Kevin McCarthy Argues That Trump Hoarding Documents Next to the Toilet Was Sufficiently Secure Because ‘A Bathroom Door Locks’
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) defended former President Donald Trump’s storage of classified documents, telling reporters Monday that at least one of the now-viral photos allegedly showing the documents at his residence at Mar-a-Lago was fine because “a bathroom door locks.”
Last Friday, the Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of the ex-president with 37 criminal counts spelling out how Trump retained boxes of documents that “included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign counties; 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.”
Some of the most shocking allegations in the indictment relate to communications from Trump, his family members, his attorneys, and other staffers acknowledging that he had retained classified information that had not been declassified — plus the now-viral photos showing boxes of documents that allegedly contained classified information, stacked up in bathrooms, ballroom stages, storage rooms, and other nonsecure areas.
Trump, unsurprisingly, has reacted with a series of bombastic Truth Social posts and furious screeds during his speeches and interviews over the past few days, peppered throughout with his customary insistence that he is the victim of a “witch hunt.”
The ex-president “is falling back on his witch hunt playbook,” said CNN’s Dana Bash to introduce the clip of McCarthy, “and his Republican allies are playing right along. Just minutes ago, the House Speaker deployed some bathroom humor to discuss the special counsel’s indictment.”
“Was that a good look for the former president to have boxes in a bathroom?” a reporter asked McCarthy.
“I don’t know, is it a good picture to have boxes in a garage that opens up all the time?” he replied, presumably referring to the classified documents that were found in the garage at President Joe Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home — and, in a critically important difference, immediately and voluntarily turned over to the government (also, presumably, a garage door is capable of being locked and a bathroom door can be opened, but we digress).
“A bathroom door locks,” McCarthy added.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and served on the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, joined Bash to discuss the indictment and started with McCarthy’s comments.
“Well, it’s the first I’ve seen that particular defense, but is he suggesting that these boxes of classified documents got up and locked the door after people left the bathroom?” said Raskin with a chuckle. “I’m not quite sure I follow the logic of it.”
The Maryland congressman continued with a more serious tone. “Look, the documents were unlawfully in Donald Trump’s possession, which was bad enough, which is a violation of the law, but even when given the opportunity to return them to the [National] Archives, to turn them back over to the government, Trump refused to do so, repeatedly. That’s what he’s being charged with — that obstruction of justice and playing that game of cat and mouse with the government.”
Watch above via CNN.
