Indictment Points to Ego as Motive for Trumps Hoarding Documents

Until now, a prominent unanswered question hanging over the months-long probe into why Donald Trump had top secret documents after he left the White House has involved motive essentially, why did the former president take specific documents in the first place? What did he plan to do with them? Speculation has ranged from purposes accidental to malicious.

While the 37-count criminal indictment does not speak specifically to the idea of motive and the reasons could be many and yet unknown the 49-page charging document does for the first time feature accounts of Trump using the documents. And in each case, the primacy of national security and military intelligence is subordinate to Trump proving hes right.

Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has been investigating Trumps handling of classified materials, with the case centering on whether Trump knowingly kept such documents in violation of the law and if he purposefully took steps to keep classified materials in violation of a 2022 subpoena requiring their return.