Ticked the deep state is out to get Trump, a scofflaw? May I make a rude observation? He asks for it, then claims he is a victim and turns his victimization into epic fundraising. Trump has a history of raising his third finger to rules and laws throughout his life. At risk now is setting a precedent that any president in the future does not need to abide by laws...a phrase often used is the president above the law. In the question of Mar-a-Lago, which law is at issue, the affidavit made it clear that the statute in question was not if he mishandled material marked classified. When Trump claims he has the power to declassify any classified information as president, even if he does not go through the steps required to do it, that is irrelevant because that is not what the DOJ is contesting. Per the affidavit, what the DOJ was possibly charging was violations of the espionage act, whether the documents he stole and hid away contained information that endangered national security because they included names of human intelligence agents and information about how the FBI and national security officials do their work. If any foreign spies got their hands on such sensitive information due to, his actions would be the most explosive outcome. The damage assessment is in progress. The other charges involved could include obstruction of justice and lying to comply with months of requests by the National Archives and finally by the FBI to return them, classified or not, per the requirement of the statutes.
Trump has a reputation and history of seeing how far he could go and what he could get away with whenever rules, laws, ethics, and shady practices were involved. USA Today compiled a list of a history of over 4 thousand civil lawsuits and criminal/civic fraud in his lifetime. If Trump observed the rule of law and the rules under which he operated and did not defy, skirt, and ignore them to feather his own financial nest and power positions, he would not be the target of so many lawsuits and criminal investigations. His legal entanglements never changed his behavior, and he turned it into a money maker.
In the days when he was in private business, he lost suits, was fined, paid restitution, and racked up substantial legal fees. He was famous for stiffing those who provided services for which they were not paid and being sued. It was the cost of doing business his way. Now in public life, those costs in defending himself are being borne by political supporters. He arranged for the RNC to pay $1.6 million in legal fees and raised over $250 million from his devoted followers on the lie since debunked that the election was stolen. Little went to attempts to overturn the election and a non-existent "legal defense fund" in a PAC. Still, much went to a fund that paid for some of his personal lifestyle expenses and income. After the Mar-a-Largo raid, he raised a million a day for the same non-existent legal defense fund. The Trump Save America PAC has over $99 million in its coffers.
The lawsuits and criminal and civil fraud charges arise from his stiffing suppliers, lenders, insurers, and service providers, and civil and criminal fraud, misusing charity foundations, avoiding tax-paying, and then getting gullible supporters to write a check to help out when he gets caught or accused. Sometimes he wins in court, and other times he loses. Recent estimates are his net worth is $3 billion. He brought that modus operandi into the White House, and we now see it writ large in the Mar-a-Lago documents seizure by the FBI. What is most disturbing is that most of his supporters do not give a whit and look for ways to rationalize their own anti-government, anti-rule of law attitudes, and political loyalty, as well. . It says much about the character of his supporters and their own moral standards, gullibility, and priorities.
USA TODAY Network: Dive into Donald Trump's thousands of lawsuits - USA TODAY
Trump rakes in millions off FBI search at Mar-a-Lago - The Washington Post
What Is Donald Trump's Net Worth? (investopedia.com)
USA TODAY exclusive: Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn't pay his bills
https://www.npr.org/2022/08/24/1118946905/trump-pac-money-fec
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