By Carol Lucas
So now it would appear that South Carolina has a Senator who dabbles in prognostication and has determined that if Donald Trump is prosecuted for the crimes he committed, there will be, and I quote, “riots in the streets.”
What are we to gather from this ominous prediction? Do you mean similar to that of the friendly tourists of the Capitol on Jan. 6? And what exactly, Senator, are you suggesting is the alternative to prosecuting a person who is knee deep in criminal activity? Should these trespasses be excused because riots, excuse me, touring will ensue?
Let’s examine for the time being “the trespasses” to which I allude. First, a sitting President determines that he has every right to take multiple boxes of documents with him when he leaves the White House, albeit under duress. He claims executive privilege despite the fact that he is no longer President.
These documents number in the hundreds, many of which are classified as “top secret,” and just as many will impact adversely upon those men and women whose clandestine activity must remain unknown. You know, as in “they could be terminated!”
Second, these documents are stashed in a place that has limited security, a place frequented by foreign entities. Film from a security camera in the area, presumably placed there by the owner of the home, shows multiple people going in and out of this storage area, people whose names have not been disclosed.
Third, the former President is informed that these documents must be returned to the National Archives; said President is to have been quoted as saying, “They’re mine, not theirs.”
Give the child his pacifier, and inform him that he obviously knows very little about the rule of law regarding The People’s documents. In January some of these are indeed returned, and Mr. Trump’s lawyer signs an affidavit stating these represent all that were taken. Oh, dear! Did that sweet young lawyer take it upon herself to determine this, or might she have been instructed to do so?
January turns to June, with much back-and-forth regarding further returns, and when it is determined there are still hundreds of missing articles, the FBI arrives at the President’s home in Florida with a legally approved search warrant. Just a note for those rioters to whom our illustrious, prophesying Senator alludes: it wasn’t the storming of the Bastille in the dead of night by men shrouded in black. Rather the FBI showed up at 10 a.m, most dressed in suits. Furthermore, this was reported to the media by Mr. Trump, along with the lame response, echoed by so many of the sycophants hours later, “All you had to do was ask.”
And later, “This is totally unprecedented!” Yes, folks, it certainly is.
Nowhere in our history has a President stolen – make no mistake, I am using the correct verb – classified, top secret documents. Which leads to the elephant in the room, no pun intended: why? I’ll say it again, “Why did Donald Trump take the documents in the first place, and why did he balk at returning them?” That remains to be discovered over the course of time.
And let’s not overlook the pathetic jockeying of stories that followed the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. How many people who actually occupy seats in our Congress were quick to proclaim that the documents were planted. Really? I am tempted to say this comes right out of a Mafia playbook which leads me to determine that we are truly in trouble as a country. Others around the world have to be incredulous at best and smirking at least.
And so, Senator Graham, I return to your dire prediction, and I am forced to ask if you are prognosticating or advocating? You suggest “riots in the streets” if he is indicted. I, in turn, suggest a total crumbling of our legal system as we know it if Donald Trump is summarily excused while others, whose crimes are that of theft and less, are imprisoned.
Do you really believe there is one set of rules for the entitled and another for the common man? You are a lawyer. Act like it.
But then your refusal to adhere to the subpoena and come before the Georgia authorities speaks volumes, so I may be engaging in wishful thinking. John McCain has to be rolling in his grave!
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident.
