In 2003, on two separate occasions, a man named Samuel (Sandy) Berger entered the National Archives in Washington, DC and stole sensitive government documents, stuffing them into his socks and pants. 

Two years later, after he had left the government and his job as President Bill Clinton’s national security advisor Berger pleaded guilty to the theft. He was fined $50,000, sentenced to three years probation, 100 hours of community service and stripped of his government security clearance for three years.

In 2016, a U.S. Navy sailor pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of sensitive defense information for taking selfies inside a nuclear submarine. The sailor, Kristian Saucier, was sentenced to one year in prison, then home confinement with an ankle bracelet and three years of supervision. 

In January 2021, just hours after reluctantly handing over the White House to a new commander and chief, former President Donald Trump shipped a dozen boxes of classified government documents to his resort in Palm Beach, Fla. These boxes were then stored in an unsecured basement room allowing Trump aides to access them freely. (It’s on videotape)

These documents were clearly labeled “Top Secret,’’ among other terms. Some are so sensitive that strict protocols require them to be read and not removed from secure locations like the White House Situation Room. 

Trump’s lawyers promised the Justice Department that the documents had been returned to the National Archives, but Attorney General Merrick Garland was so concerned about their security that he authorized the FBI to search Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate anyway.

In their search, the FBI listed documents relating to national security, the president of France and even nuclear matters. 

The Berger and Navy sailor examples were violations of the law forbidding the possession of national security secrets. In Berger’s case, he was preparing for congressional testimony. In the sailor’s case, he was just excited to be on a nuclear submarine and forgot his duty. 

Trump’s situation is far worse. And you don’t need to take my word for it. The Justice Department lists the Espionage Act and Obstruction of Justice as just two laws that were possibly broken. Both of which would more than justify the search. 

It’s fairly clear the government has Trump on a charge of illegal possession of national security documents. Under a 1978 law, all documents from the White House go to the National Archives for filing and storage. They are the property of the American people NOT the former president. The moment Trump left the White House and Biden became president, he no longer had any authority over those, are any, presidential documents. 

What is perhaps most interesting is these documents have nothing to do with the congressional and Justice Department investigations into Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. They also have nothing to do with the Fulton County, GA grand jury probe into Trump’s efforts to illegally overturn the presidential election in that state. And it has nothing to do with the NY State Attorney General’s investigation into Trump’s business, where the long-time CFO just pleaded guilty to lying about keeping two sets of books. 

This crime was small, unnecessary and stupid. Trump is a narcissist and sociopath and he is convinced he owns any government records created during his time in office. He apparently thought he could take whatever he wanted to Palm Beach after he lost the election. He then thought he could lie to the FBI about it. 

As we now know, American citizens have gone to prison for far less. 

Eventually, a federal judge will unseal the affidavit from the FBI giving the details about why they needed to seize the records so quickly. It is a mystery why Trump wanted them. It could be as simple as stubbornness and thinking he actually owns the records. Maybe he wanted to give them to his ghost writer for a new book. Trump is well known to impress guests by showing off trinkets and other gifts collected during his time in power. 

Maybe this latest scandal will amount to very little. Trump will likely blame his staff or his lawyers. He has already claimed he had the power as president to declassify records just because he was president. He was, as usual, wrong. 

But let us first consider another scenario. Imagine you are the secret intelligence services in China, Russia or Iran. You would have infiltrated Trump’s home/resort early on in the Trump administration. You would be trying to turn Trump’s people to your cause. You might be paying them secretly to funnel secrets to you. The classified documents are sitting in the basement with a $10 padlock on the door. At best, Trump is bragging that he has the documents. At worst, covert agents from foreign adversaries have seen them and are free to use them in any number of ways. 

Whatever the truth - and we will find out - this little act of stupidity might just be the end for Donald Trump. With Nixon it was not the Watergate crime that caused his downfall, it was the conspiracy to cover it up.

With Capone it was tax evasion.

With Trump, it might just be a bunch of cardboard boxes filled with cool stuff from his time in office that he couldn’t bring himself to leave behind.