Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday night that the Department of Justice had indicted him on multiple counts involving the deliberate mishandling of classified documents. The would-be successors to his role as the Republican Party’s standard bearer wasted no time leaping to his defense.
At the time, they did not have access to the indictment itself, mind you, but that didn’t stop them from condemning the case as overtly political, selective, arbitrary and dangerous. That included Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who wrote on Twitter Friday morning that “[I]t’s a sad day for our country, especially in light of what clearly appears to be a two-tiered justice system where some are selectively prosecuted, and others are not. … this undermines faith in our judicial system at exactly the time when we should be working to restore that trust.”
His warm embrace and robust defense of the former president is both legally errant and politically callow, if opportunistic. That was abundantly clear a few hours after Youngkin posted the message, when DOJ officials unsealed the indictment and outlined the deeply troubling allegations Trump will face in court.
According to the indictment, Trump knowingly took classified documents with him when leaving the White House, repeatedly refused to return them when asked, involved others in his scheme to retain those documents and, perhaps most concerning, did not protect those records while in possession of them, perhaps jeopardizing some of the country’s most closely held secrets.
“The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign nations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods,” the indictment says, punctuating the seriousness of the offense.
Every criminal suspect is presumed innocent, including the former president, but these allegations hardly inspire the sort of full-throated defense Youngkin offered on Friday. When a cautious approach — let’s see what the indictment says, trust that the facts will be known, allow the process to play out — was warranted, the governor instead tied himself to the false notion that anyone accused of similar crimes would be treated differently.
In fact, Trump was treated differently. Former Clinton administration National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and Air Force veteran Reality Winner were never given repeated opportunities to return sensitive documents, as Trump was. A former president can even obtain a waiver to review classified materials, but Trump did not. The former president, per the indictment, instead flouted those requests and forced this reckoning.
Apparently Youngkin thinks such behavior is acceptable. It’s a difficult position to defend and makes his work as governor — the job for which he was ostensibly hired — more difficult.
How hollow does it sound, for instance, when the governor rants about FBI overreach and abuse of power one day and then courts the agency to build its new headquarters in Virginia? How can he argue the need to get tough on crime when he eagerly dismisses the most serious of charges when it may benefit him politically?
Say this, too: The indictment also includes many of Trump’s past statements about the importance of protecting classified materials and holding accountable those who fail to protect state secrets. That includes one from a Nov. 3, 2016, rally when he said, “Service members here in North Carolina have risked their lives to acquire classified intelligence to protect our country.”
That should resonate here in Hampton Roads, home to thousands of active-duty military personnel and veterans who put their lives on the line to defend this nation. To think that anyone, much less a former commander-in-chief, would knowingly compromise their safety is outrageous and infuriating.
Apparently the governor believes that prosecuting these grave allegations is the real injustice, not actions that could compromise state secrets and put service members at risk. Youngkin didn’t need to stand up for Trump, but Virginia voters, who will elect all 140 lawmakers in the fall, should thank him for making it very clear where he stands.
