December 6, 2022, will be remembered as a Day of Trumpfamy for the once Teflon-person now fading into political obscurity as a Loser. It marks a convenient demarcation point to track his downward slide into criminal oblivion. In the years to come scholars may offer other days especially since there is more to come but in someways December 6, 2022, will mark a bookend to January 6, 2021, from the moment he sought to overthrown the Constitution he later said to should be terminated, to the movement he perhaps started to realize that he has nothing to long forward to except possibly the collapse of his company and the clanging of prison doors behind him.
CRIMINAL: TRUMP BUSINESS
On the business side, the results on the Day of Infamy are obvious. The Trump Organization was found guilty on 17 counts of fraud and conspiracy. In some ways, this case was a slam dunk – the chief financial officer already had pleaded guilty and testified against the organization. The defense rested on the claim that the head of the organization had no idea what was going to and that Allen Weisselberg was acting solely on his own and for own benefit. The defense could have presented a stronger case to document that Trump was inept and incompetent and didn’t know what was going on if it had referred to his mishandling of the COVID leading to the preventable deaths of thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of Americans but it chose not to take that path.
What are the consequences of this conviction? Besides the fact it took the jury a New York minute to convict, it doesn’t bode well for others cases to come to in New York. The Manhattan District Attorney has just fortified his office with a Trump-Killer so it is only a matter of time now before the next indictment is sought. When it happens the suit will name names including probably everyone in his family much to the joy of Michael Cohen.
The New York State Attorney General needs no push to move ahead with that lawsuit.
All in all, 2023 is shaping up as a banner year for more loses for the Loser due to his business dealings … and maybe for members of his family too. Will he throw any of them under the bus? Will any of them seek to save their own skins? The drama continues.
CRIMINAL: TRUMP INSURRECTION
The House Select Committee is moving forward. Sometime this month, the report will be made public so even Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan will have the opportunity to read it. As part of the release, the Committee will make criminal referrals against the planners of the insurrection. It is reasonable to expect that the Hitman will be number one on the list. It is reasonable to expect that those who chose not to cooperate in the investigation will be named also. All in all, the announcement December 6, 2022, Day of Trumpfamy, is like the Ghost of Christmas Future by the House Select Committee bearings tidings of bad days to come.
The same applies to the Department of Justice. We know now the DOJ under the direction of the Jack Smith, the new special counsel, has been busy sending subpoenas to people in multiple states who participated in the effort to overthrow the election from the comforts of home. In some ways the potential case against the alternate electors is another slam dunk. The phonies who thought it was a lark, a goof, or maybe it might even work are now realizing that there are consequences for their actions. A judge has already ruled that John Eastman and Donald Trump were engaged in criminal activities. As the good decent phony electors start to face the music it will be interesting to see who decides to sing first and what names they will name as part of a plea bargaining.
So here is one proposed scenario of indictments.
1. Mar-a-Lagogate – a slam dunk case where the accused on his own recognizance and of his own free will admitted that he did it. Obviously his lawyers will not allow him to take the stand in his own defense. The only questions are who will he take down with him and who will seek a plea deal. Now that the special master has been dispensed with and the Trump judge has been put in her place, it is only a matter of a short period of time before the indictments. Oh wait, there are even more classified documents still in his possession!
2. Fake Electors – another straightforward case. Jack Smith has identified the people the DOJ wants to interview. Once that is done, indictments will follow.
3. January 6 – Insurrection indictments will take longer given the number of people who will be subpoenaed and the greater complexity of the case. Still everyone knows the indictments. In part they will build on the momentum of the other cases. We may get to a point where the accused becomes a figure of sympathy and right-wing media and the Freedom Caucus calls for throwing the flag for piling it on. Of course, by that time, some of them will be under indictment too.
Irony of irony, on the Day of Trumpfamy, the Capitol police were honored by the House.
Then in the midst of all this federal activity by the DOE, the Fulton County District Attorney also be issuing indictments.
So on the insurrection front like the New York front, the Loser has nothing to forward to.
POLITICAL: TRUMP THE LOSER
Trump’s aura as a loser grows larger with each passing day. On December 6, 2022, the Day of Trumpfamy, another one of his chosen candidates lost. Clearly if a real Republican had run in Georgia the results might have been quite different. Republicans proved quite capable of winning statewide elections in Georgia. Not so for the Trumpican candidate. The historic result is a net pick up one-Senate seat in the midterms for the out-of-power party. In addition, that one vote makes a big difference in the operation of the Senate. The reign of Joe Manchin is over.
Despite Hershel Walker being such a flawed candidate, he ended with some comments that directly rebut the Stop the Steal MAGA nonsense. He did not claim the election was rigged. Georgia is not Arizona. He called up his supporters to keep dreaming, respect the Constitution, and pray for the elected officials, all things MAGA Trump would never do.
Politically, the greater Trump’s aura as a loser becomes, the weaker he becomes politically. His rantings and ravings will become more and more meaningless since they are those of a Loser who will continue to be a loser in 2023. More and more Republicans will not want to kiss the ring or comply with any of his calls to action. The Freedom Caucus will experience some raucous closed-door sessions as it tries to pursue its losing agenda. Really, how many people care about Hunter Biden outside a closed loop of losers?
The combined actions of December 6, 2022, Day of Trumpfamy, mark an acceleration into the demise of Donald Trump as a political factor in American politics. His disappearance won’t happen overnight, but any given day it will become worse. I have used the Wicked Witch of the West in multiple blogs to describe what will happen to him … and the joy of the Munchkins singing when the first witch died. I was pleased hear Governor John Kasich also use the Wicked Witch motif: Donald Trump is melting before our very eyes and at some point even Republicans in Congress will be ready to mop up and discard that puddle.
Happy Holidays.
