The last paragraph of this very fine letter reminds me that Nixon should not have been pardoned. His "escape" from justice did nothing to "heal the nation". And Reagan should have been held accountable for "Iran Contra" - regardless of dementia and possible ignorance of the crime.
If TFG is not held accountable and dealt a serious sentence, every law in America will become a joke and our entire system of justice will be mocked around the world.
We will have no standing, no credibility and our leadership on everything from human rights to the sovereignty of nations will be undermined.
Supporters of Trump know only two rules: a. The leader is always right and b. In doubt rule a. immediately takes effect. Releasing this letter is propaganda. Followers register only two things, it is against their leader and favors the stealing opponent, Biden. The person who signed, is not safe. Of course you are right that above all we must protect the rule of law. At the same time we must fight like hell against fake news, in earlier times called propaganda. Thank you for helping with that, Robert.
Aug 24, 2022·edited Aug 24, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
I read the Archivist's letter. Embedded in all the formality was the simple truth that trump has yet to accept the fact he is no longer President. The Archivist made it clear that the United States Government owned the documents and President Biden needed the documents. trump seems incapable of grasping that concept. Using the Presidential Seal, constantly using the term 45th President of the United States, making declarations, anointing candidates all lead me to think that trump really believes he is the rightful President. The Mad Hatter of Mar A Largo.
Aug 24, 2022·edited Aug 24, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Thank you Robert for another information-packed newsletter. Holy moly! This man has been granted such leniency regarding the return of these documents, it’s like cajoling a two year old to eat his oatmeal ! Anyone else caught doing this same thing would have been locked up long ago.
Regarding your statement “And Bouie rejects the notion that inaction—not prosecuting Trump—will preserve the status quo and maintain the peace.“. I do not wish to preserve the status quo. as a nation, we have not been at peace since at least 2016. This country deserves better than this place trump has led us to. He must be tried for these crimes.
Aug 24, 2022·edited Aug 24, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Corcoran and other Trump attorney’s in this need to be disbarred based on Acting Archivist Wall’s letter. Corcoran and other attorneys, if they could not convince Trump to obey the “Order Letter” from Ms Wall, had the option to resign from representation of Trump, at least in this matter. That they evidently sided as evidenced by non-compliance or resignation. Theirs and/or his recalcitrance means they should be disbarred and even charged with conspiracy to commit espionage with Trump.
Robert- I also believe that Ryan’s victory was assisted by large numbers of Manhattanites and Brooklynites who moved upstate and permanently changed their primary residences in the last year or two. WFH has boosted Democratic voting in upstate NY and Long Island in recent years. Many second homes are now primary residences.
My favorite recently-seen graffiti: " Trump deserves his day in court. Let's hear his evidence!"
But seriously, folks, "a jury of his peers"? Does he have any peers? Maybe we can define the jury cohort down to plump older men with strange blond hairs, fans of Frederick Douglass, lovers of golf carts, people who have sold steaks, etc. How will they decide these things ?
And what would Jim Jordan, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene have done if Obama had taken just one presidential document with him? --even if it were unclassified? They would have chanted "Lock him up!"
My question is not what DT might do with these sensitive materials, it is what has he already done with them. Copied them? Monetized them? Is MBS going to give him $2B like he gave to Jared? Is Putin going to give him sanctuary in return for the juicy bits of these materials? My other question is were these top secret documents just laying around in the Oval Office or the Lincoln Bedroom? Wasn't there any controls in place? How could they just put them in boxes and let them go out the door!!
The rule of law is what has always distinguished our country from the ‘ others’! If we fail to follow it now at this critical juncture in our democratic journey, I fear we are doomed! I agree wholeheartedly with your conclusions. All steps are perilous at this point, but we must follow the rule of law and fight like hell.
Apart from the hard fact that attempting to discern the actual short or long-term political effect of prosecuting anyone, especially Trump or any of his minions, is virtually impossible, whatever the political effects of any potential prosecution turn out to be is and ought to be totally irrelevant, not just immaterial, to a determination to prosecute anyone. Only the court provable facts in the context of the text of a statute and reasonable (excluding consideration of necessarily uncertain political effects) prosecutorial judgment are and should be relevant to the decision to prosecute or not. I am confident that the current DOJ administration is doing its job competently and faithfully with respect to critically important prosecutorial decisions.
The Feds should have raided MAGA-land on May 11. It scares me that the wheels of justice surrounding national secrets turned (and are still turning) so slowly. AND, trump's specialty is tying things up in our judicial system - which is ridiculous when national secrets were/are at stake.
Who knows what people had access to read and copy said documents? I am furious over this.
Mr. Hubble, Help me resolve a contradiction. If I steal a pack of gum or a bag of groceries, I'm in trouble with the law. If I hack into AT&T's main frame and steal names and addresses, I'm in serious trouble with the law. If I steal a car from a dealership, I'm probably going to jail. If I hold up a bank, I am definitely going to jail. If I yell "Fire" in a movie theater and create a panic and someone dies trying to get out, I'm going to be accused of involuntary manslaughter. But why does ANYONE, much less the former "Mafia Don", get away with stealing confidential WH documents and not face the same consequences that I might? Maybe he has dirt on EVERY GOP member and each is petrified he will expose them for the "criminals" they have become. OR maybe he knows his testicles are in a "legally driven" vice the torque of which will NOT lessen. Either the rule of law applies to all or it doesn't particularly when hundreds of millions of dollars have bought and paid for political pledges of allegiance to our flag.
I did some GOTV calling for Pat Ryan on Monday and yesterday. The last minute calls must have been to a list of reliable Democratic voters, but still I was encouraged by the reaction of people I spoke to. They were quite engaged. A couple who could not vote, because of medical issues, were very regretful. And Ryan is one of a significant number of Democratic candidates with experience in the military. He is a West Point graduate and former intelligence officer. I find it curious that more attention is not paid to the number of veterans who are military-academy graduates and were highly-skilled officers (some of them high-ranking) who are Democrats. It used to be that such people were typically Republicans. What does the change say about the nation? (Yes, that is a rhetorical question, at least to this audience.)
The last paragraph of this very fine letter reminds me that Nixon should not have been pardoned. His "escape" from justice did nothing to "heal the nation". And Reagan should have been held accountable for "Iran Contra" - regardless of dementia and possible ignorance of the crime.
If TFG is not held accountable and dealt a serious sentence, every law in America will become a joke and our entire system of justice will be mocked around the world.
We will have no standing, no credibility and our leadership on everything from human rights to the sovereignty of nations will be undermined.
Supporters of Trump know only two rules: a. The leader is always right and b. In doubt rule a. immediately takes effect. Releasing this letter is propaganda. Followers register only two things, it is against their leader and favors the stealing opponent, Biden. The person who signed, is not safe. Of course you are right that above all we must protect the rule of law. At the same time we must fight like hell against fake news, in earlier times called propaganda. Thank you for helping with that, Robert.
I read the Archivist's letter. Embedded in all the formality was the simple truth that trump has yet to accept the fact he is no longer President. The Archivist made it clear that the United States Government owned the documents and President Biden needed the documents. trump seems incapable of grasping that concept. Using the Presidential Seal, constantly using the term 45th President of the United States, making declarations, anointing candidates all lead me to think that trump really believes he is the rightful President. The Mad Hatter of Mar A Largo.
Thank you Robert for another information-packed newsletter. Holy moly! This man has been granted such leniency regarding the return of these documents, it’s like cajoling a two year old to eat his oatmeal ! Anyone else caught doing this same thing would have been locked up long ago.
Regarding your statement “And Bouie rejects the notion that inaction—not prosecuting Trump—will preserve the status quo and maintain the peace.“. I do not wish to preserve the status quo. as a nation, we have not been at peace since at least 2016. This country deserves better than this place trump has led us to. He must be tried for these crimes.
Corcoran and other Trump attorney’s in this need to be disbarred based on Acting Archivist Wall’s letter. Corcoran and other attorneys, if they could not convince Trump to obey the “Order Letter” from Ms Wall, had the option to resign from representation of Trump, at least in this matter. That they evidently sided as evidenced by non-compliance or resignation. Theirs and/or his recalcitrance means they should be disbarred and even charged with conspiracy to commit espionage with Trump.
Criminals must be prosecuted. Absolutely. Without exception.
Robert- I also believe that Ryan’s victory was assisted by large numbers of Manhattanites and Brooklynites who moved upstate and permanently changed their primary residences in the last year or two. WFH has boosted Democratic voting in upstate NY and Long Island in recent years. Many second homes are now primary residences.
My favorite recently-seen graffiti: " Trump deserves his day in court. Let's hear his evidence!"
But seriously, folks, "a jury of his peers"? Does he have any peers? Maybe we can define the jury cohort down to plump older men with strange blond hairs, fans of Frederick Douglass, lovers of golf carts, people who have sold steaks, etc. How will they decide these things ?
And what would Jim Jordan, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene have done if Obama had taken just one presidential document with him? --even if it were unclassified? They would have chanted "Lock him up!"
The Insurrectionists are such hypocrites!
My question is not what DT might do with these sensitive materials, it is what has he already done with them. Copied them? Monetized them? Is MBS going to give him $2B like he gave to Jared? Is Putin going to give him sanctuary in return for the juicy bits of these materials? My other question is were these top secret documents just laying around in the Oval Office or the Lincoln Bedroom? Wasn't there any controls in place? How could they just put them in boxes and let them go out the door!!
"He is cornered and flailing." Like Macbeth. If the DOJ is Macduff, I hope they lay on:
"Then yield thee, coward,
And live to be the show and gaze o' the time:
We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,
Painted on a pole, and underwrit,
'Here may you see the tyrant.'
The rule of law is what has always distinguished our country from the ‘ others’! If we fail to follow it now at this critical juncture in our democratic journey, I fear we are doomed! I agree wholeheartedly with your conclusions. All steps are perilous at this point, but we must follow the rule of law and fight like hell.
Apart from the hard fact that attempting to discern the actual short or long-term political effect of prosecuting anyone, especially Trump or any of his minions, is virtually impossible, whatever the political effects of any potential prosecution turn out to be is and ought to be totally irrelevant, not just immaterial, to a determination to prosecute anyone. Only the court provable facts in the context of the text of a statute and reasonable (excluding consideration of necessarily uncertain political effects) prosecutorial judgment are and should be relevant to the decision to prosecute or not. I am confident that the current DOJ administration is doing its job competently and faithfully with respect to critically important prosecutorial decisions.
The Feds should have raided MAGA-land on May 11. It scares me that the wheels of justice surrounding national secrets turned (and are still turning) so slowly. AND, trump's specialty is tying things up in our judicial system - which is ridiculous when national secrets were/are at stake.
Who knows what people had access to read and copy said documents? I am furious over this.
Mr. Hubble, Help me resolve a contradiction. If I steal a pack of gum or a bag of groceries, I'm in trouble with the law. If I hack into AT&T's main frame and steal names and addresses, I'm in serious trouble with the law. If I steal a car from a dealership, I'm probably going to jail. If I hold up a bank, I am definitely going to jail. If I yell "Fire" in a movie theater and create a panic and someone dies trying to get out, I'm going to be accused of involuntary manslaughter. But why does ANYONE, much less the former "Mafia Don", get away with stealing confidential WH documents and not face the same consequences that I might? Maybe he has dirt on EVERY GOP member and each is petrified he will expose them for the "criminals" they have become. OR maybe he knows his testicles are in a "legally driven" vice the torque of which will NOT lessen. Either the rule of law applies to all or it doesn't particularly when hundreds of millions of dollars have bought and paid for political pledges of allegiance to our flag.
I did some GOTV calling for Pat Ryan on Monday and yesterday. The last minute calls must have been to a list of reliable Democratic voters, but still I was encouraged by the reaction of people I spoke to. They were quite engaged. A couple who could not vote, because of medical issues, were very regretful. And Ryan is one of a significant number of Democratic candidates with experience in the military. He is a West Point graduate and former intelligence officer. I find it curious that more attention is not paid to the number of veterans who are military-academy graduates and were highly-skilled officers (some of them high-ranking) who are Democrats. It used to be that such people were typically Republicans. What does the change say about the nation? (Yes, that is a rhetorical question, at least to this audience.)