Once a con man, always a con man. In spite of outlandish claims of wide spread voter fraud across the US, but particularly in those key battleground states that he lost, Trump’s crackerjack legal team has lost, had tossed out, or withdrawn over 30 lawsuits across multiple states for the simple reason that they have produced ZERO evidence of widespread voter fraud. However, in a parallel effort the Trump campaign has sent out over 330 fundraising emails under the guise of challenging the legitimacy of the election.
Most donors don’t really read the fine print but if they did, they would see that the first 75% of the donation goes to Trump’s recently established (one week after the election) leadership PAC, Save America, up to the $5,000 limit (per person) and the other 25% goes to the Republican National Committee. Only after the $5,000 threshold (per person) is reached are funds used for legal challenges.
Further, since this is a ‘leadership PAC’ the rules are fairly loose as to how the money can be spent. The fact is, these funds can be spent for personal expenses which is forbidden in a presidential campaign account. Conceivably, the Trump family could draw salaries from Save America or use the PAC to host events at Trump properties thereby funneling the money into their pockets. The fact is, this is providing Trump a slush fund that he has wide latitude how to use. He could, in fact, milk donors with the promise of a 2024 presidential run for the next four years. If I were cynical – which of course I’m not – I would think this is just another ‘con’ by the Trump family to get unsuspecting people to part with their money. Remember Trump University? Remember the ‘charitable’ Trump Foundation? Remember Trump Airlines? Remember the three bankrupt Trump casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey? You get the idea.
One of the investigations underway with the New York Attorney General’s office has to do with the fact that the Trump organization wrote off $26 million in ‘consulting fees’ on their tax returns. About $750,000 of that amount was apparently paid to Invanka Trump for her work as a ‘consultant’. The sticky part is that while she was being paid as a ‘consultant’ she was also gainfully employed by the Trump organization. I think the taxing authorities frown on individuals being both employees and consultants to an organization at the same time. Since it seems like Trump’s crack legal team will be out of work soon, perhaps they can step in and help DJT and Invanka clarify this situation. I’m sure the NY Attorney General will be all ears. (Don’t forget what I have previously posted about Russia and/or Indonesia!)
I have no doubt that Trump will continue to con his supporters after he leaves office but I believe, just like Bernie Madoff, one of these days, the Trump house of cards will come crashing down. My guess is that today there aren’t many people, if any, who support Bernie Madoff or try to come to his defense or deny what he did. I wonder how long it will take for many Trump supporters to come around once the charade starts to fall apart. In the words of Rhett Butler, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!” I’m just happy Trump got his ass booted out of the White House.
Based upon President-elect Biden’s early cabinet picks, it is clear he is intent on two things – 1) putting people in positions who actually have the experience and credentials to fill those positions and 2) creating a truly diverse cabinet that more closely resembles the demographics of the country. It is also apparent that Biden will immediately try to repair all of the strategic alliances that Trump damaged. And, I read that Emily Murphy, the head of the GSA, finally signed the paperwork allowing the formal transition to move ahead. I guess better late than never.
One of the big questions remaining is how much damage will Trump do on his way out the door. Since he has demonstrated upon many occasions that he is a very vindictive man and he cares more about Donald J. Trump than about America, it is not a stretch to think that now that he is being forced to come to grips with the reality that he lost the election, that he will do everything in his power to undermine Biden’s administration before they take office Jan. 20th. One would like to think that he would act more like a president than a petulant child but history would suggest that wouldn’t be a good bet. Only 57 days left.
The other big question is how cooperative or non-cooperative will Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republicans be with respect to Cabinet confirmations and other Biden objectives. If Mitch McConnell resumes his ‘grim reaper’ mantel, it’s going to make Biden’s road a bit rocky. I guess time will tell.
At some point, I hope that all members of Congress remember that they are there on behalf of ‘we the people’ and ‘we the people’ are getting damned sick of grid-lock, partisan politics and a broken government. I am still hopeful that at least some of them, in the absence of Trump, will remember how to spell, ‘COMPROMISE’. Perhaps we should all write to our respective Congressman and suggest putting ‘I resolve to actually getting something done’ at the top of their list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2021!
Whitaker, the acting DOJ, went on Chris Cuomo’s show to take the blame off of Trump and put it on Giuliani. He basically is saying that Giuliani gave him bad council to go to court without any evidence. All of us know that Trump pressured Giuliani and Giuliani probably told him he doesn’t have evidence. I feel a new song coming on. Instead of “Another one bites the dust” Trump’s song is “Another one under the bus”.