Karl Rove, the former deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, tore into Donald Trump this week over the DOJ’s 37-count criminal indictment of the former president.
Unlike many on the right, Rove pointed the finger directly at Trump, not the Justice Department for the indictment coming to fruition. “The blame for this calamity rests solely on Mr. Trump and his childish impulse to keep mementos from his time in the Oval Office, no matter what the law says,” Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday.
Rove then explains some of the allegations and quotes from the indictment, writing that Trump “ordered a fleet of trucks to carry away hundreds of boxes of letters, reports, memos and other documents he’d received as president.” Rove then explains:
Rove notes that Trump’s “top aides with security clearances had been made well aware of classified documents’ sensitivity” and argues:
“Any staffer found guilty of doing that would go to prison for breaking the laws protecting the nation’s secrets, as Mr. Trump is now charged,” Rove adds before noting that Trump’s ongoing criminal proceedings are a dark moment for the U.S. and the country “will pay a high price for the former president’s reckless petulance. So will he.”
Is Karl on point or is he just another member of the Deeeeep State out to get Trump.
Can anyone show me where Rove is in error on his assessment of Trump's actions.
Unlike many on the right, Rove pointed the finger directly at Trump, not the Justice Department for the indictment coming to fruition. “The blame for this calamity rests solely on Mr. Trump and his childish impulse to keep mementos from his time in the Oval Office, no matter what the law says,” Rove wrote in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday.
Rove then explains some of the allegations and quotes from the indictment, writing that Trump “ordered a fleet of trucks to carry away hundreds of boxes of letters, reports, memos and other documents he’d received as president.” Rove then explains:
“Those documents didn’t belong to Mr. Trump, and he surely knew that. The president’s lawyers and staff must have warned him he couldn’t take the files,” he adds, arguing Trump knew full well he was breaking the law.The indictment says these included information about “defense and weapons capabilities” of both the U.S. and foreign countries, American nuclear programs, our and allies’ “potential vulnerabilities . . . to military attack,” and “plans for possible retaliation” to an attack.
Rove notes that Trump’s “top aides with security clearances had been made well aware of classified documents’ sensitivity” and argues:
Rove goes on to note that background explains why Trump explicitly worked to retain the documents once the National Archives asked for them back,” adding:It also had to have been explained to Mr. Trump that the White House Office of Records Management kept a list of the documents he received and the National Security Council maintained a log of the classified documents he saw. He must have known these inventories would be shared with the National Archives and Records Administration, so that NARA would know if he improperly took documents.
Rove pulled no punches in his conclusion, writing, “Instead of living up to his office, Mr. Trump treated it and America’s national security flippantly, taking thousands of presidential records, among them hundreds of highly classified documents.”That’s why in May 2021 the archives began requesting their return. When Mr. Trump sent some records back in January 2022, NARA knew he had more. When his lawyers said in June 2022 that after a “diligent search,” all remaining “responsive documents” had been returned, the Federal Bureau of Investigation knew that wasn’t true. It took a search warrant two months later to collect the rest of them.
Mr. Trump says there’s no criminal penalty for violating the Presidential Records Act. That’s true, but it only highlights how damning his behavior was. Congress thought a law so simple and clear would be honored by anyone entrusted with the presidency.
“Any staffer found guilty of doing that would go to prison for breaking the laws protecting the nation’s secrets, as Mr. Trump is now charged,” Rove adds before noting that Trump’s ongoing criminal proceedings are a dark moment for the U.S. and the country “will pay a high price for the former president’s reckless petulance. So will he.”
MSN
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Is Karl on point or is he just another member of the Deeeeep State out to get Trump.
Can anyone show me where Rove is in error on his assessment of Trump's actions.