Dear Editor,

I just watched a snippet of two Trump rallies, and had such a strong reaction. Trump was in true form and had his ardent followers listening intently. He told them that the classified documents case against him was a “witch hunt” designed to take out the front-runner for the Republican Party. Trump said several times that he was taking this indictment “for you”…his adoring followers. He said, “They are not indicting me, they’re indicting you. I’m just standing in their way.”

That begs the question, how many of these rally goers did what Trump did. He took A LOT of classified material, hoarded it, defied court subpoenas to return it, then hid it in bathrooms and closets, moved it, lied to his lawyers about it and had them sign affidavits declaring that all had been returned when this was clearly untrue, and finally conspired to turn off the surveillance camera footage around the areas these many boxes were stored. All those guilty of these acts, please step forward. Nope…just Trump did that.

Heather Cox Richardson’s blog. Letter from an American, puts this into context. Richardson begins by quoting legal columnist Ruth Marcus from the Washington Post. “The alleged conduct - yes, even after all these years of watching Trump flagrantly flout norms - is nothing short of jaw-dropping: Trump allegedly conspired with others to destroy evidence.” If the allegations hold up, “the former president is a common criminal - and an uncommonly stupid one.”

Richardson then in her own words says, “This superseding indictment reiterates the material from the original indictment, and as I reread it, it still blows my mind that Trump allegedly compromised national security documents from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (surveillance imagery), the National Reconnaissance Office (surveillance and maps), the Department of Energy (nuclear weapons), and the Department of State and Bureau of Intelligence and Research (diplomatic intelligence). It sounds like he was a one-man wrecking ball, aimed at our national security.”

One other thing…Trump used bone spurs in his feet to get out of Viet Nam, not that it keeps him from walking his many golf courses. He is alleged to have said to Michael Cohen, his fixer, “I’m not going to f___ ng Viet Nam.” Yet this vain man has now put in jeopardy many aspects of our national security.

Freedom isn’t free. Just look at all the crosses at any National Cemetery. I went to Viet Nam as did two of my brothers. He didn’t; yet he has put in real danger, many who are fighting to defend it today, right now. Why? For vanity? For leverage? We may never know what is in this man’s delusional mind. Yet he’s still 30 points ahead of all other Republican candidates, which, in itself, is truly astounding. I’m not sure what might shake the devotion to this liar, but one can hope that this ends with our constitutional democracy still intact. This is a country of laws, and we must uphold them for all. Period.

Bill Thibedeau,

Gilpin County