The strongest thread here is money. Cheap gas, rising prices, Trump’s wealth and White House secrecy are all turning into questions about who benefits and who pays.
MAG: What Might Happen to The Don’s Ill-Gotten Gains…
Americans are not accustomed to learning lessons about democracy from Nigeria, Peru, or the Philippines. That disregard may soon change. Those countries offer examples of what it looks like to reclaim stolen or swindled wealth from fallen authoritarian rulers. Done right, this work can deliver justice and strengthen democratic institutions for the long run. But cleaning up after a corrupt regime also comes with serious challenges and hazards.
The Trump presidency has often looked more like a post-Soviet or postcolonial regime than like a first-world democracy. The Trump post-presidency may look the same. Trump has abused his office to enrich himself and his family in ways that are completely unprecedented—not only in the United States but also in the history of almost any peer democracy. Only Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s notoriously lawless former prime minister, was in any way comparable, and Berlusconi was sentenced to prison.
Trump faces little danger of prison. The U.S. Supreme Court has bestowed substantial criminal impunity on him, even assuming that he leaves office in 2029 as required by the Constitution. But an ex-president remains subject to civil liability, and the proceeds of bribery, extortion, insider trading, and market manipulation may be exposed to civil penalties. Other countries have shown the way.
Promoted Gas Stations Accused of Selling Stolen Fuel…
Gas stations promoted by President Donald Trump for their low prices were allegedly supplied with fuel from a $4 million haul that was never paid for, Politico reported Friday.
The article centers on a lawsuit that was filed Aug. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Georgia-based fuel supplier Mansfield Oil Co. against KRSM Inc., a company run by Syed Kazmi. Mansfield alleged KRSM took more than 1 million gallons of fuel from a Sunoco terminal in Twin Oaks without paying for it, then sold some of that fuel to stations in the Freedom Fuel Network.
“KRSM was able to sell such fuel for such low prices and garner such publicity because it never paid Plaintiffs for such fuel,” the complaint alleged.
He’s staking out extreme positions on White House secrecy…
At this point more than two months before the midterm elections, Democrats retaking control of Congress and its subpoena power is far from certain. But President Donald Trump is already laying down legal markers for how he’ll fight any attempt by lawmakers to investigate him.
In a Justice Department memo and legal filings, the Trump administration is arguing that the president can keep secret not just the conversations he has with his advisers within the White House, but that his dealings with individuals outside the government can be shielded as well. The White House is also saying in court that even disclosing the identities of the people who worked on significant policy efforts would infringe upon the presidential confidentiality to which Trump is entitled. And the administration has taken the stance that it can ignore a Watergate-era law prohibiting the destruction of White House documents.
The posturing comes as Trump, in his second term, has been notably reliant on a constellation of business moguls, non-government attorneys and old friends to help shape his agenda.
High Debt and Rising Prices Catch Up to President, as Midterms Near…