I think Trump’s “shot across the bow” was the expose on Ted Cruz’s extramarital affairs that the National Enquirer ran during the 2016 primaries. Because I believe that many Congressmen have “Washington girlfriends” and that as long has they stick to discreet women that work for their political party, there’s a widespread “gentlemen’s agreement” of sorts to look the other way, unless they disappear.
And I believe that this article was Trump’s way of announcing to DC that he wasn’t respecting that gentlemen’s agreement.
It’s undisputed fact that Trump has attempted to use his own version of “kompromat” to intimidate political enemies. He’s done in at least twice, and we know this because in both cases the person he was trying to extort basically told him they weren’t going to play and the kompromat was released.
One of the two incidents involved journalists Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzenenski. He had his cronies at the National Enquirer following them and harassing their families while attempting to write an expose on their relationship. Then he had an associate call Scarborough and make an offer, he’d stop the story if Joe and Mika changed the tone of their reporting. Joe declined the offer. The Enquirer ran the story.
The other incident ( more serious) was the blackmailing of Jeff Bezos. There is credible speculation that Saudi government officials were involved in this incident, and they were looking to have the Washington Post ( which Bezos owns) back off on their coverage of the Khashoggi murder in exchange for not exposing his extramarital affair. Again, the National Enquirer was involved.
So, yes……I believe that Trump collects personal information to use against political opponents because he’s used personal information he’s collected against political opponents. The fact that he hasn’t released it isn’t exculpatory, it’s how blackmail works. Oh, and there was this story last week about the “kompromat collecting operation” he launched after the the Bezos thing took out his buddy David Pecker at the National Enquirer. This link is gifted,
And, if you think Trump and his illegal business activities were under the radar before he ran for President, you obviously aren’t a New Yorker. Everyone knew he was a mobbed-up gangster. That’s why I’m pessimistic that he’ll face justice, he knows how to evade the law, he’s been doing it for decades.
As usual one of the best and most informed posts in the thread. Thank you for the free article, I intend to read it a few more times to to gain all the insights those smarter than I am get on the first pass.
Thank you for informing and refining my speculation. For me it was simple knowledge of Trump’s character, motives, and abilities-- but here you come with documented proof! Thank you for informing me and the rest of the board.
As for Trump flying under the radar and evading the law . . . . I am sure you are better informed in that matter too, but being idealistic (but not young), I have the sincerest desire to believe that in this case – in his presidential career, the stakes are so very high and have such important ramifications for the future that the powers that be will not just turn a blind eye this time. I am sure there will be stuff that is hard to prove but I hope with all of my being that at this time in this place-- someone (many someones) will make a huge and detailed effort that succeeds in holding Trump, his cronies, and his complicit adult children accountable for a large portion of the evil they have always done.
So it was smart of Nixon to declare himself finished with politics in 1962? Not very smart. Also bugging the Dems when he had the race well in hand? Also pretty dumb.
You don’t need to be a lot smarter than Trump to be “not dumb.” I have no idea what you’re trying to show here, but you haven’t begun to persuade me that you understand Trump’s standing with the GOP base, nor his identification with the racist segment of the party. Nixon was someone the racists voted for begrudgingly, Trump far more enthusiastically.
Trump is still an odds on favorite to be the GOP nominee in 2024. The base doesn’t want a repackaging of Trump. He was robbed as far as they are concerned. He is still their hero, not a loser.
Don’t say that the last three don’t count because they weren’t on major tickets. It’s not improbable that Trump will pull a Bull Moose if the Republicans don’t kowtow sufficiently.
This has been my ardent wish since the 2020 election was called.
As much as I admired Teddy Roosevelt back when I was a registered Republican (and still don’t outright hate him), if a loud and blustering former GOP stalwart will further divide the Republican Party – well, that can only be good for the nation as a whole.
Trump splitting the right wing with a third party candidacy might be an ideal situation, and by my way of thinking the only positive result of him not being convicted and banned from holding office by that time.
The Russians weren’t just randomly attacking American political parties. They wanted the Republicans to win and chose their strategy to help that goal.
This doesn’t mean Trump or any other Republicans are working for the Russians. It could mean the Russian government thinks Russian interests are better served when Republicans have power in the United States than when Democrats do.
Jesus died, Paul stepped in and made it a larger religion than it had been before. Joseph Smith died, Brigham Young stepped in and made it a bigger religion. L. Ron Hubbard died, David Miscavige stepped in and made it a bigger religion.
How things go forward is anyone’s guess but Trump isn’t irreplaceable. Just as plausibly, he’s the primary impediment to a larger movement. But also just as plausibly, he’ll spend the next years of his life so grievously destroying his own image that there’s nothing to save. As President, he had Senate approved officials doing most of the work and generating a sufficient sense of competency. He’s now lost that.
Glad you did. What a great theory! In a fun-to-chew-over kind of way. If true, I hope someone who knows breaks the news (Mrs. Clinton, you said you wanted to go on the talk show circuit? Wellll…).
