Past Performance . . .

. . . May not be a guarantee of future results, but it IS a pretty good indicator:

In the case at hand, Trump’s apologists in the GOP claim that the allegations for which Trump has been impeached were based entirely on ”hearsay” and represent nothing more than a desperate attempt by the Democrats to prevent Trump’s re-election in 2020. While patently false, these claims might be more believable if the offenses outlined in the articles of impeachment were totally out of character with Trump’s past conduct.

So, a brief re-cap of the President’s actual record in this regard (not hearsay, not baseless allegations, but actual history) might help those among us who are not professional politicians or pundits shed some meaningful light on the nation’s current conundrum:

The Federal Government’s 1973 lawsuit against Trump Management, Inc. (and its then 27 year old President, Donald J. Trump) for violation of federal fair housing laws is a pretty good “Leading Indicator” for a number of reasons. It is the first thoroughly documented example of Trump’s utter disdain for legality (not to mention morality) in his business dealings.

In his failed defense against those charges, Trump also clearly reveals the tactics and strategies he has deployed against all similar charges ever since. The facts were unassailable and clearly arrayed against him. On the advice of his notorious attorney, Roy Cohn, Trump counter-sued the Government, dismissed the well-documented testimony of the Government’s witnesses as “without merit”, and attacked the motives of the prosecutor’s as a personal vendetta against him.

Sound Familiar?

Then, despite vociferous claims that he would “never settle”, when the facts became known in the course of legal proceedings that stretched on for two years, Trump (still loudly proclaiming his innocence) did, in fact, settle the case on terms favorable to the Government.

The sad saga of the Donald J. Trump Foundation reinforces this pattern of self-serving and double-dealing with no regard for either the law or ethics. As with the earlier case, the evidence amassed by prosecutors (in this case the New York State Attorney General’s office), was overwhelming: Sixteen specific, well-documented instances of Trump and his family, engaging in patently illegal conduct including (among other charges):

• Mishandling of funds raised for veteran’s causes
• Failure to make pledged 9/11 grants
• Receiving donation from a Ukrainian oligarch during campaign for president

This pattern of egregious violations started with the establishment of the Trump Foundation and continued unabated for nearly 30 years (!) until the foundation was forced to dissolve under court supervision last year and distribute its remaining assets (two million dollars) to charities approved by the court.

The short lived (2005 – 2010) scam labeled Trump University is another well documented, self-admitted example of Trump’s criminal pattern of behavior. Promoted heavily by the great man himself, the shell company promised untold riches to those willing to trust him to teach them the secrets of successful real estate investing. Despite Trump University having no academic accreditation and the multiple business bankruptcies in his own past, Trump and his larcenous cronies managed to defraud more than 5,000 people of up to $35,000 each for worthless “seminars” which were actually nothing more than high-pressure sales pitches for additional courses.

In the face of multiple criminal investigations and three Federal lawsuits, the con was finally dissolved in 2010 and in 2016 Trump (again after insisting on his own innocence and swearing he would “never settle”) was forced to pay twenty-five MILLION (!) dollars in damages to the victims of his scam.

Of course, the most recent and most extensively documented (in all 480 carefully compiled pages of the Mueller report) example of Trump’s perfidy is his behavior during the last presidential election and the ensuing investigation.

Trump openly invited the Russians to interfere with our presidential election on national TV. He carefully planned his campaign strategy to make sure he would achieve maximum benefit when they did so. When the nature and extent of his criminal conduct became impossible to ignore, he blatantly and criminally interfered with the government authorized investigation of the matter on ten separate, well-documented occasions.

His primary line of defense throughout the ensuing scandal has been the same one used by the twenty-seven year old rich man’s son when he was caught red-handed: scathing personal attacks on the individuals and institutions charged with enforcing the Nation’s laws and painting the legal proceedings against him as personal vendettas and “witch hunts”.

While Trump’s well documented and thoroughly proven past transgressions are likely to sicken any well meaning supporter of American Democracy, there IS a sliver of hope contained therein, as well:

In each of the past legal proceedings, Trump loudly proclaimed his innocence and viciously attacked those that would ensure that justice was served. He did so right up until it became obvious to all that his efforts would fail and that he was, in fact, guilty as charged. He then quickly “folded” his game and moved on to his next con.

To me, this appears to be both legitimate grounds for optimism concerning the eventual removal of tyrant Trump from office, as well as a valid strategy for achieving that vital goal as quickly as possible.

The legal pressure currently building against Trump must be increased rapidly and relentlessly until the Truth becomes damning and his ultimate fate unavoidable. If he runs true to form (as criminals inevitably do), he will then “cut & run” as fast as he can.

If you want to be able to look your children and grandchildren in the eye when this national nightmare has finally run its course, I encourage you to do whatever you personally can to hasten that day’s arrival.