When the Perp Plays the Victim

 

I once asked, "If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?" Now I know the answer to that question. When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice. 

 Donald Trump, August 10th after taking the 5th in a NY State Investigatory Deposition

When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department [DOJ/FBI], follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned… Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar. 

 House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, August 8th, after FBI Mar-a-Lago search

Early August produced several legal investigations into the machinations of Donald Trump: An August 8th search warrant initiated a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home looking for missing classified documents. An August 9th Trump deposition that was part of a New York State civil investigation into Trump’s conflicting valuations of the same parcel of real estate, one (high) to secure bank loans, and one (low) to avoid taxes. What is strange, given the reactions of right-wing media and MAGA supporters, is that neither of the foregoing has yet resulted in any criminal charges filed against Trump. His supporters, including Fox “News” hosts, suggest that the FBI is in the process of planting evidence at Trump’s home (or at least “finding” non-existent documents). They must expect Trump is approaching a criminal fall.

Even forgetting about whether or not Trump knowingly fomented the January 6, 2021 vicious assault on the Capitol, there is a great deal of hard evidence of other seeming criminal violations by the ex-President: videos of his flushing documents down the toilet, a recorded telephone conversation in which Trump demanded that the GOP Secretary of State “find” thousands of votes to flip the ballots in Trump’s favor as well as the above noted conflicting valuations (which were filed under penalty of perjury).

It is an interesting transition from the GOP’s stance as the “law and order” party to an organization that describes the above January 6 event as “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse” – in which people died and from which over 900 insurrectionists arrested – and one that seeks to defund the FBI (see the above tweet). The FBI head, Christopher Wray, a Republican who was appointed by Trump himself, now stands accused by Republican leaders of being a lacky for the Democratic Party.

There are more than a few inconsistencies in Trump’s historical messaging. The former President has suggested on many occasions that people who invoke their right against self-incrimination are guilty. “You see the mob takes the 5th,” Trump said during a 2016 rally in Iowa. “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the 5th Amendment?” The line was directed at his opponent, Hillary Clinton, whose aides had invoked the Fifth in a congressional investigation. There are a lot of compilation videos floating around where he continued to assault those taking the 5th. But when it came to his taking the 5th, the above quote shows how the winds blow when Trump is down.

Donald Trump is a master of taking truly bad news and turning it into a rallying point for his misguided followers. Without doubt, he is the leader of the majority of the GOP, even the same elected members of Congress who hid under desks during the insurrection and immediately demanded that Trump be held accountable. Trump loves to decry even the most obviously substantiated accusations and investigations of his actions as “witch hunts.” Fake News generated by an evil cadre of “deep state” federal officials.

As shown in the above picture, Trump’s raising campaign money and selling T-shirts based on this conspiracy theory… a lot of money. And he is getting very close to a formal announcement of his candidacy for the 2024 presidential race, expecting to leverage his campaign by all this bad news. Notwithstanding the vituperative political rhetoric from the above investigation/deposition, the expected “uprising” from the above FBI search produced more reporters with camera support than protestors. Yet the recent primaries showed that MAGA election deniers still hold sway over the GOP. While on average, from 1934 -2014, the incumbent president's party has lost 27 House seats and 4 Senate seats at midterm elections, the recent explosive Roe v Wade reversal suggests that string might just be broken this November. Republicans, fearing Trump’s wrath, are stumbling all over themselves to show support. And there are other strange notions flowing from GOP mouths.

For example, on Alex Jones’ Infowars program Trump lacky, Steve Bannon, went so far as to “warn” Trump that he was now a target of an assassination effort. Assuming that conspiracy theory were real, one would have to ask which side of the aisle would benefit most by such an event? As Trump continues to dig himself deeper into his dark vision of this witch hunt conspiracy, he becomes decreasingly electable by the general population. The GOP, on the other hand, would seem to generate a new rallying point to topple any Democratic opponent by such a killing.

Which brings me to the BIG question: notwithstanding rather obvious proof of Trump’s very likely criminal action, can any state or federal agency actually implement a viable criminal action against the ex-President? Where will they find 12 unbiased jurors, particularly given the threats of violence they would face if Trump were convicted, to hear the case? Would that provoke a civil war? And if convicted, where would Trump be safely incarcerated? Any Republican president would almost certainly pardon Trump, but that would not impact state prosecutions. As Trump’s inner circle, particularly his former legal team and counsel, distances themselves from him, Trump still seems confident that he cannot be properly prosecuted.

I’m Peter Dekom, and we are about to discover whether a privileged autocrat, a former president with a zealous following, is perhaps genuinely above the law.