But the Jan. 6 events were visible for the world to see. They played out in real time, with cameras capturing almost every moment of the attack on Congress and electronic conversations documenting the lead-up to that day. State officials have taken the conspiracy theories from that realm and have changed laws and policies at home to make it easier to countermand unfavorable results in future elections. And some of those who attended the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol are now on the ballots this fall.
Secreted away documents are tougher for the public to get excited about, no matter how sensitive the materials. A paper trail isn’t a mob. The evidence of Trump’s direct involvement may be stronger when it comes to spy papers in the basement, but it lacks the emotional trigger that Jan. 6 still brings. Unless there’s evidence Trump was passing those documents to hostile actors or they contained incriminating information he was desperate to hide, most Americans will shrug it off as yet another example of Trump and his orbit lacking any respect for norms or discipline to actually do their jobs. (Or the bar may even be higher. As President, Trump gave Russia pieces of Israeli intelligence with no real consequence.)
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