How to Read the Trump Boxes Indictment

Don’t let knee-jerk partisan tribalism prevent you from reading the Trump boxes indictment critically.

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Former president Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club, in Bedminster, N.J., June 13, 2023.

Amr Alfiky/Reuters

It’s tempting to retreat immediately into partisan and tribal trenches when confronted with something like the federal indictment of Donald Trump for retaining and concealing boxes of sensitive and classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. There is a powerful pull to view the whole thing solely through the lens of what you already thought of Trump, or of his legal pursuers, or of the Justice Department and the FBI.

Those things matter. But the facts matter, the law matters, and the spirit and practice of due process matter in distinguishing what is true from what is not. A thing as consequential as the first-ever federal indictment of a former president demands that we scrutinize it with real seriousness.

Dan McLaughlin

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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