Former President Donald Trump, 77, complained on his Truth Social platform that Obama-appointed Judge Tania Chutkan is the dream judge for 55-year-old Special Counsel Jack Smith. Meting out tough sentences from Jan. 6 rioters, Trump claims he can’t get a fair trail in Washington, D.C. where over 93% of the population voted for President Joe Biden in 2020. Former Atty. Gen. Bill Barr and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie say the jury pool in D.C. is perfectly suitable to try the ex-president. Well, Barr and Christie, who’s a 2024 presidential candidate, both have axes to grind against Trump, looking ahead to Trump’s conviction. Smith already indicted Trump on 34 counts from mishandling classified documents found by the FBI Aug. 8, 2022 at his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago estate. Barr and Christie have vested interests in seeing Trump convicted on all charges.
Trump finds himself in a fierce propaganda battle with all major networks, including Fox News, all show strong partisan bias against the former president. All major news networks, including Fox News, support Smith’s charges against Trump, seeking to hold him accountable for technical violations of the Presidential Records Act and the Espionage Act. Not one news organization questions how Trump can be held accountable for boxes of worthless junk removed from the White House and delivered to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. Smith claims that classified docs found in moving boxes threatens U.S. national security, despite the fact that no one saw the contents of any docs while stored at Mar-a-Lago. So, filing charges against Trump for mishandling classified docs doesn’t taken into account that the docs found by the FBI were not seen by anyone other than the FBI.
Smith’s statement that the found classified docs threaten U.S. national security completely ignores the very real threats to U.S. security from President Joe Biden’s 19-month-long proxy war against the Kremlin, reportedly to help Ukraine reclaim lost sovereign territory seized by the Russian Federation. Smith makes no mention of national security threats to Biden’s ongoing threats to Communist China, stating publicly Sept. 23, 2022 that he would commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan from Communist Chinese invasion. Yet Smith says the classified docs found in old moving boxes threaten U.S. national security. Smith stretches the facts to charge Trump with violating the Presidential Records and Espionage Acts to justify his indictments against Trump. Smith can’t possibility think that old classified docs found in moving boxes rise to the level of indictments.
When it comes to Smith’s second indictments against Trump for Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, Smith rubber stamps the House Jan. 6 Select Committee, concluding that Trump defrauded the U.S. government and attempted to obstruct an officials government proceeding related to certification Jan. 6, 2021 of the Electoral College vote. In making his charges, Smith assumes facts not in evidence that Trump was responsible for the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, but, more importantly, tried to defraud the government claiming he was defrauded out of the election. Smith denies Trump his Free Speech rights claiming the election was fixed, whether it was or not. Smith assumes that Trump has no right to his opinion about the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election, denying the former president his Free Speech rights. Now Smith applied for a protective order to further deny Trump his First Amendment rights.
When you consider the big picture, Trump threatened no one, certainly no U.S. national security containing classified docs in moving boxes sent from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence in violation of the Presidential Records and Espionage Acts. Stretching U.S. law to fit his charges, Smith violates the spirit of the law, finding any technical violation to proceed with charges. Trump’s enemies in the press and elsewhere back Smith’s case, despite knowing he violates Trump’s Free Speech rights. When it comes to Smith’s recent indictment of defrauding the U.S. government or obstruction officials government business, Smith knows that Trump had nothing to do with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Partisan House Democrats and other Trump detractors claim the ex-president should have called off the riots. How would he do that if he had nothing to do with them?
Smith’s charges against Trump are driven by politics, not the rule of law. There’s nothing in the rule of law that says that Trump must be charged because FBI agents found old classified docs in moving boxes containing mostly worthless old junk. When it comes to Jan. 6, Smith is on even more shaky ground claiming that Trump defrauded the U.S. government claiming he was robbed of the 2020 election. Smith’s charges are driven by partisan politics, proving for all to see that the Department of Justice and FBI are weaponized to go after political enemies. When it comes to the Mar-a-Lago classified docs case and the Jan. 6 charges, both are driven by politics to prevent Trump from running for president in 2024. Smith’s charges, while cheered on by Trump’s enemies, lack probable cause, certainly facts to claim that Trump willfully mishandled classified docs or participated in Jan. 6.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
