One of the great myths being presented by Trump and perpetuated by the media is that all of these trials against Trump are unprecedented. Now, yes, of course, if he (and they) are referring to a former president being indicted, absolutely. That’s unprecedented – although, of course, the reason no former president has ever been indicted isn’t because they were former presidents, but because none of them committed felonies or federal crimes or raped anyone. But to think that it’s unprecedented for former president Trump to be indicted, sued, taken to court – that’s closing your eyes to history and reality. Trump has even bragged about how often he’s been sued, and how he always settles his cases out of court. I just did a quick search, using the search phrase, “How many times has Trump been sued in his life,” and the first response said – “From the 1970s until he was elected president in 2016, Donald Trump and his businesses were involved in over 4,000 legal cases in United States federal and state courts, including battles with casino patrons, million-dollar real estate lawsuits, personal defamation lawsuits, and over 100 business tax disputes.” In a little over 40 years, he was sued over 4,000 times. To put that in perspective, it means he averages being sued 100 times every year – or twice a week! Every week. For 40 years. (The first, or most notable lawsuit, was in 1973, he and his father were sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination – for not renting apartments in one of his buildings to black people. Quite an auspicious beginning.) In fact, there’s even a book about this all – though it gives the number slightly lower. Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits by James D. Ziirin. From the book’s description – “Unlike all previous presidents who held distinguished positions in government or the military prior to entering office, Donald Trump's political worldview was molded in the courtroom. He sees law not as a system of rules to be obeyed and ethical ideals to be respected, but as a weapon to be used against his adversaries or a hurdle to be sidestepped when it gets in his way. He has weaponized the justice system throughout his career, and he has continued to use these backhanded tactics as Plaintiff in Chief. “In this book, distinguished New York attorney James D. Zirin presents Trump's lengthy litigation history as an indication of his character and morality, and his findings are chilling: if you partner with Donald Trump, you will probably wind up litigating with him. If you enroll in his university or buy one of his apartments, chances are you will want your money back. If you are a woman and you get too close to him, you may need to watch your back. If you try to sue him, he's likely to defame you. If you make a deal with him, you had better get it in writing. If you are a lawyer, an architect, or even his dentist, you'd better get paid up front. If you venture an opinion that publicly criticizes him, you may be sued for libel.” So, to think it is unprecedented for Trump to be in a courtroom, and that only the federal government or Biden Administration would go after Trump as a political maneuver is to be willfully ignorant of Trump’s life. Far from being “unprecedented,” the only thing that would be actually unprecedented – to the point of earth-shattering shocking – is if Trump wasn’t being sued and in a courtroom. Trump is in courtrooms more often than many other people shower. Or go to church. Seriously. Twice a week, every week, for 40 years. You could almost argue that court is Trump’s place of worship. In fact, to only be involved in a mere seven lawsuits since leaving office three years ago – his four indictments plus the two suits by E. Jean Carroll where he was found liable for defamation and the equivalence of rape, as well as the Trump Company fraud trial, where he was found guilty and fined $455 million – is significantly below average for him. By comparison, for Trump this is the equivalent of being on good behavior. (That’s seven trials at the moment, because there are also threats of a lawsuit by his partners in their joint social media company, and a lawsuit making its way through the court system filed by Eric Swalwell.) Let's put it this way: anyone who is surprised to see Trump sued and in court after he got out of office to live the rest of his life has an incredibly low bar for surprise. In fact, to think it's shocking Trump would actually be in court just because he left the White House and that this is all just political, ignores reality. So, no, it is not unprecedented that Trump is on trial now. Or has three other indictments facing him. Or was found liable for the equivalence of rape. Or was found guilty of fraud. That’s who Trump is. That's what Trump does. That's how Trump operates. Twice a week. Every week. For 40 years. Over 4,000 times.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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