A new clash is unfolding between a judicial system rooted in the core principle that no one is above the law and an ex-president who has vowed, if returned to the White House, to purge the system of the accountability he now faces.
While Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence like any other American, the latest indictment appears to underscore his personal belief that the law does not apply to him and that he has the power to do exactly as he likes -- a view that defined his administration and post-White House life.
He faces a total of 37 counts in a federal indictment related to his handling of classified documents after he left office. (The various locations where Trump allegedly stored classified documents read like a Mar-a-Lago-specific game of Clue: "in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.")
"This indictment really is a reflection of the former president's arrogance, his disdain for the rule of law, which is so repugnant to people who have worked in law enforcement, who have worked for the Constitution, bipartisanly over the years," said former Watergate special prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste.
Even Trump's own former attorney general, William Barr, called the indictment "very damning" on "Fox News Sunday," pushing back on the former president's claims that he's a "victim" of political persecution.
"He had no right to maintain them and retain them," Barr said of the documents. "And he kept them in a way in Mar-a-Lago, that anyone who really cares about national security -- their stomach would churn at it."
As special counsel Jack Smith said in a rare public appearance on Friday: "We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone."
This case, however, is unfolding in the middle of a presidential campaign in which the twice-impeached and now twice-indicted Trump is running on a platform of gutting the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department, intelligence agencies and any other federal bureaucracy designed to ensure the powerful obey the law.
Late last year, he called for the "termination" of the Constitution, including all "rules, regulations and articles." And he's pledged on Day 1 of a new administration to "investigate every radical district attorney and attorney general in America" for what he claims is the illegal and racist enforcement of the law.
Trump has already pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records -- charges that arose from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation of a hush money scheme. And he's waiting to hear whether he will be charged in another special counsel investigation into the run-up to January 6, 2021, and in a separate investigation into his attempt to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory in Georgia led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Trump has called for a "truth and reconciliation" commission to eradicate "deep state" spying, corruption and censorship -- a code for what he claims is the weaponization of the justice system against him by political opponents. And he has styled his entire 2024 campaign as a drive for "retribution" -- previewing a second administration that would be certain to test the rules and conventions designed to restrain the president even more than in his first term.
Trump's quest for limitless personal power recalls his claim in office that the power of the president is "total" -- a false contention that the Constitution was written specifically to prevent.
The ex-president will soon get to benefit from another freedom guaranteed by the Constitution that he wants to terminate -- the right to a speedy and fair trial.
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