Comparing Donald Trump with the 'Glen Burnie man' who went to prison

By Dan Rodricks

While Donald Trump was president, the Department of Justice went after Harold T. Martin III ― known variously in news headlines as "Glen Burnie man" and "NSA contractor" ― for hoarding highly classified documents in his house, in his car and in the dusty, unlocked shed in his backyard.

Police blocked the street where Martin lived while federal agents used a battering ram and set off a flash bang grenade to bust into his two-story house. The FBI's search turned up a trove of top-secret files. A federal grand jury charged "Glen Burnie man" with one of the biggest thefts of documents in the history of the National Security Agency.

"You're a bad man. There's no way around that," an official conducting the raid told Martin. "You're a bad man."

Martin, who was 52 at the time, had worked for several years at the NSA, about 15 miles from his home. As a contract employee, he had absconded with classified documents ― both hard copy and digital ― that, according to federal prosecutors, related to national defense.

Martin went to prison.

Can you guess why I brought this up today?

Exactly! It's because whiny Trump supporters keep making noise about the federal indictment charging the former president with something similar ― willfully and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Florida mansion and obstructing efforts by the government to secure their return.

Trump loyalists defend him and assert that the Biden administration has "weaponized" the DOJ against their man. It's all so wrong and unfair, they cry.

On the other side is Jack Smith, special counsel in the Trump case, stating what most of us consider an American ideal: "We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone."

So I thought we could all use a little perspective on that thing called equal justice by comparing "Mar-a-Lago Man" with "Glen Burnie man." There are similarities and there are differences. Let's get the latter out of the way first.

The indictments against Martin and Trump allege violations of different federal laws.

Martin was accused of theft of government property and "unauthorized removal or retention of classified documents." Investigators seized thousands of hard copy documents, dozens of computers, external hard drives, discs and thumb drives from his house. His theft was massive and occurred over several years before it was detected.

Trump is accused of mishandling classified documents after his presidency by keeping them in several boxes in a ballroom, a storage room and a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump's stash was tiny compared to Martin's. But, in terms of document contents, both cases represented potential threats to national security.

According to published reports and court filings, the documents in Martin's theft involved a top-secret tool the NSA used to hack computer systems of other countries, efforts against global terrorists and "specific operational plans against a known enemy of the United States and its allies."

Trump is charged with keeping documents related to "United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack."

Neither Martin nor Trump were charged with selling or disseminating classified material.

But, in both cases, prosecutors made this point: Such breaches could have damaged intelligence efforts and put lives at risk. Martin's crimes, said federal prosecutors in Baltimore, "require the government to treat the stolen material as compromised, resulting in the government having to take remedial actions including changing or abandoning national security programs."

Trump's indictment says his alleged crimes "could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods."

Trump is also charged with making false statements and with conspiracy to withhold or hide government documents.

The former president, of course, has proclaimed his innocence. He is free to roam the countryside to raise campaign funds and howl about the injustice of his indictment.

No such bellyaching came from "Glen Burnie man."

Harold Martin was handcuffed at his home in August 2016 and detained as a flight risk for the next three years. In March 2019, he pleaded guilty to the charges against him and, four months later, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett sentenced him to nine years in prison.

All things being equal ― and that's an ideal, not a reality, in criminal justice ― Trump, if convicted, should get some prison time. I mean, there you have it.

Martin is still incarcerated. He received credit for the time he had served before sentencing and is eligible for release in May 2024. He is currently held at a federal facility in Massachusetts that treats inmates who need long-term medical or mental health care.

Before he sentenced Martin, Judge Bennett heard testimony that the former NSA contractor had suffered from untreated mental illness that left him lonely and isolated at work. A psychologist who evaluated Martin said the documents he brought home "became a tangible representation of his worth." He noted that Martin had attempted to return the documents but found himself unable to emotionally separate from them.

That might explain Trump: Unable to emotionally separate from the presidency, he kept some top-secret docs that gave him a "tangible representation of his worth."

I know: Objection! Speculation has no place in a court of law.

That's why I confine my practice to a newspaper column.

This article was published in the Baltimore Sun and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.