It is now time to consider where the impeached, two-time popular vote loosing, one-term ex-president Donald Trump will go once Joe Biden is sworn in as our 46th President. Trump has got to live somewhere and he will need to weigh his options carefully.
It is sure to be an important decision, a thing worthy of song (those of you with skills in editing video animation, please, oh please adapt one of these children's song videos — keeping copyright infringement in mind, this one looks rather promising.)
Where oh where has our little Don gone — this remix could be a YouTube hit with a few word substitutions.
Where Oh Where has belittled Don gone
Oh where of where can he be
With his fears in court and our jails so strong
Oh where oh where can he be
Kind of catchy — in that deeply irritating kid’s song kind of way — don’t you think.
On January 21st, I suspect One Term Don may find it advantageous to take a long ‘vacation’ to decompress from the rigors of all that executive time and the added stress of election tampering. Trump’s post inauguration vacation might best be taken in some not unfriendly distant land, one without an extradition treaty. I suspect it could be a long vacation, at least until the 5 year federal statue of limitations runs out on a variety of crimes, financial and otherwise that Trump has committed before and during his presidency.
Now that the frivolous vanity lawsuits challenging the election results are flaming out, Don needs a Plan C or D or F. Even if he were to grant himself a legally dubious ‘self pardon’ on the way out or temporarily step aside and allow Mike ‘President for a Day’ Pence to pardon him, there are still a passel of pesky civil and criminal state court cases that will remain.
He might seek refuge at one of the Trump branded property on distant shores — which could be explained by his need to personally supervise a new building project or renovation. Perhaps in Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan or maybe even Moscow. Maybe along they way he could pick up another film credit — get work as an extra in a new Borat movie perhaps. Until the statute of limitations is eclipsed, I seriously think Trump needs to consider removing to some locality where he can escape the long arm of the law — someplace outside the country that does not have an extradition treaty with the US.
Several serious legal actions hang over Mr. Trump and his future after he leaves office and is no longer immune from prosecution.
I hope that the Biden Justice Department will not shy away from bringing criminals to justice, but the political wisdom of pursuing indictments based on facts brought to light by Robert Mueller’s Russia Investigation must also be considered. The president clearly engaged in obstruction of justice and witness tampering, but Biden might just need to let that go. Otherwise we may face a bleak future of ad nauseum tit for tat prosecutions every time a different party wins the presidency.
Trump’s legal jeopardy (another opportunity to animate for laughs — how about a version of the Jeopardy game show featuring Trump’s many legal challenges as categories) would not end with a pardon or a decision not to prosecute crimes revealed by the Mueller investigation.
New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James has open civil inquiries into Michael Cohen’s claims that Trump fraudulently exaggerated his wealth when seeking loans for real estate projects and in his failed bid to buy the the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise. A New York State regulatory entity is simultaneously looking into whether Trump fraudulently gave false information to insurance companies.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York could open investigations into campaign finance crimes and related offenses. The available evidence indicates that Trump personally committed up to eight federal criminal offenses while participating in and covering up a scheme to suppress negative stories (sex scandals involving his trysts with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal) about him to prevent those scandals from affecting his chances of being elected in 2016. We would all like to know if Trump wrote off those six figure hush money payments as ‘business expenses.’
The recent New York Times investigation of Trump’s taxes show that he set up a scheme to funnel tax free money to his children, which looks very much like tax fraud. His company deducted $747,622 in “consulting fees” for hotel projects in Vancouver and Hawaii hotel while a consulting company co-owned by Ivanka Trump paid her exactly the same amount, even though she was an employee of Trump’s company. Millions more in consulting fees flowed to unknown persons. If Ivanka and her siblings were indeed the recipients of that money, it would be a simple case of tax fraud: It is against the law to get consulting fees from a company you are employed by — period, full stop.
The NY Times investigation also found indications of tax fraud with Trump’s treatment of his Seven Springs estate in Westchester County, New York. Purchased by Trump for $7.5 million in 1995, Seven Springs is a 50,000 square foot mansion with three swimming pools built in 1919 by Eugene Meyer, who was a chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Seven Springs mansion is set on 200 wooded acres that Trump believed were ripe for development.
Trump made a series of efforts to develop the Seven Springs property—into a golf club, a luxury subdivision and then a smaller subdivision —but each time he was foiled by fierce local opposition and permitting difficulties.
Trump clearly purchased the property with the intention of developing it and then found that he was prohibited from doing so. Regardless of that reality, for tax purposes Trump has claimed that Seven Springs is an investment property rather than a personal residence, allowing him to write off property taxes as a business expense. The family has used the property as a private retreat and there is zero evidence that the Trump organization has operated the estate as a business (unless tax evasion is a business).
In 2015, Trump finally gave up on developing Seven Springs and obtained what is supposed to be a permanent conservation easement, signing an agreement with the North American Land Trust to preserve 158 acres of the property. Trump then got a sweetheart appraisal (from one of his tenants) that wildly overstated the value of the remaining acreage at $56.5 million, based on subdivision into 24 lots said to be worth 2.1 million each. Except those overpriced lots still couldn‘t be developed.
That grossly inflated $56.5 million appraisal of the Seven Springs property was turned into that $21 million tax break, which New York Attorney General Letitia James is now investigating.
Then there’s the issue of Trump’s peculiar $50 million loan to himself
A thorough state or federal investigation would almost certainly uncover even more dicey tax dodging behavior in Trump’s past.
Then there are lingering issues of money laundering involving Trump real estate and his golf properties in Florida and Scotland.
All that legal jeopardy means the smart thing for Trump to do is find a safe haven to retire to.
So where will Trump end up — Attica perhaps ?
Sorry folks, but that seems unlikely.
Serious white collar criminals convicted of financial crimes like tax fraud in New York typically just get a slap in the wallet — they pay the back taxes owed plus a fine but generally using corporate funds rather than personal funds. nypost.com
There is a remote chance that Trump could end up in prison, if so the most likely of those is the Federal Correctional Institution, at Otisville (FCI Otisville).
He could get a better than Yelp* review of Otisville from his one time friend and former fixer/lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, who spent some time there recently, before being sent home on house arrest earlier this year because of the risk of Covid-19. If Trump ends up doing time in Otisville, I look forward to the reality TV show. It could be a big hit among his supporters and some of the rest of us as well —A sure hit spin off of ‘Orange is the new Black’ .
Short of a self pardon (which appears legally unworkable) or a last minute abdication and pardon by President Pence, Trump will need to find an offshore home to evade those state charges.
Maybe he could borrow a yacht and just stay offshore, but I think he’ll want to stick to dry land.
Ecuador, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Iceland, Switzerland, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe are countries that resist extradition — Switzerland might work for Trump.
With a little help from Barron to show him the intricacies of a Google search — Trump should start perusing this list of countries where he might retire to avoid extradition — there are some serious questions about how welcome he might be in many of these countries and the extent to which he could establish a comfortable lifestyle (limits on golf and fast food, issues with plumbing, hostile religious majorities) — so the list should be easy to pare down.
This is the current list of countries (ranked by population size) that currently do not have extradition treaties with the U.S. We might help Trump to narrow down the possibilities.
Have at it and have some fun.
Rank |
Country |
|
1 |
China |
|
2 |
Indonesia |
|
3 |
Bangladesh |
|
4 |
Russia |
rings the bell |
5 |
Ethiopia |
a new civil war in the northern Tigray region makes this a poor refuge |
6 |
Vietnam |
ironically this would be perfect — I love it. Might now be able to find the time to treat those pesky bone spurs that prevented an earlier visit. |
7 |
Myanmar |
a current internet ban might cramp his style |
8 |
Uganda |
How do you say Tangerine Idi Amine in Swahili, no matter they speak English in Uganda |
9 |
Algeria |
|
10 |
Sudan |
|
11 |
Ukraine |
well the advance work is done and he might be in the market for a 4th wife |
12 |
Afghanistan |
But how safe would it be after the latest troop draw down |
13 |
Morocco |
this has potential except for the Muslim thing |
14 |
Saudi Arabia |
a friend of the Prince and he already knows that Sword Dance thing |
15 |
Uzbekistan |
Trump investments here might need his supervision |
16 |
Angola |
Another fine SHC |
17 |
Mozambique |
|
18 |
Yemen |
Wouldn’t this be special — a personal disaster meets a humanitarian one |
19 |
Nepal |
Ghorka’s once ruled here — Sebastian might come visit Trump here |
20 |
Madagascar |
recent increase in criminal activity would make him feel at home |
21 |
Cameroon |
There are no McDonalds — which would be a new business opportunity |
22 |
Ivory Coast |
|
23 |
Niger |
ranked 189th out of 189 nations on the UN Human Development Index |
24 |
Burkina Faso |
Well that would be something |
25 |
Mali |
Boogaloo in Timbuktu has a certain ring to it. The Boys might visit him |
26 |
Kazakhstan |
Borat would have a field day for sure |
27 |
Syria |
In a 2018 Tweet, Trump said ‘you shouldn’t be partners with a GAS KILLING ANIMAL who kills his people and enjoys it!’ Assad might remember that |
28 |
Senegal |
a devout Muslim country in Africa, perfect! |
29 |
Cambodia |
The Kampuchea Kumquat has a certain ring to it |
30 |
Chad |
There is one 9 hole golf course, but it simply would not do |
31 |
Somalia |
Mogadishu is a magical place, really |
32 |
Guinea |
Yet another Islamic country |
33 |
Rwanda |
A Trump Hotel Rwanda, now that would be something |
34 |
Burundi |
they know rigged elections |
35 |
Tunisia |
a 98% Muslim Arabic speaking country — need I say more |
36 |
United Arab Emirates |
Seriously — UAE would be a decent place for Trump to wither and dye |
37 |
Belarus |
A dictators paradise, and another suitable place to go bride shopping |
38 |
Serbia |
He is no where near tough enough to thrive there — |
39 |
Togo |
well, they do have a golf course in Togo |
40 |
Laos |
a fast growing economy might suit his need for new business opportunities, and they have some prior exposure to Agent Orange |
41 |
Libya |
Well, after all, His supporters can spell Benghazi and find it on the map |
42 |
Lebanon |
might be a bit too war torn — but now that Jared has solved that pesky peace in the middle east thing, the redevelopment potential is unlimited |
43 |
Republic Of The Congo |
|
44 |
Oman |
|
45 |
Central African Republic |
|
46 |
Mauritania |
|
47 |
Kuwait |
|
48 |
Moldova |
If it were up to me, this would be my choice ! |
49 |
Eritrea |
|
50 |
Bosnia And Herzegovina |
|
51 |
Mongolia |
|
52 |
Armenia |
Erdogan would not approve — and the conflict with Azerbaijan ain’t over |
53 |
Qatar |
embargoed by Saudi Arabia makes this problematic |
54 |
Namibia |
Nambia perhaps, but not here, never. Most certainly not here |
55 |
Gabon |
the income inequality would make him feel right at home |
56 |
Macedonia |
|
57 |
Guinea Bissau |
|
58 |
Bahrain |
Possible |
59 |
Equatorial Guinea |
|
60 |
Djibouti |
his French isn’t up to it |
61 |
Comoros |
A tropical paradise — but a Muslim paradise with active volcanos |
62 |
Montenegro |
|
63 |
Cape Verde |
|
64 |
Maldives |
|
65 |
Brunei |
|
66 |
Vanuatu |
A paradise, where climate change is not a hoax or a friend |
67 |
Sao Tome And Principe |
|
68 |
Samoa |
Well this could work |
69 |
Micronesia |
Just sounds so small |
70 |
Andorra |
180 square miles of possibility |
71 |
Marshall Islands |
|
72 |
Vatican City |
|