Travis Gettys is a senior editor for Raw Story based in northern Kentucky. He previously worked as a web editor for WLWT-TV and a contributing writer for the Kentucky Enquirer, and he also wrote for the award-winning Sadly, No! blog. He has covered national, state and local politics, breaking news, criminal investigations and trials, sports and a variety of community issues, with a special emphasis on racial justice, right-wing extremism and gun safety.
The former president was given the chance to return the classified materials he took from the White House and avoid criminal charges, but instead he held onto those documents and tried to hide them from authorities -- and he was finally indicted last week after a months-long investigation.
"I mean, if we'd had this many documents, they'd never do a plea deal," said host Joe Scarborough.
"He had every chance to return them," added co-host Mika Brzezinski.
"This whole idea, you know, the big lie that there is a two-tiered justice system, 'what about Hillary?'" Scarborough continued. "That lie is blown to pieces."
Trump tried repeatedly, but failed to get the Department of Justice to investigate his rivals for political gain, Scarborough said, and now Republicans are finally being forced to reckon with the former president's crimes.
"No prosecutor would bring a case against Hillary Clinton, even that lie is having blown out of the water," Scarborough said. "The 'Biden crime family' lie is being blown out of the water. They're being forced to look at Donald Trump, and they're seeing a guy who stole nuclear secrets, lied about it repeatedly, lied to the DOJ, lied to the FBI, lied to his own lawyers about it."
"Donald Trump looks like an idiot on this one," said contributor Elise Jordan. "He had a chance, he had a do-over, couldn't bring himself to do it. At the end of the day, if you're arguing about the refs, if you're arguing about the DOJ and FBI, you're losing."