Impeachment against Trump moves closer

 Wolfgang Hansson

Impeachment against Trump moves closer

PUBLISHED: LESS THAN 30 MIN AGO

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.

COLUMNISTS

The search of ex-president Donald Trump's residence is a clear sign that charges may be pending.

But it's also a reminder of Democrats' difficult balancing act between wanting to stop Trump from running in 2024 while upholding the law.

Police on site outside the ex-president's luxury Mar-a-Lago residence, in connection with the FBI crackdown. "My beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege," Trump commented.

Photo: Terry Renna / AP

When agents from the FBI on Monday morning entered what is now Donald Trump's private residence in Palm Beach, Florida and broke open a safe, it was a unique action.

It has never happened that the police searched the house of a former president to collect evidence in a possible criminal case.

In order to conduct the raid, the FBI must have a search warrant issued by a judge. The decision to even seek one must have involved very high-ranking people in the Department of Justice or the FBI.

The goal of the breach was to find classified documents that the FBI and Justice Department suspect Trump illegally took with him from the White House when he left in January 2021.

The suspicion is that Trump is trying to withhold sensitive documents from him or even destroyed them.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump drive past his Mar-a-Lago Florida home Monday night after news of the FBI raid broke — and was condemned by the former president.

Photo: Terry Renna/AP/TT

It is known that Trump took 15 boxes of documents with him when he left the White House. Which in itself is a violation of the law. The documents from the White House must be preserved and stored by a special institution, a counterpart to the Swedish National Archives. The president who breaks the law risks imprisonment but can above all be disqualified from future elected positions.

In Trump's case, it could mean that he is banned from standing in the 2024 presidential election if he is charged and convicted.

The Ministry of Justice is said to have quietly started an investigation into the abducted documents already in April. The house search indicates that they are now approaching a decision in the investigation. It also indicates that the risk of prosecution has increased.

Trump is now being pressured from a number of quarters by the threat of legal action.

The investigation into the document theft is separate from the ongoing review of Trump's actions in connection with the storming of the Capitol on January 6 last year.

There, too, the Department of Justice is running an investigation that could lead to Trump being prosecuted for trying to stop congressional certification of Joe Biden's election victory.

During the summer, a special congressional committee held a number of public hearings where witnesses in Trump's White House staff told how he incited his supporters to attack the Capitol. The committee will present its final report in early autumn. A number of new facts have emerged that are very troubling for Trump. But only the Department of Justice can bring charges.

At the same time, another legal process is underway in Georgia where Trump is threatened with prosecution for trying to persuade the state's top election officer, Brad Raffensperger, to change the election results in Trump's favor.

As the legal machinery grinds on and the noose tightens around Trump, the ex-president and his supporters accuse the Democrats of conducting a politically motivated witch hunt.

Former US President Donald Trump is under pressure from several quarters right now.

Former US President Donald Trump is under pressure from several quarters right now.

Photo: John Raoux/AP

There are only about a hundred days left until the mid-term elections, when it will be decided, among other things, whether the Democrats will continue to control the Senate and the House of Representatives or whether the Republicans will take over.

There are only about two years left until the next presidential election, when it will be decided whether Joe Biden can remain in office or whether Donald Trump makes a comeback. It's no secret that Democrats want to keep Trump from running because he remains the hardest Republican candidate to beat, according to polls.

Since the Justice Department is run by a Democrat appointed by Biden, Merrick Garland, it is difficult to defend against the suspicion that the Democrats are also taking political considerations into account in their investigations against Trump. After all, the Democrats have a lot to gain if Trump is impeached. Even if it were to happen on purely objective grounds.

FBI Director Christopher Wray was appointed by Trump.

But one must also take into account the risk that an indictment plays into Trump's hands. That would make it easier for the multi-billionaire to get his supporters to the barricades and increase the risk of social unrest in the country.