One of the best things about today’s indictments against the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO, Allen Weisselberg, is that the charges are easy for dopes like me to understand.
I’m a little like one of the nerds in Office Space vainly trying to figure out what money laundering is. It’s not something I do, and I have no idea how to do it. In that sense, it’s sort of like preparing a crème brûlée. Like most people, I’d be lost. But, hey, give me a Pop-Tart and I’m right back in the game.
This feels more like a Pop-Tart to me. The Trump Organization plotted to provide untaxed benefits to its employees off the books, and Weisselberg, who has worked for Donald Trump for decades, was one of the key beneficiaries of that scheme. And that scheme is not likely to go over all that well with the general public.
David Frum, a former George W. Bush speechwriter and author of Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy, has written a damning piece for The Atlantic in which he highlights what the Trump Organization left unsaid in its response to today’s charges. And, again, this is all very easy for nonexperts like you and me to follow:
An early indication that things may end badly for Trump is the statement released today from the Trump Organization. “Allen Weisselberg is a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who has worked for the Trump Organization for 48 years. He is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President. The District Attorney is bringing a case involving employee benefits that neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing. This is not justice; this is politics.”
Hmm. Sounds like they’re angry. And more than a little bit scared.
Here is what is missing from that statement: “I’m 100 percent confident that every investigation will always end up in the same conclusion, which is that I follow all rules, procedures, and, most importantly, the law.” That’s the language used by former Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke when he was facing ethics charges in 2018. Likewise, when Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe was accused of violating campaign-finance laws in 2016, he too was “very confident” that “there was no wrongdoing.” Plug the phrases very confident and no wrongdoing into a search engine and you will pull up statement after statement by politicians and business leaders under fire. ... It’s the thing an innocent person would want to say. So it’s kind of a tell when it goes unsaid.
Okay, so they didn’t say Weisselberg is innocent, but they did note that he’s a grandfather. Sure. Unfortunately for the Trump Org, this isn’t The Waltons, and no one gives a shit.
Predictably, Trump has tried to frame these charges as part of a post-presidency witch hunt, calling the indictments “rude, nasty, and totally biased.”
For his part, Frum isn’t buying it.
That line of defense may well rally Trump’s supporters. It will not do him much good in court. It’s impossible for tax collectors to scrutinize every return. Selecting high-profile evaders and holding them to account is how tax laws are enforced. And if a former president numbers among those high-profile evaders, that makes the case for targeting him stronger, not weaker. It sends the message that the tax authorities most want to send: Everybody has to pay, especially powerful politicians. In 1974, former President Richard Nixon faced a review of his taxes that ultimately presented him with a bill equal to half his net worth at the time. Members of Congress have faced indictment for tax evasion, as have high-profile state and local officials.
The stink lines coming off Trump’s purpling, bloaty corpse are all but visible at this point. And my U.S. recommended daily allowance of schadenfreude has been more than satisfied. I just hope it’s not possible to OD on schadenfreude.
Regardless, I know you can’t OD on cannabis, so there may be a celebratory toke sometime in my (near) future. Weed o’clock may even come early today.
Enjoy your evening, y’all. I know I will.
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