger people working for the United States.
6. When asked to return the documents Trump gave back only some of the documents and had his lawyers lie about it.
7. There was enough evidence that Trump was hiding documents that a judge granted a search warrant.
8. When the search was conducted, additional documents were found.
9. Many of the documents were unsecured meaning that other people could have had access.
10. There is a phone conversation where Trump acknowledges that a document he has is classified and that he now does not have the authority to declassify it.
If we are a nation of laws with an adherence to the Constitution, Trump must be held accountable. The aforementioned facts are irrefutable, but there are many more questions. Some of those include:
1. Why did Trump take and keep the documents?
2. What did he do or intend to do with them?
3. Did he sell or otherwise share some of the information with foreign actors?
4. Did any foreign agents get access to the stored documents since many documents were just laying around in the office, personal areas, and in an unsecured store room?
5. In October 2021 the CIA noted that many of our intelligence operatives were being killed. Could information about our operatives have been in the documents Trump kept?
These are just a few questions that come to mind.
In any case, all true Americans should be concerned about a former President, who has no regard for the law or national security. The appropriate action for elected officials would be to allow the law to take its course and keep partisan gamesmanship out of the discussion.
Norman Hoffman
Waynesville
