There was a time, not that long ago really, when Donald Trump said he cared about the sanctity of classified information. That, of course, was when his opponent was accused of jeopardizing it and it was a useful political weapon for Trump.

Throughout 2016, he castigated Hillary Clinton for using a private email server instead of a secure government one. "I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information,” he declared. "No one will be above the law.” Clinton’s cavalier handling of the sensitive information, he said, "disqualifies her from the presidency.”

Seven years later, Trump faces criminal charges for endangering national security by taking classified documents when he left the White House and refusing to return all of them even after being subpoenaed. Even in the what-goes-around-comes-around department of American politics, it is rather remarkable that the issue that helped propel Trump to the White House in the first place now threatens to ruin his chances of getting back there.