The Indictment Itself Is the Problem
The Trump indictment looks like many other federal indictments. Indeed, it is more detailed than most. And it includes salacious and not-completely-surprising anecdotes, which add color and highlight the alleged irresponsibility and carelessness of the former president. On its face, it seems mostly ordinary and legal, although the inclusion of various attorney-client communications is quite unusual.
The thing that you cannot discern from the text is all of the missing subtext.
The Dogs That Didn’t Bark
There is no mention of the Presidential Records Act, executive privilege, or the fact that the president has the original authority to classify or declassify records. The special counsel cites various executive orders regarding classified documents as binding authority over the president, but these are internal rules for the governance of employees of the executive branch. Logically, they cannot constrain the president.
If the president can make and unmake an executive order at his pleasure, it cannot bind him, regardless of whether an order (or its reversal) is published in the Code of Federal Regulations. Like it or not, the president is the source of authority for these rules—by definition. He cannot be confined in a prison to which he has the keys.
