Trump Compares FBI to Nazi ‘Gestapo’ While Claiming Documents Seized from Mar-a-Lago Were ‘Empty Folders’
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
Former President Donald Trump took his insults of the FBI to a new level Tuesday morning when he referred to the federal law enforcement agency as the “Gestapo” while floating a curious defense of documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Trump is referencing an August search and seizure completed by the FBI that netted dozens, if not hundreds, of classified documents of various reported security levels. The seizure came after an 18-month game of cat and mouse in which Trump and his lawyers appeared to purposely obfuscate the possession of materials, which even included a letter signed by a Trump attorney that there were no more classified documents at the Palm Beach manse. Turns out? There were.
But in the curious words of Trump himself, many of the so-called documents “were merely inexpensive and very common folders with words such as “Presidential Reading,” “Confidential,” “Classified,” or other words stamped on the front cover.” The former president appears to be making the “I’m just a folder collector” defense, which is rarely used because, well, it is so laughable on the face of it.
Trump made the weird claim on social media, writing:
Many of the so-called “documents” that the “Gestapo” took in the Raid of Mar-a-Lago, unlike the”No Raids of Biden,” were merely inexpensive and very common folders with words such as “Presidential Reading,” “Confidential,” “Classified,” or other words stamped on the front cover. There was nothing inside of the folders because, during meetings where information was passed out, say at the Oval Office, when finished the papers inside were taken back, but the empty folders were left behind…..
While the empty folder defense is ridiculous, Trump’s casual use of Nazi terms to blame the FBI should raise significant eyebrows. For the uninformed, the Gestapo is short for the “Geheime Staatspolizei” which Hermann Göring created in 1933 as the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
Trump later added a second “Page Two”:
Page Two: I would put them in a pile and keep them as momentous. Nothing wrong with that, but sounds to me that the Injustice Department views these as DOCUMENTS – They are not! These people are just out looking for trouble! Should be checking Biden’s unsecured classified docs instead. How about the 1,850 Boxes sent to Delaware. That’s the mother load! Or separately, how about revealing who spied on my campaign, stuffed the ballot boxes, or paid off the FBI? That’s what people want to hear!
This is not the first time Trump has trotted out the “folder collectible” gambit, as he made a similar claim on January 18th.
A corollary to Godwin’s Law states that “as an Internet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler increases, and whoever makes that comparison has automatically ‘lost’ whatever debate was in progress.”
Extending this axiom to Trump’s “best defense is a good offense” tactic: does his labeling the FBI the “Gestapo” make him a loser? Absolutely.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
