The uproar over an FBI raid on ex-president Donald Trump's home and club in Florida has riled the loyal Trump fans, who sound apoplectic in their in their defense of Trump's removal of documents from the White House in violation of various federal laws. Presidential paperwork is the property of the United States government, not of any current or former occupant of the Oval Office.
As a former U.S. Coast Guard officer, I was made painfully aware of the importance of keeping confidential documents secured behind lock and key. The Officer Candidate School that I attended made sure that all of my classmates and I knew better than to leave a classified file on your desktop, or in your car or in your home. Confidential documents must be kept secure at all times.
Failure to follow security protocol could result in taking a seat at "the long, green table, as one colorful OCS instructor would remind every class. That table is a courts martial before a group of senior editors who would enforce the rules and the UCMJ, the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Most offices had a designated safe for the keeping of confidential records.
According to news reports and judicial documents, Trump took dozens of boxes of government paperwork from the White House and dropped them in various places in Trump's Mare Lago resort. Many of the documents The U.S. Archives asked for were classified or secret documents, which should have been taken directly to the Archives, which every president since Nixon has done obediently in accordance with the law. But Trump has again shown that he sees himself as more of a king than a president, as someone who is above the law. The Archives quietly reminded Trump and his staff that he was required to turn in any documents he had from his presidency. When he didn't respond to these reminders, the Justice Department followed up with a subpoena for the absconded records.
Although Trump and his mouthpieces tried to cast the FBI raid to retrieve the property as a Gestapo-style invasion of privacy. But the raid was approved, per ordinary practice, with a summary paperwork to justify taking the records that belonged to the government. A federal judge approved the search warrant, following the Fourth Amendment, which also applies to Trump, whether as president or as private citizen.
Every U.S. officer, military or civilian, is bound by these laws, and, whether he likes it or not, so is Trump.
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