Politicians and legal experts agree that Donald Trump’s legal difficulties have gotten out of hand and might derail his chances of winning the next election.
Trump and three of his adult children were charged on Wednesday with engaging in a “staggering” fraud scheme in which they systematically overstated the worth of his properties in order to benefit themselves.
The civil lawsuit was brought by the attorney general of New York at the same time that the FBI is looking into whether Trump held confidential government records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and that a special grand jury in Georgia is examining whether he and others tried to sway Georgia election officials after he lost to Joe Biden there.
The former US president has made several suggestions that he wants to run for president again in 2024. However, the series of criminal, civil, and legislative investigations may still fail to succeed.
Professor of history at American University in Washington, Allan Lichtman, who has correctly called every presidential election since 1984, stated, “He’s done.” Even if he manages to avoid jail and bankruptcy, he carries too much baggage to be able to run again. I doubt he will manage to get out of jail.
Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, said after a three-year investigation that Trump supplied misleading asset appraisals and deceptive assertions of his net worth in order to get and repay loans, receive insurance benefits, and avoid paying taxes. Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric’s children were all included as defendants.
James made fun of Trump’s 1987 autobiography and business how-to book The Art of the Deal during a press conference.
“This investigation showed that Donald Trump participated in years of unlawful activity to inflate his net worth, to defraud banks, and to deceive the people of the great state of New York,” the study’s findings stated. Making a false claim about your financial situation does not constitute “the art of the sale.” It’s the stealth art,” she declared.
Her agency asked the state to impose a family business prohibition and to require the former president to pay at least $250 million in fines.
James stated that she was reporting claims of criminal fraud to federal prosecutors in Manhattan as well as the Internal Revenue Service even though she is unable to file criminal charges against Trump in this civil probe.
Using his Truth Social platform, Trump once again claimed that the lawsuit is “another witch hunt” against him and referred to Black James as racist. He also called James “a fraud who campaigned on a ‘get Trump’ platform, despite the fact that the city is one of the crime and murder disasters of the world under her watch!”
However, detractors claimed that Trump’s self-presentation as a wealthy real estate developer who made billions hosting the reality television program The Apprentice and vowed to use his economic savvy to win the presidency is undermined by the lawsuit.
The civil component, according to Harvard University constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe, “involves things of particular significance to Trump and his family and his organization, namely their ability to defraud the public, to defraud banks, to defraud insurance companies, and to continue to subsist through corruption. Without all of that corruption, the entire Trump organization is close to collapsing.
Trump is likely more worried about issues of this nature than he is with having to wear an orange jumpsuit and maybe respond to a criminal charge, Tribe continued. Practically speaking, this will likely keep Mr. Trump up more nights than virtually anything else.
No past president has ever faced this many and serious of an inquiry. FBI officials searched Mar-a-Lago last month and found government papers with the designations Top Secret, Secret, and Confidential. Trump may be charged with breaking the Espionage Act, hindering a federal investigation, or handling secret government documents improperly.
Trump attempted to sour the legal process, as he has done so frequently throughout his commercial career. By convincing a court to appoint Raymond Dearie as a special master to evaluate the documents, he gained time. Dearie, though, doesn’t seem to be a yes guy at this point. He issued a warning to Trump’s attorneys on Tuesday: “In my opinion, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
In Georgia, a state grand jury is also looking into the ex-alleged president’s attempts to rig Georgia’s 2020 election results. The US Capitol was attacked fatally on January 6 by a crowd of his followers who wanted to stop the certification of Biden’s election victory. The law department is looking into his involvement in this incident. The concurrent probe by a House of Representatives committee, whose hearings are scheduled to start next week, has helped it in its efforts.
Additionally, the Trump Organization, which oversees hotels, golf courses, and other properties around the globe, is scheduled to go on trial the following month in a case alleging that it planned to give senior executives untaxed benefits, including its longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg, who alone received more than $1.7m in extras.
Despite all, Trump has been preparing for a future return campaign and has claimed that Biden’s government is out to harm his chances of winning office.
If he were to be charged with possessing secret papers at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said in response to a question from a conservative radio host, “I believe you’d have issues in this nation the likes of which probably we’ve never seen before. The American people, in my opinion, wouldn’t tolerate it.
“If the greatest defense you have for your actions is: If you hold me accountable, there will be violence, that sounds like someone who has no place being in public service or being outside of jail,” said Kurt Bardella, a Democratic National Committee adviser.
Bardella expressed optimism that Trump will finally be held accountable. “The grift has always been at the center of everything about Donald Trump. The con has always been the focus. The time for his unveiling has come.