In at least 3 ways:
1) Current+looming debt ($421M loans due) = foreign powers influence, clearly already flexed by Turkey
2) Finances and tax cheats that would normally yank security clearances (IE Javanka)
3) But my big worry: Now we see a new "why" for disrupting election...
He + family face legal risks far deeper than suspected. They also face significant financial woes.
As ever, an unprecedented situation for a US president.
The worry is yields mentality more of an authoritarian:
"If I lose, my family and I face prosecution and financial ruin"
That is not how the 2 sides in US elections have previously entered the space, but it is how 1 side is thinking now.
As result, Media and Dems need to stop thinking of this thru solely an "election" lens. It changes everything from reporting to transition strategy.
Alas, that means apt parallels+insights aren't only to be found in US history but in countries that did or didn't have transition with authoritarian-democracies, e.g. Ukraine, Philippines, S Korea, Turkey (my worried example as too many parallels), etc.
As has happened again and again over last 4 years, that also means our usual systems for discussing US politics will fail. In media, think same old campaign beat reporters and partisan pundits vs journalist/experts with global insights. In poli-sci, Americanists vs CompPolitics.
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