Guam republicans concerned Biden administration has weaponized the federal police to take out competition

Waltine Torre Nauta and former President Donald Trump were indicted together Thursday (Guam time) by the federal grand jury in Florida. Mr. Nauta, a Navy veteran, is from Guam, and among the closest aides to Mr. Trump.

According to the indictment, Mr. Trump illegally retained and showed off classified documents critical to the nation’s security after he was president. And, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating Mr. Trump, the indictment states – among other things – that he directed his personal aide, Waltine Nauta “to move boxes of documents to conceal them from TRUMP’s attorney, the FBI, and the grand jury.”

The indictment also alleges Mr. Trump suggested to Mr. Nauta that the aide “hide or destroy documents called for by the grand jury subpoena.”

According to the indictment, Mr. Nauta followed Mr. Trump’s orders.

Mr. Nauta is named as the co-conspirator in the indictment, and is alleged to have personally taken the boxes of classified documents from the White House along with Trump, in January 2021.

The political “weaponization of federal” law enforcement

Mr. Trump is running for president in 2024.

“I believe the two indictments were a severe abuse of the criminal justice system, and entirely politically-motivated to interfere with Americans’ Constitutional right to freely elect their leaders,” Guam Attorney General Douglas Moylan said. “Political prosecutions rarely go well for the architects.”

“Juries of our peers are ordinarily very wise and see through such subterfuge,” the attorney general foresees.

“It’s obviously a case of the weaponization of federal resources, and the timing is very suspect,” Guam Congressman Jim Moylan said. “Nonetheless, just as any individual facing indictments, we will let the judicial process take its course.”

A friend of Mr. Nauta’s, who asked to remain anonymous, said of Mr. Nauta, “He’s grass rooted and worked hard for everything he has. He comes from a humble family here.”

Mr. Nauta has won both Mr. Trump’s trust and praise over the years.

“Earlier this year I was asked my thoughts on President Trump and stated that he’s an icon, he represents a population of individuals who are not ‘main stream’ but rather, individual thinkers and more, patriots with traditional beliefs and values,” Republican Party of Guam National Committeewoman Shelly Gibson said.  “They’re often referred to and feel ‘forgotten.’ Trump gave them a place and despite his choice of provocative words and occasionally outlandish and misunderstood approaches in policy, has endeared himself!

“My opinion on this most recent indictment is vexing. With the weaponizing of various government agencies and departments focused on destroying President Trump’s popularity evidenced in his wide positive polling leading 2024, it doesn’t surprise me! Frankly, it’s typical double standard at play, selective enforcement.
It’s sensationalism and this icon, Trump is an easy target. Considering the sources and limitless resources, the zealousness and lustful hate for him, sure why not? I don’t buy into the indictments. I think assertions been proven false in the past as these will.”

“The same way that people rushed to judgment in the case of Congressman San Nicolas before any legal process ever started – and it just died – we should be concerned about any political weaponization of the criminal justice system,” a written statement from the Republican Party of Guam states. “We fully believe in the democratic process, and we believe the courts will reach the right conclusion. The charges are serious, but before we start condemning everybody, we should allow the judicial process to proceed, and let the courts decide. We strongly believe in a democratic system of law, and the truth will be revealed.”

The Republican Party of Guam statement about former Congressman Michael San Nicolas refers to allegations a now-disgraced ethics panel leader made about Mr. San Nicolas to the U.S. Department of Justice that thus far has not resulted in any criminal charges. That ethics panel leader, who led the investigation against Mr. San Nicolas, months later was arrested for pummeling his car into a Virginia home, allegedly while drunk, and allegedly attempting to bribe the owner of the home to not alert authorities.

Guam democrats keep focus on local recovery

Asked to react to the indictment, Democratic Party of Guam chairman Anthony Babauta acknowledged the seriousness of the charges against Mr. Trump, but instead focused on how the indictment may or may not affect the ongoing disaster recovery effort:

“The news of former President Trump indicates a serious breach of federal law supported by evidence gathered by federal law enforcement agencies and an indictment decided upon by a federal grand jury. Though parts of various political idealogues will celebrate the indictment of Mr. Trump, our justice system needs to continue to run its course. His stronghold on the GOP makes it unclear how his legal problems will affect the GOP’s upcoming Presidential primary. The intrigue of it all is something we watch from Guam and our sister Territories, but as we don’t participate in the election of President I don’t believe it affects our respective local political discourse or our continuing effort, in Guam’s case, to recover from Typhoon Mawar, to support those GovGuam agencies restoring power and water to our community, provide as much assistance as possible to those still suffering from Mawar’s damages, and the recovery of Guam’s economy.”

Mr. Babauta is a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

CIA, State, NSA documents among USIC documents concealed and found

The documents contained classified intelligence from the United States Intelligence Community, to include documents from the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Justice, the National Security Agency, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, the Department of Energy, and the Department of State and Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

Between January 2021 and March 2021, the documents were contained in boxes that were on display on the stage of the Trump Mar-A-Lago resort’s ballroom. The indictment contains a picture of the boxes on display.

The FBI discovered a string of text messages allegedly between Mr. Nauta and employees of the resort regarding the location and staging of the boxes. Another string of conversation, according to the indictment, describes Mr. Trump discussing the contents of classified documents with a staffer without security clearance.

According to the indictment, Mr. Trump also disclosed classified information about an ongoing military operation, including a classified map of a certain country to a representative of a political action committee who had no security clearance to see the documents.

False statements to the FBI

“When interviewed by the FBI in May 2022 regarding the location and movement of boxes before the production to NARA, NAUTA made false and misleading statements as set forth in Count 38 of this Indictment,” the charges state.

Among those alleged false statements were that Mr. Trump was not aware the boxes were being brought to Mr. Trump’s residence, and having no knowledge of the transportation of documents.

According to the indictment, Mr. Nauta removed one of the boxes containing classified documents from a storage area after the subpoena for documents, and one day before Mr. Trump’s attorneys told the former president they needed to see the documents in order to respond to the subpoena.

When the attorneys made that request, the indictment alleges Mr. Trump suggested lying to the grand jury.

The movement of the boxes

The following day, according to the indictment, Mr. Nauta removed three more boxes from the same storage room. Six days later, on “May 30, 2022, at 9:08 a.m., TRUMP and NAUTA spoke by phone for approximately 30 seconds. Between 10:02 a.m. and 11:51 a.m., NAUTA removed a total of approximately 50 boxes from the Storage Room.”

About 30 minutes later, according to the indictment, Mr. Nauta engaged in a text conversation with an unnamed Trump family member about their inability to take the boxes on a plane that was instead filled with luggage.

Mr. Trump was charged with 31 counts of Willful Retention of National Defense Information. He and Mr. Nauta were charged with one count each of Obstruction of Justice, Withholding a Document or Record, Corruptly Concealing a Document or Record, Concealing a Document in a Federal Investigation, Scheme to Conceal, and two counts of False Statements and Representations.

HERE IS THE INDICTMENT