After Miami grand jury’s extraordinary indictment, Trump remains loud and unbowed | Opinion

A Miami federal grand jury’s decision could have a pivotal impact on the 2024 presidential election and the political future of former President Trump — further proof that Florida could have another historic effect on who becomes our next president.

And historic is not too strong a descriptor.

Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it has filed federal criminal charges against the former president, indicting him on charges of illegally storing classified documents taken from the White House at his mansion in Palm Beach. Trump broke the news first on his social-media platform. He is due to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday.

The seven counts include violating the Espionage Act, making false statements and a conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to two people familiar with the indictment but not authorized to speak about it publicly.

This is the first time ever that a former U.S. president has faced federal charges, and throws into question what his quest — and that of a growing roster of opponents for the Republican nomination — looks like going forward. And it pits against him the administration of a president who will be his rival, should the former president snag the nomination.

It’s an extraordinary occurrence, not unexpected given the number of investigations into Trump’s business and political behavior — including his dangerous and undemocratic efforts to stay in office after his defeat in 2020 — that have yet to conclude.

Trump lashes out

One thing is certain: Trump will flaunt this latest legal snag for all it’s worth. And the most loyal of his base will not be moved. “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

But he spent more than a year trying to block authorities’ access to the White House documents who public release could endanger our national security, and especially that of U.S. troops. Last August, the FBI put an end to the endless back-and-forth negotiations and staged a raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach.

The list of items the FBI removed included more than two dozen documents marked “CONFIDENTIAL” and “TOP SECRET.” There were also 43 folders marked “CLASSIFIED” that were empty, raising a critical question of what happened to those secret government documents.

Some hoax.

We commend the hard work of the Miami grand jury — the 23 secret members impaneled on March 9. Their decision to indict might not have been an easy one given the former president’s popularity here.

In 2016, despite losing Florida, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won Miami-Dade over Donald Trump by about 30 percentage points. But Trump cut into that margin by more than 20 points in 2020, when Biden led Trump in Miami-Dade by only about seven percentage. Big swing.

Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal revealed that a federal grand jury was quietly meeting in a Miami federal building to determine if Special Counsel Jack Smith should pursue a criminal case against former President Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Palm Beach estate.

A grand jury has been meeting for months in Washington to consider the same possibility. The Justice Department has been tight-lipped as to why twin grand juries were impaneled.

Less certain is how Trump’s Republican opponents, especially Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will play this latest indictment. Everyone wants to peel some of off Trump’s base of voters for the primary, but there’s still some reluctance to attempt a direct blow — although former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, it seems, is coming out swinging. And even measured Mike Pence is coming around — “I chose the Constitution and I always will,” he declared at his campaign kickoff.

DeSantis’ reaction?

Just before the former president was indicted in New York over hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, DeSantis tried to have it both ways. He called the indictment politically motivated, the work of “Soros-funded prosecutor” seeking to weaponize his office against a political enemy. But then the governor deadpanned that, “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”

But now, as a candidate, he’s taken the gloves off and is unlikely to be as coy.

Leave it to Trump to rack up a list of disgraceful historic firsts. This is the man who encouraged the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol in 2021. This is the man who put his own vice president in mortal danger. This is the man who in December called for the termination of the U.S. Constitution in order to overturn the 2020 election and restore him to the Oval Office.

Such is his disregard for our democracy. He does not love this country. He loves himself.

In recent days, Trump has taken to his own social media network to repeat claims that he has been mistreated by federal investigators. His main defense: No other president has been treated this way.

He’s right. Then again, no other former president has acted like he has.

Editor’s note: This editorial has been updated to reflect former President Trump’s indictment.

This story was originally published June 8, 2023 at 6:11 PM.