could have, might have, if he , ... 6 years later, where is the he did?
He did take government documents home after he left office, many of which appear to be highly classified (whether he "declassified" or not is a sideshow. They are sensitive docs that can do damage, and they are not owned by him, period). He did keep them for himself after the government asked nicely for them back. If he had returned everything at that point, we likely never would have heard about it, despite how crass it is. He did then return a small amount of materials after he was subpoenaed to return them. He did then have an attorney sign an affidavit saying everything had been returned. He did lie, as he still had TS documents and other government documents in his private home. The DoJ knew he was lying and got a search warrant to retrieve the remaining documents. They found them, but are still not certain they have everything back.
The fact that this case is bogged down in courts and Trump is walking free right now has everything to do with who he is and the politics thereof. If it were me working on nuclear weapons designs at home, I'd have been arrested long ago. No "Special Master". No endless appeals where I get the benefit of the doubt. It wouldn't matter even if I was actually just trying to work from home in good faith. I'd be dead in the water.
I am not saying that special considerations don't need to be taken when a former POTUS is involved. Obviously everything is higher stakes and setting uncharted legal precedents, so we need to be cautious to avoid the appearance of a political witch hunt. In that sense, I understand Judge Cannon's order, although I think she bending over too far to show deference. But at some point, he needs to answer for what
he did, or it will only embolden the next jerk to take things even further. We need to know why he had those documents. Why those documents in particular. What, if anything was he planning to do with them? Why did he not return them when asked?
I wouldn't put it past him to have taken them and defied all those orders and requests just because he is a giant egotist that instinctively thumbs his nose at authority, thinking himself above it. But even in that case, this stuff is too serious to go unpunished. And in that (best case) scenario, it only underscores just how unsuitable he is for elected office of any kind.
