So let\u2019s say the police have probable cause to believe there are illegal drugs in my home. Probable cause is simple \u2013 they have good evidence to show that the drugs are there. They get a judge to sign a warrant, allowing them to search for those drugs. That is the essence of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, we have a right \u201c\u2026to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures\u2026\u201d. A reasonable search is one supported by a warrant based on \u201c\u2026probable cause supported by Oath or Affirmation\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the police come in my house, and they search. They look in my office, they go through my desk drawers, and find bricks of heroin. In order to demonstrate that the bricks were found in the desk, they take pictures of them in the drawers, and then more pictures of the bricks stacked on the floor of my office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what\u2019s the likelihood that the police take the bricks, give me a receipt, then just leave the house? It\u2019s more likely that they take the bricks, handcuff me, and we all go \u201caway\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Need to Know<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
I am not the former President of the United States, and the documents pictured on the floor of Donald Trump office weren\u2019t bricks of heroin. They are much more dangerous to the United States, documents of the highest classification, held by the former President at his Florida country club against government subpoena and Federal law. Some of the documents are so sensitive that, even if there is a trial, they will never be placed in evidence. A jury can\u2019t see them. They are just that secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve never handled government \u201csecret\u201d documents, but as a teacher, coach and administrator, I\u2019ve known information that was confidential. Knowing confidential information is a responsibility and a burden. It required recognition that I \u201cneed to know\u201d to make decisions and do my job, but I also need to make sure others don\u2019t. I guess being \u201cin the know\u201d was a privilege, but it was also a liability. Often, \u201cnot knowing\u201d would have been easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But once I retired, I no longer \u201cneeded\u201d to know. And that raises the question: what did Donald Trump \u201cneed to know\u201d as former President of the United States? Why was he keeping these secrets, clearly some of the most classified secrets of the Nation? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having Secrets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
There are only a few reasons to have them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s be clear about one thing \u2013 Donald Trump isn\u2019t keeping these secrets to write his memoir. He\u2019s not a writer. All the books with his name as the author were written by \u201cghosts\u201d. Back in the Watergate era, Richard Nixon \u201cbugged\u201d his whole White House. He did that, so he would have exact transcripts of what was said and what was done when he wrote his memoirs. Unfortunately for him, he recorded himself and his staff committing felonies. So maybe Trump is keeping stuff \u201caway\u201d from the rest of the world, incriminating information of some sort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or, perhaps as part of Trump\u2019s denial of the 2020 election results, he simply kept them because they are what \u201cPresidents have\u201d. There\u2019s a delusional issue there that makes it clear he shouldn\u2019t have them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe the former President simply wants to demonstrate that he still is \u201cin the know\u201d, even though the actual President of the United States, Joe Biden, revoked his access to security briefings and secure documents a few weeks after he took office. And potentially there is some form of \u201ckompromat\u201d, secure information that could be used against the former President\u2019s enemies. A heading in the document list of secret information about the French President comes to mind. Or the legendary files of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, with \u201cdirt\u201d on any politician that got in his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, information, particularly highly secret information, has monetary value. Donald Trump has always recognized \u201chow to make a buck\u201d. Maybe he sees the documents as a way to \u201ccash in\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obstruction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So if the police found bricks of heroin in my office, there wasn\u2019t any question that I violated the law. My possessing the bricks, for any reason, is in fact illegal. And if I heard the police at the door, and went and tried to hide the bricks before they came in, I was simply adding to the violations. I was committing the crime of \u201cobstruction of justice\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe I had the bricks \u201cfor a friend\u201d. Maybe I was keeping them to \u201cstudy\u201d. Or maybe they were just for my own personal use. But most likely, I had the bricks to sell, to make a profit. But all of that really doesn\u2019t matter. The fact that I was in possession, and the fact that I obstructed the search, was far and away enough to take me off to the jail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the same way, there really is no need to have a \u201creason\u201d for the former President to have the secret documents. He was knowingly in possession, without having a legal right. And, as we are discovering, he went to great lengths to hide them from the government. And the government bent over backwards to accommodate the former President. They asked, nicely, over and over again. They subpoenaed the documents. Then they sent the head of the FBI national security detail to his home. The former President and his staff assured the Justice Department that all of the documents were returned. But they weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was in possession of national secrets of the highest classifications, without permission. Those documents were stored in a careless and insecure manner. And when he was asked, over and over and over to give then back, he refused to do so. And he even tried to \u201chide\u201d the documents from the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
They didn\u2019t handcuff anyone when they searched Mara Lago. And the FBI still hasn\u2019t arrested anyone. The Department of Justice is struggling. Do they, for the first time in American history, arrest a former President of the United States? And if they don\u2019t, do they ignore a clear violation of American law, just because he was President? Shouldn\u2019t the law apply to everyone, regardless of former employment or financial standing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a serious dilemma for the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland. It\u2019s likely they will, eventually, bring charges against Donald Trump, but forgive them if they want to wait. The government needs \u201call its ducks in a row\u201d, and they need to get it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all need to show patience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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