Whole Lotta Nothin’ Goin’ On!

He’s freaked & scared. pic.twitter.com/XXPSs661HJ

— Spiro’s Ghost (@AntiToxicPeople) May 25, 2023

Keep in mind press reports are an incomplete record of the information the special counsel has. More so because non-lawyers don’t understand what’s important and what isn’t ( they misunderstand “intent” and think “motive” matters thanks to a century of murder mystery fiction). So what’s revealed here doesn’t mean the investigation is “heating up” or that we know what the charges will be. There are always things that are only revealed in court. If someone says “key evidence” is missing, for example, they’re a fool. The prosecution is never going to reveal all it knows, until trial. What isn’t revealed can only be guessed at.

Then again, this report is based on a judge’s memorandum. 

Corcoran, who believed he didn't have proper clearance to transport the documents himself, called DOJ that night to arrange for them to come get them. https://t.co/x03E8VTDxc

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 25, 2023

As NYT reported last month, the former chief judge overseeing the grand jury, as she considered prosecutors' evidence, described Trump's "misdirection" with archives officials in 2021/2022 as a "dress rehearsal" for dealing w a subpoena in May '22 https://t.co/x03E8VTDxc

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 25, 2023

“The government has proffered sufficient evidence that the former president possessed tangible documents containing national defense information,” Howell wrote, according to the person briefed https://t.co/x03E8VTDxc

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 25, 2023

There it is. Espionage Act.

“Other evidence demonstrates that the former president willfully sought to retain classified documents when he was not authorized to do so, and knew it.”

— sealed court opinion on crime fraud exception@alanfeuer @maggieNYThttps://t.co/UykokqM27j

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 26, 2023

Lot of Twitter speculation on whether or not the Espionage Act would be used. This is pretty clear evidence that: yes, it will be.

3. “The judge made clear she believed the government had met the threshold, for both obstructing the grand jury proceeding and ‘unauthorized retention of national defense information.’”https://t.co/UykokqM27j

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) May 26, 2023

It doesn’t prove Trump is guilty; but it does indicate the grand jury is very likely to return some very serious indictments.

And yes, Trump will go to jail insisting he did nothing wrong. He’ll find a lot of people there insisting they didn’t, either.