Dem
47
GOP
53
There may not be much we can do about the corruption that runs deep in the federal government these days. But at least we can document it, and expose it to a little bit of sunlight. So, let's start by adding this to this series of items:
In the second item yesterday, we wrote that even if we focus on all the "corruption" items that have become backlogged, "it will take a good while to get through them all. And that assumes no more corrupt behavior from the administration in the interim. Not a good bet, to say the least." We wish that the administration could have at least waited a day or two to prove us right, but... not so much. Sigh.
The latest—and we're moving it to the front of the line, because it's just so bad—is that Donald Trump has become focused on something that he mentioned in passing several months ago. In short, he has bought completely into the fantasy that not only were the federal investigations of him illegal, but that he was seriously damaged as a result. So, he plans to sue the Department of Justice, to the tune of $230 million. Of course, the DoJ is now populated by Trump flunkies, who have it within their power to say: "Well, gee! He's got such a strong case, guess we better settle." In fact, the person who would likely be the final decider is Deputy AG Todd Blanche, who previously served as... Trump's personal attorney.
Could there be any clearer example of racketeering than this? It's like an old Mafia protection racket: "Nice government you've got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it." And really, it's worse than the Mafia. If Don Corleone advises the owner of the local laundromat that he better pay up, at least it's a tough decision, because he has to weigh the risk of retaliation versus the value of the protection money. But in the case of Blanche or AG Pam Bondi or any of the other fawning lackeys, they don't give a damn. It's not their $230 million that Don Trump is demanding, after all.
Assuming Trump actually moves forward with this, and assuming everything goes according to plan, then he will have found a way to effectively turn the U.S. Treasury into his own personal bank account. After all, if the people deciding whether or not he was "damaged" don't actually care if he's been damaged, he can go back to that well again and again and again. For example, let's say that Fed Chair Jerome Powell is doing an interview, and says that he's not sure that cryptocurrency has a long-term future. Trump could declare that he and his interests have been damaged to the tune of, say, $5 billion, and he wants payment immediately from the Treasury Department. Would Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent say "no"? We're skeptical. And even if Trump does run into a "no" or two, he can concoct a way to make one of the departments run by absolute lackeys—DHS, Justice, State, Education, etc.—"liable."
We can only think of three ways that such a scheme might be prevented (and that's with us grasping at straws). Congress could step in and say "no," up to and including impeachment. This is obviously very unlikely; congressional Republicans will sometimes stand up to one of Trump's nominees, but they don't stand up to him directly. Still, it would be such an egregious fraud against the government and the American people, maybe there would be a dozen or so of them in each chamber for whom it would be too much.
Second, we have no doubt that the MAGA True Believers would be perfectly fine with this, because they believe he really was victimized, and so they believe he really is entitled to damages. But that's only 30% or so of the voting public. Wouldn't pretty much everyone else be horrified by this if Trump tried it? That alone could put tremendous pressure on the members of Congress. And even if they aren't willing to impeach and/or convict, they might become unwilling to act on any of his other demands. Meanwhile, it could end up creating the conditions for a midterm blue tsunami.
Finally, while Trump may never be prosecuted for his crimes, his underlings might be less fortunate. If they help him with his racketeering, they could end up losing their law licenses (if they have them), or they could end up facing state-level criminal charges. Undoubtedly, Trump is going to hand out preemptive pardons like candy before he leaves office, but those won't help with bar hearings or state-level charges. And a clever state AG might well be able to find a way to make a case for jurisdiction (for example, "10% of the tax dollars you gave to Trump were paid by Californians!").
The Donald is feeling absolutely bulletproof these days, and is acting on that in service of the thing he cares most about: money. Perhaps he should read (the picture book version of) the story of King Midas. Maybe it will serve as a cautionary tale. Of course, in Midas' case, the gold was real. (Z)