His tax returns have finally been made public, after a years-long legal battle. What was he hiding? The New York Times already reported in 2020 that he’d been paying almost no income tax, due mainly to business loss deductions. According to his tax returns, literally the nation’s losingest businessman.
If you believe the returns. Trump’s business has meantime been convicted of tax fraud in New York State.
And remember his claiming he couldn’t release his tax filings because they were under audit? A lie, because audit was no bar to disclosure. But it was was also a lie that he was under audit. In fact, we now learn the IRS even violated its rule requiring audit of every president’s tax returns. Only in Trump’s case did it skip auditing. And when they belatedly started, assigned only a single agent. Something smells very stinky there.
The Congressional January 6 committee has now formally recommended that Trump be prosecuted for four serious crimes, betraying his oath of office to uphold the constitution. Incontrovertible evidence makes clear his guilt for an attempted coup, in which police officers died.
The House GOP has produced its own rival report, saying — wait for it — the problem of January 6 was one of proper police oversight. Not a word about Trump’s criminal effort to overthrow the election.
The Justice Department had already appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith (a highly regarded veteran prosecutor), to investigate Trump’s January 6 related actions. Also his improperly taking White House documents to Mar-a-Lago. Both cases entail indisputable criminality, now likely to result in indictment and trial.
There’s also the grand jury investigating Trump’s attempt to corrupt the 2020 Georgia vote count, by pressuring officials to “find” him 11,780 phony ballots; and to send a slate of fake electoral votes to congress.
Lately Trump, never missing a chance to fleece his suckers, has been selling $99 “digital NFT trading cards” depicting him in various superhero guises. “NFT” means you don’t even actually get a card, it’s just digital. Trump’s video hawking these non-items was so puke-worthy that even Steve Bannon himself, watching it, reportedly moaned, “Make it stop!”
In September I noted a fellow at a Trump rally, interviewed by a TV reporter, saying “If the guy had done anything wrong, it would have come out by now.” So many otherwise sane, intelligent people so completely ensorceled by so obviously evil a character. I’ve mentioned a friend — with a masters degree in history! — spouting internet “alternative facts” whitewashing Trump and January 6. At a recent holiday party he waved away my Trump book — despite being told it quotes him — declaring “I do my own research.”
I do my own research. We started hearing this line, especially regarding Covid vaccines. It means marinating in whacko online nonsense while blocking out information from credible sources. It means having no concept of what’s credible.
Such true believer cultists cannot be reasoned with. A recent radio commentary (by Rex Smith, former Times Union editor) highlighted scientific research showing that human beings on average have less mental flexibility, less ability to change their thinking in light of new information, than monkeys.
Nevertheless, MAGA ranks are inexorably shrinking under the relentless assault of reality. But are they still numerous enough to gain Trump the 2024 nomination? Some polls have actually shown DeSantis ahead. However, primaries are dominated by small turnouts of zealots. And if a bunch of candidates divides the vote (why does Pence fantasize winning?), Trump could ride to nomination with 30% pluralities — as, indeed, he did in 2016.
Democrats might relish this, thinking Trump sure to lose in November — as, indeed, they did in 2016. Be careful what you wish for. Though Trump does seem to be a much more damaged candidate now, thoroughly repelling a big majority of voters. One might even hope he’d take down with him the whole rotten Republican party, once and for all.
A recent column by Ross Douthat warns against such dreams of final triumph. American politics doesn’t work that way. One might have wondered why the GOP — though not doing as well as widely expected in 2022 — actually paid scant electoral price for January 6 and all that. Voters simply do not hold parties accountable for past misdeeds absent obvious continuing effect. And Douthat doesn’t even foresee some kind of final comeuppance for Trump himself. He’ll “go out with a whimper,” says the column’s title. All the disgusting Republicans who so cowardly enabled Trump will merrily go on with their political careers.
Final vindication will have to come from the judgment of history. But history too can be a fickle judge.
I wish I could see how a 22nd century history book will treat all this. Assuming there’s even such a thing as “history” in the 22nd century.
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