If It Were Anyone Else, They’d Be Prosecuted

Adam Serwer: “Retaining classified documents is not even close to the worst thing Trump has done. We are, after all, speaking of a man who twice tried to subvert the democratic process, first by using foreign aid in an attempt to blackmail Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into falsely implicating then–Democratic rival Joe Biden in a crime, and later by attempting to use a mob to seize power by force after bureaucratic means failed.”

“But those were both overtly political acts, subject to distortions of perception and emphasis, and this one is rather more straightforward. It is illegal to ‘knowingly’ remove ‘such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location.’ The photograph of documents emblazoned secret removes any ambiguity as to whether Trump was in possession of classified documents.”

“If it were anyone else, they would be prosecuted.”