Donald Trump and his family fleeced America: Why aren't they being held accountable?

[Demovictory9]

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston is not giving up on exposing how Donald Trump and his family fleeced America while he was in the White House. To that end, the bestselling author is back with a meticulously researched new book, "The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family."

I recently spoke to Johnston about his new book for "Salon Talks" and one thing is clear: His enthusiasm to see Trump held accountable has not waned just because the Trump presidency is over. In "The Big Cheat," he uncovers details on Trump's scams that began with his inaugural committee and ran straight through his "Stop the Steal" fundraising grift. In between, Johnston notes a range of corruption by Trump, such as stopping in front of his Washington hotel during the inaugural parade in 2017 to send a clear message: "If you want something from the Trump administration, you will first pay tribute to Donald." As Johnston writes, spending money at Trump's hotel was one way to do just that.

Johnston also takes aim at Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who saw their collective wealth rise by somewhere between $200 million and $600 million while working in the White House. This wasn't by happenstance, as Johnston details: It was because Javanka cashed in on Trump's presidency, with sweetheart deals from the Chinese government, the United Arab Emirates and more.

In our conversation, which you can watch or read below, the nearly 50-year veteran reporter also lays out safeguards that Congress should enact to prevent Trump, or another morally bankrupt president, from ever repeating this Trumpian fleecing of America again. But one of the best deterrents to future corruption, Johnston argues, would be the criminal prosecution of Donald Trump himself. "I would be eternally in favor of a long prison sentence," he told me.

The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Your book has granular details about Trump, some I knew and some I had no idea about. Let's start at the beginning: You go into great detail about the inaugural committee. Trump raised double the amount Obama did, and there are questions about where that money is. The D.C. attorney general is suing the Trump campaign right now about this very thing. Tell us more.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-and-his-family-fleeced-america-why-aren-t-they-being-held-accountable/ar-AASjdi0

[gab13by13]

1. Maybe they are being investigated,

for violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution and we just aren't aware of it yet? DOJ doesn't leak you know.

Poor Jimmy Carter had to sell off his peanut farm to avoid a possible conflict of interest while Donald Trump had taxpayers buy golf carts for his golf course.

[jmowreader]

24. "Buy"? What a curious term

He rented the carts he had to the Secret Service. He also forced them to rent hotel rooms at full rack rate, and forced them to rent an entire floor of Trump Tower so they could guard Melania and Barron while they were still living in New York.

It would have been a hell of a lot cheaper if we’d have sent someone to Advantage Golf Cars in Palm Beach and had them buy twelve golf carts for the Secret Service to use.

[Takket]

36. there was an emoluments case........

actually several. they dragged on for years before the courts actually let one proceed, only for SCOTUS to say "it doesn't matter, he's not president anymore" earlier this year. The emoluments clause is in essence non existent because a president can make it longer to adjudicate than a presidency lasts. Fantastic system we have, right?

[dem4decades]

2. I'm guessing that there's not an AG willing to do it. They should have named Norm Eisen.

He does the job.

[brooklynite]

17. So, you're blaming Joe Biden.

[SoCalDavidS]

32. I Was A Staunch Supporter Of Mr. Biden

But I knew full well that he was not going to pursue any sort of accountability from TFG. He was all about bringing the country together, and there was No Way TFG was going to face charges for so much as jaywalking, let alone his many other crimes.

I continue to say, and feel fully confident that I won't be proven wrong, that NOTHING will happen to TFG, now or ever.

[Justice matters.]

33. Contrary to TFG, President Biden has no say in the DOJ's conduct.

None. Nada. And it's the way it always must be.

It's tiring to repeat that on a Democratic board.

The J6 committee will soon hold public hearings about who did what and when.

The final report will be published around the summer, and criminal referrals with all the evidence will be provided to the DOJ to present to the Grand Jury for a 50%+1 vote to indict all the targets.

[brooklynite]

37. He does have a say in who the AG is...

There's a difference between interfering in prosecutorial action and standing by while an appointee acts incompetently or irresponsibly (as people here claim Garland is doing). If you believe that Garland is choosing not to prosecute Trump, then you have to believe Biden is equally complicit (or incompetent) if he acquiesces.

[Justice matters.]

38. If he acquiesces (IF)

Nobody knows IF he acquiesces or IF he doesn't.

To believe Garland is choosing not to prosecute Trump without any real knowledge of his plans is just wrong.

Why not wait for the J6 bipartisan committee to finish its work (which will soon include public hearings, then criminal referrals at the end with ALL the evidence to prove who committed which crime(s) straight to the DOJ?

Why not just wait to see what the DOJ will do THEN? Who knows if the plan is not for the DOJ to say, well, the bipartisan committee sent us evidence of crimes fully documented and we conviened the Grand Jury as the Law requires and is our job to do?

Why now just wait? President Biden will still be POTUS and any accusation of him prosecuting TFG will be dismissed since the J6 committee is bipartisan and it will be the committee's findings given to the DOJ that will prosecute the orange terrorist!

Brilliant strategy, no? (IF it's Garland's plan.)

[Scrivener7]

3. Why, indeed?

[certainot]

29. he's a rich republican who used to be defended by the most powerful man in the republican party

luckily limbaugh croaked earlier this year. trumpism will eventually rot with him. while media was calling trump a 'branding genius', a random sampling of limbaugh broadcasts showed he was saying "trump" about 150 times a day to 15 mil people.

the defenders still dominate rw radio but without mr big genius excuse maker on the radio his goose will be cooked.

on the other hand, trump might have a lot of kompromat on all sorts of people

[MyOwnPeace]

4. THIS is STILL one thing......

that really pizzes me off about IQ45 - he gamed us, he's a con, a flim-flam man, and he's STILL getting away with it!

We CANNOT let him get away with it - we SIMPLY CANNOT!!!!!

(Yeah, I know, what are we going to do about it? As long as there are RepubliQans that won't vote to impeach TFG when you have him guilty as sin, I JUST DON'T KNOW............)

[Demovictory9]

6. the comments following the article: "He worked 16 hours per day! Gave up salary!, etc."

he's a God to some.

[PatSeg]

11. "He worked 16 hours per day!"

I'm trying imagine what his supporters thought Trump did every day. It is really scary that so many people can be fooled in spite of the evidence in front of them.

[Justice matters.]

34. Yeah, watching RW cable TV and/or playing golf is such a big workload!!

Not even bothering to read the daily PDB (no pictures and not about himself).

[PatSeg]

39. Yep, just a big spoiled kid

in the White House with no respect for anything or anyone.

[jimmil]

5. As I said when Trump announced he was running for president

If he looses he will make hundreds of millions of dollars. If he wins he will make billions of dollars.

[PatSeg]

12. Yes and I believe his goal

was to lose and make hundreds of millions of dollars. It was meant to be an elaborate publicity stunt that would pay for itself.

[lonely bird]

13. I must disagree

He most definitely wanted to be president. Did he actually want to do the work? Of course not. Iirc, he said at one point that he would farm domestic and foreign policy out to Pence. He wanted the pomp, ceremony, the people reaching out to touch his garments, the glamor with himself at the center. That is what he wanted.

I am reminded of the line by Carl the janitor in The Breakfast Club: “…then you found out it was work…” That is what Trump found out. His tweeting, lashing out, incoherent policies/bullshit were the result of his actually having to work at something he lacked the intellectual capacity to understand.

[PatSeg]

20. I think eventually all the attention

went to his head and the idea of being President started to feed his enormous ego, but initially, I believe he was promoting his brand. Running for president kept his face and name in the news 24/7 and he could use all that publicity to launch a television network and other ventures. When he was announced the winner, he looked miserable and dumbstruck. Brought to mind Robert Redford's last line in The Candidate, "What do we do now?" - no one expected him to win.

I agree he certainly didn't want to do the work. I guess he thought being President was like being king - lots of rewards and accolades with little or no effort. Once he got a taste of all that power, he was not going to let go of it, which is pretty much true of any dictator type leader.

Edit to add: Opinions vary a great deal as to what Trump really wanted in 2016 and I suppose only he knows if he really wanted to become President. If nothing else, it would give him payback for all the times he was rebuffed by the political establishment. I think payback was more important than actually being President.

[lonely bird]

27. Therein lies the problem

He is a man-child with a host of emotional issues which he can only deal with by lashing out. Getting the presidency was the ultimate “Fuck You” to every real or, more importantly, perceived slight he ever received. And a slight must be defined as not paying him sufficient respect and deference. That he is a caricature impacts this internal belief structure. Being reminded whether overtly or in his imagination that he is a caricature sends him off the rails.

His election is grievance politics on steroids.

And America’s idiotic obsession with celebrity sure didn’t help.

[PatSeg]

30. Yes, the American celebrity obsession

and social media addiction really did contribute to his political success. At another time, his candidacy would have never happened. He would have been viewed as the joke we all know him to be.

People should have never underestimated the extremes that he would go to in order to exact revenge on his perceived enemies. Obviously, he will stop at nothing to get payback, even if it hurts him.

"Grievance politics on steroids" - sums it up quite well.

[housecat]

21. What work? He is an illiterate buffoon with the emotional maturity of a bad todler.

He expected to be king

[lonely bird]

28. Yes, but...

Being president is work and he didn’t want to do the work.

[PatSeg]

31. Yes, in his mind

his divine presence was enough. "Work" was for his subjects.

[betsuni]

7. Many people like to quote George Carlin where he says it's a big club and you're

not in it, both sides. Well, it's not both sides, obviously.

[disndat]

8. Everybody should read

This week's "New Yorker" magazine, an article by Robin Wright, Jan. 3 and 10, 2022. On how
Trump has brought Iran to within an inch of nuclear war with the harsh sanctions he imposed on
Iran.

[NewHendoLib]

9. on some level, the wealthy protect the wealthy...the powerful protect the powerful

[gab13by13]

10. We should call them American oligarchs,

I bet plenty were behind the coup attempt.

[onlyadream]

14. Great article, worth to read in it's entirety. Nt

[CaptainTruth]

15. There are currently multiple investigations into TFG's finances.

My feeling is he will face charges in at least one of those investigations.

Remember what finally put Al Capone behind bars, convictions for tax evasion.

[gab13by13]

19. Most of what New York state is investigating him for,

is stuff he did before he became president, he most likely continued the same practices after becoming president, but he didn't use the presidency to do those grifts.

Letitia James I believe will nail him because in a civil case she doesn't have to prove intent.

The criminal case which Cy Vance handed off to his successor has to prove intent, but I have faith in this case also because of the sharp financial prosecutor Vance hired. It would be nice for the criminal prosecution to get Weiselberg or the CFO or someone to flip on Trump.

[former9thward]

25. If it was something before he became president the statute of limitations would have run out.

And why would they wait this long to investigate?

[former9thward]

23. Tax evasion?

The NY IRS has had his tax returns since the 1960s. Why haven't they acted before now?

[SheltieLover]

16. Sadly, it seems to be an accepted benefit of public service positions

[Achilleaze]

18. Grifting Republicans piss all over America & Biblical teachings

So don't ever let them get away with claims to be "conservative" and "christian." That's total BS. They are Radical Ripoff Artistes, and Amoral Hypocritical Defacto-Apostates.

Those are the facts of the matter.

[argyl]

22. A little off topic but the actions of Louis De Joy really chap my ass.

He should be held criminally and financially liable for the destruction of tens of millions of dollars of well functioning USPS equipment. For starters.

[FakeNoose]

26. Yes indeed, also Ryan Zinke as Sec. of the Interior who used his office

... to auction off federal lands and monuments among other things. Thankfully Zinke was fired during the Chump administration, but sadly he was replaced by an equally-evil-but-less-famous Repuke.

Louis DeJoy cannot be so easily removed - it's taking more time and shuffling to get him out of the U.S. Postal System. But he will be removed from American government once and for all, hopefully in early 2022!

[Demovictory9]

40. he truly needs a new last name

[Blue Owl]

35. tRump is the Grift that just keeps on Grifting