Ever since the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago this week, American political commentary has lit up with talk of the rule of law. Echoing attorney general Merrick Garland, the press has cast the raid as a “return to the rule of law,” a demonstration of the “bedrock principle” that “no president is above the law,” and has dramatically reaffirmed that even if presidents “commit crimes, they must answer for them.”

This is all sort of true — and sort of not.

It seems the raid of Donald Trump’s Florida home was over an issue far narrower than many first speculated: his improper handling of classified documents, including highly sensitive nuclear secrets and the intercepted communications of foreign leaders. It’s hard to say where any of this is going, but if Trump does end up being prosecuted over carelessly storing government secrets in his house, it’s only fair. Ordinary people don’t get away with these kinds of infractions, like the US Navy sailor who spent a year in jail for guilelessly taking photos inside of the classified areas of a nuclear submarine as a keepsake to show his family.