Joe Biden’s Department of Justice has indicted his chief rival in the 2024 election, former President Donald Trump, over the classified documents he brought to Mar-a-Lago. The historic move comes on the very same day Congress could see for itself a detailed allegation that Biden and son had been bribed by the owner of Burisma Holdings to the tune of $10 million to get the Ukraine prosecutor investigating the company fired.

Surely a coincidence.

According to media leaks Trump is facing at least 7 counts, reportedly including conspiracy, false statements, scheme to conceal, willful retention of National Defense Information. Fox News says one of the counts involves a violation of the Espionage Act. 

This is the first time a former president has faced a federal indictment.

How’d We Get Here?

How’d we get here? Well, it started with the Trump Russia Collusion black op, but more specifically in this case, it began with a routine tussle over the Presidential Records Act.

The former head of the National Archives, a partisan Obama appointee, wanted documents Trump took with him to Mar-a-Lago. Trump insisted he had every right to the documents, and he declassified them, which as president he had complete, unquestionable authority to do. While Trump and the National Archives were working out the issue, Joe Biden then unilaterally — and according to Alan Dershowitz likely unlawfully — waived Trump’s executive privilege over the documents. As John Solomon reported in August, this gave the National Archives, White House and DOJ  opportunity to conspire gin up a federal case against Trump.

And somehow, though the Presidential Records Act is not a criminal statute, so this is an entirely civil matter, Biden’s DOJ sent a swarm of FBI agents raiding Mar-a-Lago.

And Merrick Garland handed it over to a special prosecutor named Jack Smith, whose only claim to fame is twisting and stretching the law to invent a corruption case against former Virginia governor and rising GOP star Bob McDonnell. (That case was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court.)

And here we are. A civil matter turned into criminal charges by the regime in power against the nation’s leading opposition figure. Tell me, is this the America you grew up in?

Trump says he has been summoned to appear in court in Miami Tuesday at 3 PM.

Trump Reacts

Trump condemned the action, calling it a “dark day” for the country, and blasted the double standard that sees him indicted while Biden had “1850 boxes” of material scattered to and fro.  

In a video released shortly after the news broke, Trump declared “I’m an innocent man,” saying the persecution by DOJ is “warfare for the law.”

Trump attorney Alina Habba was asked by Fox News’ Harris Faulkner the former President’s mood. “It’s just another normal day in Trump world.” What he’s been dealing with since announcing his candidacy in 2015. “He’s just sad for the country.”

Other Reaction

The news came as no surprise to Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace. She said the other day that a Trump incitement would drop the day Congress got to look at the memo detailing Biden’s alleged $5 million bribe.

Vivek Ramaswamy, one of Trump’s GOP primary rivals, blasted the DOJ move, saying, “The federal police state is outright arresting Trump.”

He vowed to “pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025 and to restore the rule of law in our country.”

Charlie Kirk called on other GOP candidates to suspend their campaigns and show up in Miami.

Every “Republican” running for President should suspend their campaign and go to Miami as a show of support. If you don’t, you are part of the problem. Either we have an opposition party or we don’t. GO to Miami Tuesday, and show solidarty or we will mark you as part of the…

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 8, 2023

Sen. J.D Vance called the indictment a “moral and constitutional joke,” saying that Trump is being charged for “’mishandling’ his own government’s classified info.” He went onto say that Biden is “using the justice system to preemptively steal the 2024 election.”

The former president will be indicted for “mishandling” his own government’s classified info. Yet everyone agrees the president has the authority to declassify anything. This is a moral and constitutional joke. Merrick Garland has disgraced this country.

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) June 9, 2023

In a great thread, Last Refuge points out the absurdity of what DOJ is saying. 

6. The DOJ is filing a case about the mishandling of documents, in whatever legal construct they put forth, while simultaneously saying they are under no obligation to tell anyone what the documents are.

— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) June 9, 2023

Former Trump advisor Stephen Miller was blunt, “History will record this as the day America ceased to be a democratic republic.”

“This,” said Mark Levin, “is an insurrection. June 8 is the day of insurrection. Not January 6.”

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.