Whether you love the guy or hate him, Donald J. Trump is an American icon.
Having built his fortune in the wilds of high-end Manhattan real estate, then converting that fortune into fame, which resulted in a bevy of New York Times Bestselling books; moving from the world of books, commercials, and reality television, Trump leveraged it all so he could run for the President of the United States. He waged an unconventional campaign in 2016, knocking out not one—but two—political dynasties from both major parties, the Bushes of the GOP and the Clintons of the DNC.
Trump then became America’s most controversial president.
Throughout his chaotic tenure in the White House, Trump was beset by endless leaks, investigations, and an assortment of other controversies, some of them self-inflicted, many of them the result of a vicious, partisan Administrative State viscerally opposed to Trump’s mere presence in the seat of power.
Trump alleges the intelligence community and justice system were weaponized against the former President and his top aides. While Trump enjoyed some victories—such as surviving the Russia collusion and his first impeachment—the longer arc of Trump’s difficult path has been defined by defeat.
This is not to excuse Trump from whatever transgressions he committed. Surely, Trump’s character is bare for all to see (and has been for decades). The man is not an angel. He’s a totally self-obsessed oligarch who likely attempted to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as he left office – possibly because he believed that the election had been stolen, we will never truly know for sure what his state of mind was.
In fact, since his final year in office, when an otherwise successful presidency – from a policy perspective – had been totally gutted by Trump’s awful decision-making, Trump has been placed under increasing amounts of pressure by the legal system.
Trump’s List of Legal Horribles
Trump’s accusers are many, and his list of accusations is long. The former president has engaged in illicit hush money payments to an adult film star. Trump defamed a journalist, E. Jean Carroll, and assaulted her. Indictments have proliferated that Trump allegedly attempted to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power on January 6. Another round of indictments have smothered Trump for claims of the former president’s mishandling of classified documents.
A Georgia prosecution is underway to determine if Trump attempted to unduly influence the 2020 election results in the Peach State.
As all that occurs, a constitutional challenge to Trump’s eligibility to ever hold office again under the terms of the so-called “Insurrection Clause” of the Fourteenth Amendment is working its way through the country’s court system.
If it is legally determined that Trump attempted to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power on January 6, 2021, it is likely that the Fourteenth Amendment challenge will have serious ramifications both for Trump’s legal future as well as for his prospects of ever holding high office again.
Trump has been indicted on a combined 91 felony charges. No one—not even “Teflon Don” survives that.
Now, Trump has suffered another indignity.
The New York State court system has revoked many of the Trump Organization’s business licenses in the state of New York. It remains unclear what the result of this ruling will be. Here again, though, we have a totally weaponized legal system prosecuting Trump not by fabricating charges about the former president.
But by using his own corrupt actions to stymie his political agenda.
Trump has even admitted to inflating the price of his properties to gain favorable loans throughout the course of his career in Manhattan real estate. The New York court found that the Trump Organization inflated the value of its real estate holdings by upwards of an astonishing 200 percent.
Trump’s defense is that he always paid those loans back. Indeed, but as the presiding judge in the case made clear, it was still fraudulent behavior. And Trump knew it was, too.
Slow Roasting a (Former) President
The 91 combined felony indictments. The Fourteenth Amendment challenge. The revocation of Trump’s business licenses in New York State means that Donald Trump is truly cooked. Regardless of whether the former president wins the GOP Primary (right now, it looks like he’s winning), chances are high Trump will not hold office.
He is in the process of being slowly roasted by his opponents. Rather than focusing his time and efforts on defending himself and letting a Republican ally take power so that they can pardon him, Trump insists on going-for-broke and becoming president again.
Donald Trump is at a legal dead-end. Nothing good, either for him, the GOP, or the country, comes next. He needs to drop out of the race before it’s too late.
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor and an energy analyst at the The-Pipeline, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert occasionally serves as a Subject Matter Expert for various organizations, including the Department of Defense. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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