DRAFT.
Why? Thomas B. Edsall argues convincingly that it is for revenge and positioning for self-interested corruption (joined by Musk in using the power of government for self-interest) while "deactivating internal and external accountability and oversight mechanisms" and making themselves the "law in America." Trump's "I am the law" approach is currently supported by Chief Justice John Roberts gift -- rewriting the meaning of the Constitution -- granting Trump (45 and 47) "absolute immunity from criminal prosecution."
See the Trump Trials Clearinghouse
- Washington D.C.: Federal case on obstruction in the 2020 election. There was a broad spectrum of evidence that Trump engaged in an illegal program of false statements, intimidation and organizing that culminated in a pro-Trump mob storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. See The FINAL REPORT Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. December 22, 2022 -- 117th Congress Second Session -- House Report 117-663 and Just Security's clearinghouse section on this topic. Trump faced four federal charges for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The trial was initially scheduled to start 2024-03-04 but the U.S. Supreme Court slow-walked a review of Trump's claims of total immunity for 8 months (11 Dec 2023 to 01 Jul 2024) before releasing their opinion 3 months before the 2024 presidential election. Chief Justice John Roberts, overruling federal trial and appeals courts, held (for the majority):
Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his offcial acts." (page 2 of the PDF, or page 593 of the Official Reports Of The Supreme Court, Volume 603 U.S. Part 1)
When the President exercises such authority, Congress cannot act on, and courts cannot examine, the President's actions. It follows that an Act of Congress -- either a specifc one targeted at the President or a generally applicable one -- may not criminalize the President's actions within his exclusive constitutional power. Neither may the courts adjudicate a criminal prosecution that examines such Presidential actions. The Court thus concludes that the President is absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for conduct within his exclusive sphere of constitutional authority. (page 3 of the PDF, or page 594 of the Official Reports Of The Supreme Court, Volume 603 U.S. Part 1)
Chief Justice Roberts accused decenters of "fear mongering." Ignoring more than 200 years of U.S. federal government and presidential history when criminal charges were not filed against our former Presidents, Roberts posed a hypothetical that:
the more likely prospect of an Executive Branch that cannibalizes itself, with each successive President free to prosecute his predecessors, yet unable to boldly and fearlessly carry out his duties for fear that he may be next. For instance, Section 371 -- which has been charged in this case -- is a broadly worded criminal statute that can cover “ 'any conspiracy for the purpose of impairing, obstructing or defeating the lawful function of any department of Government.'” United States v. Johnson, 383 U. S. 169, 172 (1966) (quoting Haas v. Henkel, 216 U. S. 462, 479 (1910)). Virtually every President is criticized for insuffciently enforcing some aspect of federal law (such as drug, gun, immigration, or environmental laws). An enterprising prosecutor in a new administration may assert that a previous President violated that broad statute.
Even though our country has existed more than 200 years without experiencing this problem, Roberts asserts:
Without immunity, such types of prosecutions of ex-Presidents could quickly become routine. The enfeebling of the Presidency and our Government that would result from such a cycle of factional strife is exactly what the Framers intended to avoid. (page 49 of the PDF, or page 640 of the Official Reports Of The Supreme Court, Volume 603 U.S. Part 1)
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Florida: Federal classified-documents case. Trump faced 40 federal charges over accusations that he kept top-secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago — his home and private club — and then intentionally resisted government demands that he return them [ also see ]. Judge Aileen Cannon slow-walked most aspects of judicial processes that made up this case since June 8, 2023 and before dismissing the case on July 15, 2024 ruling that the appointment of (prosecutor) Smith had been unconstitutional.
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Georgia: State case on obstruction in the 2020 election Trump faces 13 state charges, Prosecutors alleg that he tried to undo the election results in that state and a Georgia grand jury indicted Trump and 18 allies on August 14, 2023. (On 5 June 2024 the Georgia Court of Appeals stayed this case until an appellate panel resolves questions about whether the district attorney in Fulton County should be disqualified from prosecuting the case because of a conflict of interest.). For a more detailed outline of this case, see Just Security's clearinghouse section on this topic.
- Trump co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro (62) plead guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to file false documents in the Georgia election case. He also agreed to truthfully testify in the case against others. Chesebro was the architect of a plan to use fake Trump electors in Georgia and other key states to replace legitimate 2020 electoral college votes for Biden -- disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 and violating the rules in the Electoral Count Act, with the goal of swinging the election to Trump. If he follows through and testifies honestly at his co-compirator's trials, this could be a material threat to Trump, Rudy Giuliani and others.
- Sidney Powell (68), co-defendant with Donald Trump in the Georgia election conspiracy case, plead guilty and agreed to testify in future trials. Powell played a central role in the conspiracy as an election lawyer who baselessly claimed widespread election fraud in 2020. She was part of Trump’s inner circle of 2020 election denial leaders. She was at strategic meetings, part of important conversations, and she met in-person with Trump at the White House, including on Dec. 18, 2020, to discuss, among other topics, having the military seize voting machines in certain specific counties and "re-running" their elections. She was also involved in tampering with election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia. If she follows through and testifies honestly at her co-compirator's trials, this could be a material threat to Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and others.
- Trump co-defendant Jenna Ellis (38) plead guilty in Georgia election case. Ellis, hired in late 2019 as a legal adviser to the Trump campaign was later part of the post-2020 election legal team had direct links to Trump and also worked closely with Giuliani. If she follows through and testifies honestly at her co-compirator's trials, this could be a material threat to Trump, Rudy Giuliani and others.
- New York: State business fraud case involving a hush money payment in the 2016 election cycle. May 30, 2024, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, (also see the primary source "Verdict Form" (May 30, 2024) documenting how Trump was found guilty by a jury of his peers), NY state charges in connection with hush money paid to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. (indictment filed March 30, 2023). For a more detailed outline of this case, see Just Security's clearinghouse section on this topic.
- Contrary to Trump's, MAGA followers', Fox and Twitter echo chamber lies, felony prosecutions for falsifying business records are a relatively common event in New York. See:
- "New York State Has Issued Nearly 9,800 Felony Charges of Falsifying Business Records Since 2015." By Emily Saul, April 06, 2023. Quote: "Data shows 9,794 cases involving state penal law 175.10, or falsifying business records in the first degree, have been arraigned in both local and superior New York state courts since 2015."
- "Survey of Past New York Felony Prosecutions for Falsifying Business Records." by Siven Watt, Norman L. Eisen and Ryan Goodman, March 21, 2023.
- Trump continued to use lies in his attacks on the legal process, the legal system more broadly, and the lawyers and judges who populate it (along with their families). "Trump responds to guilty verdict with attacks and false claims." By Melissa Goldin, May 31, 2024.
- Echoing other Trump supporters, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (who endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Iowa Caucuses) said on June 1, 2024 that: "They’ve weaponized the justice system with a political persecution of our nominee and Biden’s opponent..." "But I can tell you without hesitation that on Nov. 5 the people of this country will weigh in." (They did. Partisan politics, though, do not negate the fact-set documented against Trump in this case.)
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New York: State business fraud case involving years of creating/using fraudulent Trump company financial reports to manipulate loan and insurance acquisition. New York Attorney General Corporate Fraud Case Trump, his associates and some Trump companies were found guilty on Feb. 22, 2024, requiring them to pay New York hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump lawyers have filed numerous requests and appeal(s). The latest stage appears to be an 2025/08/21 decision by the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, First Judicial Department where a panel of judges determined that the "Supreme Court correctly found defendants liable. We agree with Supreme Court that the Attorney General acted well within her lawful power in bringing this action, and that she vindicated a public interest in doing so. We also find that Supreme Court properly ruled only on claims that are timely under the applicable statute of limitations" (but) even though "the court recounted four instances of various defendants’ prior corporate malfeasance which indicated a propensity to re-offend" "...the court’s disgorgement order, which directs that defendants pay nearly half a billion dollars to the State of New York, is an excessive fine." The final decision(s) on what might be an appropriate fine appear to remain in the future...
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Trump found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll. In May 2023, a NY jury unanimously found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages (a sum that a federal judge subsequently upheld as reasonable). The term "sexually abusing" appears because of the narrow definition of "rape" in New York before September 2024, when it was redefined as "nonconsensual vaginal, anal, and oral contact." In July 2023, Judge Kaplan said that the verdict found that Trump had raped Carroll according to the common definition of the word, i.e. not requiring penile penetration. In August 2023, Kaplan dismissed a Trump countersuit and wrote that Carroll's accusation of rape is "substantially true." In Jan. 2024, a second jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages after finding that after losing the first trial Trump repeatedly defamed the writer in his social media posts and other public statements. (see the Wikipedia summary). After George Stephanopoulos, refering to the E. Jean Carroll trial, said "the former president had been found 'liable for rape' in a civil trial in New York" Trump filed a defamation suit against ABC News and Mr. Stephanopoulos. On 14 December 2024, ABC announced they had settled with Trump by agreeing to give $15 million to Mr. Trump’s future presidential foundation and museum, pay Trump $1 million for his legal fees, as well as issue a public apology. In the context of long-standing freedom of the press norms, free speech protections and clarifications concerning E. Jean Carroll's accusations and the term "rape," the ABC settlement seems unusual -- even establishing a precedent that Trumpers can succeed at suing news organizations and individual reporters who release reporting critical of their statements or behaviors.
Trump responded to these indictments by increasing his use of authoritarian language and threats, as well as accellerating his campaign of dehumanizing all those he chooses as targets. Trump and actors within his control have used increasingly hostile and threatening authoritarianism rhetoric against their perceived enemies and against laws and processes that inhibit their personal and political freedom in order to lay the groundwork for rejecting any person, people, organization, law, etc. that might threaten Trump and Trumpists existence as a national group and a distinct culture. Just Security maintains an up-to-date collection of these statements at "American Autocracy Threat Tracker -- A Comprehensive Catalog Based on Donald Trump and His Associates’ Plans, Promises, and Propositions."
Amy B Wang wrote a recent article on the Putin statements that Trump has been highlighting:
“As for the prosecution of Trump, for us what is happening in today’s conditions, in my opinion, is good because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others democracy,” Putin said at an economic forum in eastern Russia.
During a Veterans Day speech on November 11, 2023, Trump told a crowd in Claremont, New Hampshire, that his political enemies are “like vermin” -- the implication being that violence and murder of "vermin" is acceptable/necessary. Margaret Hartmann, wrote that both Hitler and Italy’s Benito Mussolini compared their enemies to rodents during their rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Trump said:
"Today, especially, in honor of our great veterans on Veterans Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country — that lie and steal and cheat on elections and will do anything possible. They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream."
"The real threat is not from the racial right; the real threat is from the radical left, and it’s growing every day. Every single day. The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within. Because if you have a capable, competent, smart, tough leader — Russia, China, North Korea — they’re not going to want to play with us."
Trump followed up by posting the same message on his MAGA social media platform.
In December 2023 Trump repeatedly described undocumented immigrants as "poisoning the blood of our country," which appears to act as a dog whistle to Replacement Theory believers and to White Nationalist and Neo-Nazi groups. Isaac Arnsdorf reported that Trump:
"repeated his own inflammatory language against undocumented immigrants, by accusing them of “poisoning the blood of our country” — a phrase that immigrant groups and civil rights advocates have condemned as reminiscent as Hitler in his book “Mein Kampf,” in which he told Germans to “care for the purity of their own blood” by eliminating Jews."
The U.S. Supreme Court decided in the Trump Colorado Ballot Case -- Trump v. Anderson, No. 23-719 -- that we cannot use the "plain language" of Section 3 of the 14th Ammendment -- which says, broadly, that insurrectionists and those who aid them cannot hold any oath-required State or Federal office -- to exclude Donald J. Trump from the U.S. Presidency unless the U.S. Congress "first pass legislation to implement how that enforcement works and under what standards" (another new invention by this court and another instance of this court deciding issues that were not brought before them). It appears that the Supreme Court has also removed the right of Congress disqualify Trump under Section 3 when it meets to certify electoral college votes on the Jan. 6 after an election unless Congress first implements the new statute(s) whose requirement(s) the court invented in their decision.
Trump's social network Truth Social was transformed into a meme stock by the massive donation to Trump by special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) that resulted in a business liability (Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG)) being valued on NASDAQ as DJT at more than $8B US. on 26 March 2024 (Trump was given ownership of 60 percent of the new Trump Media (DJT), meaning $4.6B). That transformation was facilitated by China-based ARC Capital with offices in Shanghai and Wuhan and Patrick Orlando who has recently “been serving as Chief Executive Officer of Yunhong International,” based in Wuhan, China (odd, given Trump's enthusiastic criticisms of China and Wuhan). Who was making money on Trump's 36-employee cash-burning social network platform in early 2024? -- see the analysis in "Truth Social lost $58 million last year. Here’s who made money anyway."
- In the classified documents case that Smith has also brought against the former president in June, the Trump team slow-walked the schedule of the proceedings, and Federal Judge Aileen M. Cannon enabled their strategy before finally just ending it by declaring the Special Procecuter "illegal."
| Civic Virtues | Trump/Vance/Rubio/Hegseth/Musk Team Vices |
|---|---|
| Courage | Cowardice |
| Honor | Dishonor |
| Humility | Hubris |
| Integrity | Self-deception |
| Justice | Injustice |
| Moderation | Extremism (Immoderation) |
| Prudence | Imprudence |
| Respect | Contempt |
| Responsibility | Irresponsibility |
See: https://billofrightsinstitute.org/principles-and-virtues and https://bri-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/Founding+Principles+and+Civic+Virtues.pdf
| Civic Virtues | Courage | Honor | Humility | Integrity | Justice | Moderation | Prudence | Respect | Responsibility |
| Trump/Vance/Rubio/Hegseth/Musk Team Vices | Cowardice | Dishonor | Hubris | Self-deception | Injustice | Extremism (Immoderation) | Imprudence | Contempt | Irresponsibility |
See: https://billofrightsinstitute.org/principles-and-virtues and https://bri-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/Founding+Principles+and+Civic+Virtues.pdf
Fact: The 306 electoral college votes for President Biden defeated former president Donald Trump in the 2020 election and serious investigations into the 2020 election and more than 60 court cases brought by Trumpophiles have revealed no evidence of material fraud, and as outlined on this page Trump faces federal criminal charges for some of his efforts to overturn the election.
Cat Zakrzewski reported (in the Washington Post) on October 7, 2023, that "Amazon’s Alexa has been claiming the 2020 election was stolen." She went on to detail a number of ways that Alexa delivered this Trump lie:
(Alexa told testers that) The 2020 races were “notorious for many incidents of irregularities and indications pointing to electoral fraud taking place in major metro centers”
Alexa contended that Trump won Pennsylvania
Both are common Trump/Trump devotee lies.
The report also said that:
Alexa disseminates misinformation about the race, even as parent company Amazon promotes the tool as a reliable election news source to more than 70 million estimated users.
Amazon’s Alexa has proliferated across a number of devices. It’s been embedded in inexpensive home speakers, headphones, TVs and cars — a familiar helper that sets alarms, plays songs and checks the weather for millions of Americans.
But Amazon has sought to position the voice assistant as a reliable source for information about elections for the last half decade.
It’s unclear how long Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant has been serving up false claims in response to questions about the 2020 election.
Donald Trump in Psychology Today:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/president-donald-trump
"Psychologists and commentators from all ideological camps early converged on a label of narcissistic personality disorder as the condition that “explains” Trump’s behavior."
"...more than 70,000 mental health professionals who signed a petition warning of Trump's potential dangerousness, despite longstanding professional injunctions against "diagnosing" public figures whom experts have not personally examined."
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dangerous_Case_of_Donald_Trump
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2017/09/22/is-trump-mentally-ill-or-is-america-psychiatrists-weigh-in/
https://www.apa.org/pubs/highlights/psyccritiques-spotlight/
https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/dangerous-case
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/opinion/trump-election-2024.html
"Is Trump mentally ill? Or is America? Psychiatrists weigh in. -- Review of "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" by Bandy X. Lee (ed.), "Twilight of American Sanity" by Allen Frances, and "Fantasyland" by Kurt Andersen. Review by Carlos Lozada. September 22, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2017/09/22/is-trump-mentally-ill-or-is-america-psychiatrists-weigh-in/
America's Top Case Study -- Trump’s personality provides for a fascinating psychological case study.
By Noam Shpancer Ph.D., December 26, 2016
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/201612/americas-top-case-study
The Dunning-Kruger President -- How did a psychology term become a partisan trending topic?
By William Poundstone, Posted January 21, 2017
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/head-in-the-cloud/201701/the-dunning-kruger-president
Shrinks Battle Over Diagnosing Donald Trump -- Chaos in the White House fuels discord amongst the experts.
Psychology Today Editorial Staff. January 31, 2017
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brainstorm/201701/shrinks-battle-over-diagnosing-donald-trump
Psychological Science Says Trump Is a Four-Year-Old -- Looking for the source of Trump’s appeal.
By Noam Shpancer Ph.D., Posted May 12, 2017
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-therapy/201705/psychological-science-says-trump-is-four-year-old
An Analysis of Trump Supporters Has Identified 5 Key Traits -- A new report sheds light on the psychological basis for Trump's support.
By Bobby Azarian Ph.D., December 31, 2017
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201712/analysis-trump-supporters-has-identified-5-key-traits
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump -- Should mental health professionals get involved with diagnosing the president?
By Ilene A. Serlin Ph.D., January 5, 2018
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/make-your-life-blessing/201801/the-dangerous-case-donald-trump
A Complete Psychological Analysis of Trump's Support -- Science can help us make sense of the president's political invincibility.
By Bobby Azarian Ph.D., Posted December 27, 2018
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201812/complete-psychological-analysis-trumps-support
Trump's DJT, Digital World Acquisition Corp., Trump Media & Technology Group Corp and Truth Social Businesses
Trump Media is officially a meme stock. By Felix Salmon 2024-03-27 https://www.axios.com/2024/03/27/trump-truth-social-stock. For a timeline see: https://www.google.com/finance/beta/quote/DJT:NASDAQ?window=5Y
Trump’s DJT stock creates a unique new ethical nightmare. By Zachary B. Wolf, CNN 2024-03-27 https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/politics/djt-stock-trump-what-matters/index.html
Trump’s Truth Social surges in DJT stock debut, but questions remain -- The trading frenzy delivered Trump a fortune on paper but raised doubts over how the ‘meme stock’ would perform long-term. By Drew Harwell, Washington Post. 2024-03-26. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/26/truth-social-trump-djt-social-media-stock/
Trump’s Truth Social is now a public company. Experts warn its multibillion-dollar valuation defies logic. By Matt Egan, CNN 2024-03-26 https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/markets/trump-media-stock-truth-social/index.html
'My podcast makes more': Kara Swisher reacts to Trump's Truth Social going public. By Kara Swisher and Laura Coates. 2024-03-26 https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2024/03/26/trump-truth-social-kara-swisher-djt-ipo-lcl-hnk-vpx.cnn
Digital World Acquisition Corp. AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO FORM S-4 REGISTRATION STATEMENT, As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 22, 2023. https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1849635/000119312523302199/d408563ds4a.htm
Trump’s newest business partner: A Chinese firm with a history of SEC investigations -- Shanghai-based Arc Capital (A.K.A. ARC Global Investments II LLC) an investment firm that has been the target of probes by securities regulators, is at the center of the deal to take Trump’s media venture public. By Douglas MacMillan and Jonathan O'Connell, December 23, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/23/trump-spac-deal-sec/