Without bothering with the facts of the Mar-a-Lago documents case, Mr. Youngkin leaped to former president Donald Trump’s defense, suggesting that the indictment proved a rich White man can’t get a fair shake in this country. He did not concede the election was fair and that President Biden was legitimately elected until after he secured the gubernatorial nomination, harping endlessly on “election integrity” and claiming that Mr. Trump is a victim of political prosecution.
These are obvious and stupid lies, and I’m pretty sure that not even Mr. Youngkin believes them. He’s a knave, not a fool. It sure would be nice if our governor would tell the truth at least once in a while, though.
If Ronald Reagan were alive, he would tell Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is trying to compare himself to Reagan, “There you go again.” Making rookie mistake after rookie mistake. Reagan would never claim our nation has a “two-tiered justice system.”
Mr. Youngkin is trying to remain relevant with the MAGA crowd. If he had read the 49-page indictment of former president Donald Trump, he would have learned the severity of what Mr. Trump is accused of doing. The crimes Mr. Trump is accused of endanger the very national security of the United States. It is not political. It is endangering every one of us. There are laws that protect national security. Those laws have allegedly been violated and must be enforced.
Special counsel Jack Smith, the former war-crimes prosecutor who investigated Mr. Trump, put it plainly and succinctly, that we have “one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.” What part of that does Mr. Youngkin not understand?
Fariborz S. Fatemi, McLean
It is sad that the governor of Virginia is so totally ignorant of justice in our great country that he would parrot the erroneous line that former president Donald Trump’s indictment is “sad” proof of the nation’s “two-tiered justice system.”
If Mr. Trump had not been indicted, then that would have been clear evidence of a two-tiered justice system where the rich and well-placed people get away with crimes that the rest of us would spend time in jail and pay a hefty fine. I have held top secret and secret clearances. It was always very clear that mishandling could be punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. This was not just a threat; it was the law, and it would be prosecuted. It is a privilege and a responsibility to handle the secrets of our nation and its allies. Mr. Trump should have been fully aware of the consequences of mishandling classified material, especially given that this material was sensitive to our national security.
Contrary to Mr. Youngkin’s statement and the concurrence of many in the Republican Party, Mr. Trump’s indictment was proof that there is no two-tiered justice system (though there truly might be a two-tiered justice system regarding minorities and those who cannot afford high-priced lawyers).
Allen Benson, Milton, Del.
At first, the June 10 Metro headline that began “Youngkin blasts Trump” gave me hope. But then I saw Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) was blasting the Trump indictment as political.
According to Mr. Youngkin, “this [indictment] undermines faith in our judicial system.” It actually restores faith in our judicial system, demonstrating that no one is above the law.
After news of Donald Trump’s indictment broke, it was disheartening to hear some Republicans immediately rush to support the former president.
Though special counsel Jack Smith has to prove his case “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the known facts, thus far, clearly support the indictment.
Republican statements of support for the former president that I have seen, from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), were partisan pledges of allegiance to Mr. Trump. Mr. Smith has truth, the law and reason on his side. These Republicans responded from self-interest and base political concerns, rather than allegiance to the rule of law and ensuring our national security. At the very least, they could have withheld comment until the evidence is known.
Charles James Nash Jr., Gaithersburg
Regarding the June 9 front-page article “Trump charged over secret files”:
What the former president and his allies get very wrong is that it is not President Biden or the Justice Department that voted to indict, but, rather, a jury of his peers. At every chance, this distinction must be made clear as it is one of the strongest pillars of our judicial system.
Esther Siegel, Takoma Park
The prosecutors better prove beyond doubt that former president Donald Trump committed these alleged acts and deserves prison.
Our system of justice is on trial — not just Mr. Trump. The whole world is watching and so, too, are future generations.
John Corrigan, Washington
What possible justification could there be for former president Donald Trump declassifying, by whatever means he presumed, the documents outlined in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment? Those documents were described by Mr. Smith as dealing with “United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attack.” There, of course, is no justification.
Mr. Trump’s mere pretense of having declassified such documents and his alleged retention of those documents therefore should be enough to have those Republican members of Congress attempting to defend him turn crimson with embarrassment as well as to disqualify Mr. Trump from ever again entering the Oval Office.
Chuck Cutolo, Westbury, N.Y.
The Republican officials and candidates attacking the Justice Department special counsel’s indictment of former president Donald Trump for egregious and dangerous disregard for national security secrecy laws are demonstrating an unprincipled willingness to place party over national security to a degree that exposes they are unfit to govern.
That they jumped to their anti-indictment conclusions before the indictment was unsealed and without even being able to read the content of the indictment would be laughable were it not such sad testimony on their lack of respect for or even interest in the revealed facts of the case.
William August, Cambridge, Mass.
