As RedState reported, the DOJ dropped a filing on Tuesday evening in an attempt to deny the appointment of a special master regarding the documents seized during the now infamous Trump raid. In that filing was a photograph that set leftwing hearts a flutter, purporting to show “top secret” documents scattered on the floor of a Mar-a-Lago storage room.

In reality, the documents were found in boxes per the DOJ’s own documentation.

The amount of people who think the feds found the docs like that is staggering.

If you read the gov't brief, it says the docs were found in boxes and drawers.

You know when the police pose next to pictures of guns and drugs? That's what this is. A pic arranged by the feds. https://t.co/IROJG2WZnp

— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) August 31, 2022

The DOJ knew what it was doing putting that photo out, though. They wanted to gin up more “the walls are closing in” outrage from the left, and sure enough, they got it. Social media was swamped with hysterical declarations that charges were incoming. That picture was “criminal evidence,” they screeched while racking up the likes and shares along the way.

But while The New York Times broke the story (because it’s a DOJ pipeline for leaks), apparently many didn’t bother to read the details. There’s a rather inconvenient line not being talked about.

Reading up on the DoJ filings this morning, and this sentence appears in the @nytimes: “But department officials are not expected to file charges imminently, if they ever do.”

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 31, 2022

Here’s a taste of the reaction to that news.

the way you posed this, struck me as odd, so how do YOU react to the most recent revelations of Trump's stealing vital documents and obviously obstructing the search for this contraband? just because the DOJ might be cautious about prosecuting FPOTUS doesn't mean they shouldn't

— DaveLindeman 🌊🇺🇦🌊🇺🇦🌊 (@dvlnd3) August 31, 2022

Because he gets away with EVERYTHING ALWAYS DOES.

— KIMBERLY SPARKS (@KIMBERL48878663) August 31, 2022

I’m not going to say “I told you so” quite yet, but it feels like things are getting close. If you’ve read my past coverage of the raid, my opinion has been that the DOJ doesn’t want the hassle of actually charging Trump. That would mean having to defend all this in court while acknowledging they are breaking the precedent given to Hillary Clinton.

In the end, Trump is going to come out of this looking better than he has in a long time. The resistance continues to cling to their hopes of an FBI frog march, but it still feels like they overplayed their hand. Trump is not getting charged under the Espionage Act. He’s not even going to be charged with anything, in my opinion.

Told you… https://t.co/T3MON9B2Fa pic.twitter.com/QYKKfjRNP4

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 31, 2022

It’s much more beneficial for the DOJ to keep all this ambiguous by not filing charges. That way, they can keep leaking what they want to generate bad headlines. I think that’s what this was about. The government wanted the documents back as a way to stick their finger in Trump’s eye, and instead of just letting things continue to play out in court, the DOJ signed off on the raid knowing it would be used as more resistance fodder.

Now, perhaps the DOJ will end up charging Trump in relation to some fantastical theory about January 6th, but I don’t think these documents are going to lead to anything but more letdowns for the far-left. If I’m wrong, I’ll be back to admit it, but it just feels like this was a political ploy more than a move to cement a real criminal investigation.