From a piece in The Washington Post by Marc Fisher:
For a half-century, Donald Trump has portrayed himself as the consummate dealmaker – and the ultimate escape artist, a serial entrepreneur turned politician who managed to avoid major consequences despite having been investigated in every decade of his adult life by federal and state agencies, by bankers and casino regulators, by legions of prosecutors and competitors.
He’s been investigated over matters small and huge: over alleged lobbying violations in New York state and whether he played a role in the Russian government’s effort to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He was the only president to be impeached twice, yet he was acquitted both times.
Now, 50 years after federal officials first accused Trump and his father of violating laws that barred racial discrimination in apartment rentals, the former president has been indicted. While the indictment has not been made public, a Manhattan grand jury has been investigating the payment of hush money.
The indictment of the former president is likely to spark a political firestorm and might break new ground legally. It is also a moment that Trump has long believed could never happen – a criminal charge that could theoretically – again, theoretically – put him behind bars after a career of dodging findings of guilt in forums from Trenton, N.J., to Brooklyn to the U.S. Capitol.
“Donald was always fearless,” said Barbara Res, an engineer and attorney who was a top executive at the Trump Organization for two decades. “He absolutely believed he was above the law. He loved cutting corners. He loved suing people.”
To Trump, an indictment is a first step in a very public drama that he believes will ultimately accrue to his benefit, according to people who have worked closely with him through the years, bolstering his support among his base and winning sympathy from other voters who might not like him but also don’t believe that a former president should be prosecuted in this fashion.
Trump, now in his third consecutive presidential campaign, will win in 2024 because of the case, said his new lawyer Joe Tacopina, speaking on MSNBC: “I believe this will catapult him into the White House. . . . Because this will show how they are weaponizing the justice system. They’re taking the vote out of the voters’ hands.”
The indictment in the case comes amid an Atlanta-area investigation into Trump’s role in seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, and a special counsel’s federal investigations into Trump’s actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, incident at the Capitol, as well as his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, his South Florida estate and private club.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement Thursday evening that “From Russia, Russia, Russia, to the Mueller Hoax, to Impeachment Hoaxes 1 and 2, and even the Unlawful Mar-a-Lago Raid, Democrats have investigated and attacked President Trump since before he was elected – and they’ve failed every time. Now Democrats are at it again, pushing the ‘Nuclear Button’ and attacking a president because of a disgraced extortionist.”
How come B Clinton was never prosecuted and indicted for perjury.