End Game by Geoff Carter « The Pen in Hand Blog

Artwork by Michael DiMilo

By Geoff Carter

This hasn’t been a good week for former President Donald J. Trump. The Department of Justice recently released the heavily redacted subpoena to search his Mar-a-Lago property, revealing that the former president had been illegally in possession of confidential government documents two years after the end of his presidency, which is an offense that could result in felony indictments for both “obstruction” (as he lied about possession of said documents) and “fruits of crime”.

A grand jury proceeding in the Fulton County Georgia investigation of the White House role in election interference during the 2020 presidential election—highlighted by the former president’s recorded phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking for 11, 780 votes—recently subpoenaed Trump confidantes Rudy Giuliani, Senator Lindsey Graham, and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. The net is tightening.

The House January 6^th Committee, having already presented evidence of Donald Trump’s conspiracy to assemble and deliberately incite the mob which stormed the Capitol Building, resulting in multiple deaths, is continuing its investigation into White House complicity in the attempted coup. The net is tightening.

The former president also faces two separate investigations examining numerous tax and bank fraud investigations in Manhattan. New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Manhattan District Attorney have accused the Trump Organization of taking advantage of tax breaks and illicit loans through fradulent means. Tighter and tighter.

Various lawsuits have been also filed against the president by Mary Trump, Michael Cohen, and Capitol police officers who suffered injuries as a result of the January 6^th riots. And—one more—E. Jean Carroll is suing Trump for slander after he called her a liar for making sexual assault allegations against him.

Okay. That’s of today. Of course, tomorrow is another day. It could very well bring new accusations, new investigations, and perhaps—finally—some indictments. So, what will Donald Trump do if indictments do come down? Will he flee—and maybe buddy up with old buddy Vladimir? Will he dig in? Will he continue his MO of intimidating, browbeating, and coercing witnesses? It’s extremely doubtful he’ll give himself up.

It’s also probably unlikely, if he is sentenced to jail, he’ll do time in a maximum-security facility—even if he is convicted of inciting treason, which ordinarily would be interpreted as an act of domestic terrorism. Most convicted domestic terrorists, like Terry Nichols, Richard Reid, and Zacarias Moussaioui have been sent to ADX Florence, America’s flagship supermax prison in Colorado. Perhaps they will be joined Orange as the new orange—but probably not.

There is some trepidation that despite the numerous charges and seemingly overwhelming evidence piled at the door of this former president, he will never do time or even face charges. There is a policy at the DOJ that no sitting president should be indicted of a crime, and even though Trump is no longer president, there is some fear that because of his status as a former president, he will never be indicted or tried for any crime whatsoever. There are some precedents to cases like this. Faced with possible impeachment for Watergate, Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency. Before charges against him could be leveled, he was pardoned by President Gerald Ford. He escaped the net.

European countries seem to do a better job than us of holding their larcenous leaders accountable for their crimes. Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to three years in prison (two suspended) for corruption. Another former French president, Jacques Chirac, was handed a suspended sentence for delivering false jobs for his cronies. A Brazilian president, an Italian prime minister, and other world leaders have faced the music and been convicted for their crimes, but America still seems reluctant to hold its leaders responsible for their crimes—or much of anything else.

Of course, we’ve never had anyone quite like Donald Trump. Even Richard Nixon, notorious for his underhanded and sometimes shady political tactics, came nowhere near the legal scrutiny this former president has experienced. Nixon, for all his faults, had the decency to resign the presidency before disgracing it, but Trump is so arrogantly brazen and cocksure of his immunity that he cannot believe he will ever be held accountable. Remember that he called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on an open line—on which he was being recorded—to ask him to find 11,780 votes, just enough to deliver him the state. This is on tape and verified by Secretary Raffensperger’s testimony. Slam dunk, right?

Then there are the January 6^th House Committee hearings. Day after day, testimony from White House Aides, attorneys, and staff members implicated the former president in the premeditated attempt to usurp the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The committee presented evidence of a far-reaching conspiracy involving the president, members of Congress, and white supremacy groups. Slam dunk, right?

Setting aside the Manhattan and State of New York investigations, as well as the lawsuits pending against him, what is Trump planning to do? What will his end game be? Part of him probably believes he is untouchable, that as a rich white man in America, he is far less likely to answer for his crimes than any of us normal peons. Should he begin to realize that he could be in real danger of going to prison, what would Donald Trump do? What did disgraced and defeated leaders from the past do?

Napolean Bonaparte was exiled to St. Helena. Idi Amin was exiled to Libya, Iraq, and Saudia Arabia. Benito Mussolini was shot by Italian partisans as he attempted to flee to Switzerland. Louis XVI was guillotined during the Reign of Terror. Marc Antony and Brutus fell on their swords. Even Hitler had the decency to commit suicide after the fall of the Third Reich. Elements of the American Army found Sadam Hussein hiding in a hole.

What hole will be big enough for Donald Trump to crawl into? I personally doubt he would have integrity and the grit to face up to his crimes. Should the Teflon shield that protects Trump—and most rich white guys—bend or break, what will he do?

If he has not bothered to think through his situation and to trust to his privilege, Trump might very well be surprised. Once the walls come down, and he’s left without a plan, without a strategy, without a scheme, and without friends, he will be left to the rudiments of basic instinct: fight or flight.

I think I know which choice he’ll make. About seventy countries, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Belarus do not have extradition treaties with the United States. Expect Mar-a-Lago East to be opening sometime soon.