Trump Disgraced
By Richard C. Gross
“Th’ abuse of power is, when it disjoins remorse from power,” William Shakespeare, Brutus in “Julius Caesar,” Act II, Scene 1.
Finally.
And now what?
Now that scowling Donald John Trump has been convicted of fraud by a judge on New York’s Supreme Court, what does that mean for his candidacy as president? Shouldn’t he end it? It’s time to ask some important questions.
Resigning would be the proper thing for Trump to do, wouldn’t it? But, hey, this is Trump. And eight years of experience with him tells us that Trump and the word “proper” don’t fit in the same sentence.
For starters, I mean, why would anyone vote for someone to lead their country if that person were brought down for a crime so serious that the judge has ordered Trump to pay a fine close to half a billion dollars? That’s “b” as in billion. Isn’t that a lot of money, inflation aside?
And let us not forget that he still faces four criminal trials totaling 91 felonies. And $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll, whom he raped at a Bergdorf Goodman and defamed.
This is someone who said he is innocent of all charges, right. Yet how do you reconcile pleading innocent with stalling big time to run out the clock until Election Day in hopes of winning and then getting all cases dismissed? If you’re innocent, why stall? Don’t you want to get it over with?
He said he is innocent. Said.
“I wouldn’t believe Donald Trump if his tongue were notarized,” onetime New York Mayor Ed Koch once said, according to Sidney Blumenthal, a senior adviser to the Clintons and now a columnist for The Guardian.
Can Trump survive demands for him to resign, to bow out and maybe hand the baton to Nikki Haley? Does he even have the ability, an underlying code of honor befitting a presidential candidate, to do that? To admit that he was wrong? Does that sound like the Trump we know?
Trump has made a mockery of us since even before he rode down that high falutin’ gold escalator to announce his candidacy for president in 2015. We knew then what he was, and don’t you think this judge’s decision confirms it for us? Didn’t it nail him? Show us plain and simple what he is – a fraud? Finally?
But we all know Trump isn’t about to stop his campaign for reelection. He’s not going to get aboard his plane – Trump Force One, a sick blowhard’s takeoff on the real president’s Air Force One – and take a vacation far away and not bother running for the White House.
Do you think Trump is worried? He has to pay $354 million in penalties for ill-gotten gains from property sales in 30 days or secure a bond plus $100 million in interest. He must acquire the bond before he can appeal the ruling. Maybe he’s not worried at all about that.
Trump once told the judge in this case, white haired Arthur F. Engoron, that he has more than $400 million hanging around in cash. Wow. Talk about a lot of money. In his checking account? Savings? Both? Russian bonds?
Trump’s net worth is $3.1 billion, about $600 million of it in cash, Bloomberg Billionaires Index recently estimated, according to The Washington Post.
Most importantly, what does this conviction mean for the presidential election in November? What can the Republicans in Congress do about this, if anything? Trump still appears to be in command of the Republican Party, once known as the Grand Old Party, and recreating it in his image.
Has the conviction for fraud soiled that image? If the Republicans continue to hang onto Trump’s coattails, is that what the average voter wants for a president and members of Congress?
Of course, Trump said he will appeal the decision. But it seems as if Attorney General Letitia James brought forth a strong case.
The real estate developer, TV star and a president did little but create chaos for the country and America’s allies during four years in the White House. So why put him there a second time, considering his court record?
And look at Engoron’s description of Trump and his two sons, who were fined $4 million each. Do you think the judge’s statement is a good recommendation about the character of these men:
“Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on the pathological,” he said. They are “incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”
Is that a good, solid endorsement for a presidential candidate James, the attorney general who campaigned on going after Trump, chimed in about the former president at a news conference after the trial Friday. It’s more fodder for voters to think about when balloting becomes available for choosing a president.
“This long running fraud was intentional, egregious, illegal,” she said. “There cannot be different rules for different people in this
country, and former presidents are no exception,” she said.
Isn’t that a terrific thing to know about the ideals of our country, which still are alive in all of this Trump muck?
Apparently so serious was this case that Engoron forbade Trump from serving as an officer in any New York company for three years, including the Trump Organization. He also barred his two sons from the same activity for two years. So, who will run the company?
At a news conference Friday evening at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago retreat, Trump slammed both Engoron and James as “corrupt.” Do you think that’s a wise move to say that about court officers? Would any right-minded individual do that, especially one seeking to appeal a harsh judgment?
Opponents of Trump can hope this court action will cripple him and his presidential campaign, but don’t bet the bank on it yet. Only time will tell.
Richard C. Gross, who covered war and peace in the Middle East and the Pentagon, was foreign editor of United Press International and the opinion page editor of The Baltimore Sun.