Will Trump Come Tumbling Down?

Trumpty Dumpty had a great fall and won’t be back to finish his wall.
All MAGA’s horses and all MAGA’s men, can’t put Trumpty Dumpty back together again.

The legal, political, and financial troubles for former president Donald Trump have magnified exponentially this week and, as they say in the political world, “the optics are not good”— and that’s putting it mildly. The reality behind the optics is even worse.

Granted, it’s not easy to follow all the various investigations, grand juries, search warrants, subpoenas, and witness testimony as a host of Congressional committees and state and federal law enforcement agencies try to track down all the many laws, rules, and ethics violations Trump and his crime family have bent, broken or ignored over so many years.

In fact, his oft-used lie that these investigations are a “witch hunt” has taken on a new meaning. Given the vast spectrum of his on-going problems, it’s now a “which hunt”— as in “which hunt are you talking about?” And indeed, there are plenty from which to chose.

The guy who formerly claimed only people who are guilty plead the Fifth Amendment did so 440 times in his deposition last week during an investigation into his real estate and financial dealings being conducted by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

Not to be left behind, the Manhattan district attorney’s office is also conducting a criminal probe. And Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney is investigating whether Trump’s efforts to “find votes” amounted to “solicitation of election fraud.”

In the meantime, his former chief legal counsel, Pat Cipollone, has been served a subpoena by the Department of Justice’s federal grand jury investigating Trump’s attempted January 6 insurrection. This follows the testimony from former vice-president Mike Pence’s chief of staff. You know, the same Mike Pence Trump’s supporters wanted to hang because he wouldn’t defy the Constitution to derail the election results and keep the former guy in power.

Topping off Trumpty’s very bad week was the execution of an FBI search warrant on Mar-a-Lago to recover boxes of sensitive documents Trump illegally removed from the White House in violation of the Presidential Records Act. Ironically, he now may face felony charges contained in the measure he signed into law as revenge against Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while Secretary of State.

The wailing and gnashing of teeth from Trump and his cult-like followers about “invading his home” ring hollow, however, since as we go to press it has been reported that the search was for classified documents relating to nuclear weapons among other things. Instead of wondering why a federal agency charged with national security was doing its job, one might ask what an ex-president was planning on doing with illegally-retained classified documents on nuclear weapons after being shown the door out of the White House by America’s voters.

As is his wont, Trump incited his supporters, bringing threats of violence and “all out war” from the extreme right-wing zealots, one of whom actually tried to invade an FBI office, armed with an AR-15. As he found out, the FBI shoots back— and they didn’t miss.

While Trump does his usual “send me your money” act, the Great Grifter has left the Republican Party in a real bind. Those who came out to prematurely denounce the FBI’s actions now appear foolishly duped by Don the Con once again.

The thing is, in real life spurious fiction falls before towering truth. And maybe, just maybe, it’s time for the GOP to just let Trumpty Dumpty take the great fall he so richly deserves.

George Ochenski is a columnist for the Daily Montanan, where this essay originally appeared.