Former POTUS Donald J Trump
The choice may be obvious at first; this blog has been Never Trump for years, I supported his impeachments, and I've written over 1000 critical tweets. But. no, I am not obsessed with Trump; I'm actually more concerned about giving him the attention his narcissism craves. I'm tired of the hyper partisan squabbling, Trump's incessant loyalty tests, his White House reelection obsession, etc. I would rather see no attention paid to his self-serving nonsense. For example, I have not for the most part followed the Jan. 6 hearings.
But there are at least 2 reasons to pick Trump this year: his drag on the mid-terms and his noncompliance with the Presidential Records Act, including his mishandling of classified data. The second issue is more troubling from a constitutional context.
On paper, the GOP seemed to have the wind at its back 6 months going into the mid-terms: high gas prices and inflation cutting into real household wages, a bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan, chaos at the Southern border, COVID-19 policy fatigue, etc. Biden's approvals approached the dangerous low-40's. Granted, the GOP didn't have a lock on regaining the Senate defending 21 of 35 seats up, including an open seat in PA and incumbent seats in purplish NC, FL and WI. There were projections of dozens of House seats being won in regaining the House. There's little doubt Trump wanted to use a Trumpkin mid-term recapture as a springboard for his 2024 campaign. He wanted to press his nationalism policies, of course, but he also sought to settle scores over Republicans he considered disloyal over his 2020 election loss. Jan 6, and other critics.
The unexpected overturn of Roe in Dobbs no doubt was a reset of sorts, but Trump's kingmaking ran into problems notably in Georgia, where his attempts to primary state Republicans failed not to mention his endorsed Senate candidate, Herschel Walker. PA, WI, MI, and AZ state/state-wide elections went against his choices. His Senate endorsed candidates in GA, NH, AZ, NV, and PA failed, despite vulnerable incumbents. I can't speak for other states, but term-limited MD Gov. Hogan and Trump had differences; Trump primaried Hogan's endorsed replacement, but Cox got blown out in the general election. While any statewide office in blue MD is challenging, Trump's unconventional picks made it difficult to appeal to independent voters.
But it was Trump's stolen Presidential papers, over 15 boxes, that is the grounds for serious misconduct. I've written past posts on this kerfuffle and will not repeat myself here, except for this brief summary. Trump had not enforced data classification rules; there are anecdotal reports of a classified document left in a White House restroom, retrieved from family living quarters, etc. Generally speaking, classified documents are retained in secure storage with access strictly on need to know. As former POTUS, Trump no longer has need to know. What we know is Trump took many of them when he left in Jan. 2021, many were stored in a MAL storage room, apparently initially without so much as a padlock, and the FBI found some in his personal desk during its search last August. Trump has argued that he had a standing order to declassify any material in his possession, unsupported, self-serving and absurd on its face, (There are defined procedures for declassification; POTUS can modify policy but Trump did not implement any.) If a cleared employee or contractor had engaged in such misconduct, he could be prosecuted,
I do not know the specifics of how NARA came to realize Trump had not turned over documents at the end of his term of office as required under law, but what was clear was Trump was not being cooperative. He seemed to believe he was entitled to serve as custodian for his eventual presidential library, not an option under law. Apparently at the end of 2021, NARA finally suggested if Trump did not accommodate, they might refer the matter to the Justice Department and/or Congress. Trump finally agreed to a MAL pickup in January. In the weeks that followed NARA determined the 15 boxes were incomplete. A subpoena was issued, and there was a pickup I believe in June, with some Trump legal signoff the USG had all remaining material. I don't know the specifics but there apparently were government sources at MAL who indicated some material was still being held, leading to the August search at MAL.
Part of the problem is that the Presidential Records Act relies on the honor system which doesn't work with someone as fundamentally dishonest as Trump. Trump has disingenuously argued his predecessors also violated the Act.
