Wealthy and powerful people like Trump generally get away with crimes by finding a way to not get indicted to begin with, and they have various ways to pull that off. But once they do get indicted, they tend to go down. Even fancy lawyers usually won't get you off at trial.
Trump is under criminal investigation in three jurisdictions, two of which have reached the grand jury stage.
If Trump gets indicted for financial crimes (Manhattan or Westchester), or gets indicted for election tampering (Georgia), there is every reason to expect he'll go down.
If Trump gets indicted for financial crimes (Manhattan or Westchester), or gets indicted for election tampering (Georgia), there is every reason to expect he'll go down.
The wealthy and powerful person's main tool for not getting indicted is to keep crimes a secret. Paying others do to the crimes, paying to cover it up, so prosecutors don't even know to look for anything.
For Trump, that ship has already sailed. Prosecutors are clearly onto him.
For Trump, that ship has already sailed. Prosecutors are clearly onto him.
Failing that, the wealthy powerful person can try to sabotage a prosecutor's case, bribing a witness not to testify or such. Then the prosecutor fears losing at trial, and doesn't indict.
But this usually relies on the general public not knowing (or not caring) about the case.
But this usually relies on the general public not knowing (or not caring) about the case.
Trump reportedly has a past history of donating to the reelection campaigns of district attorneys who were looking to indict him or his family.
But again, this kind of thing only works when the public isn't watching.
But again, this kind of thing only works when the public isn't watching.
When a wealthy powerful person is in the process of being indicted and it's playing out in public, they can't just pay someone off to make it disappear. Too many people would notice.
It's the one scenario where the wealthy powerful person tends to get indicted and convicted.
It's the one scenario where the wealthy powerful person tends to get indicted and convicted.
You can point to people like OJ as examples of people who got off at trial. But that was murder, harder to prove.
Trump is being indicted on financial crimes, where the documents prove the guilt. You don't need a witness in the room or DNA or something.
Trump is being indicted on financial crimes, where the documents prove the guilt. You don't need a witness in the room or DNA or something.
So yes, given the strength and nature of the state-level criminal cases being built against Trump, there is every reason to expect he'll be indicted, and that if he is indicted he'll be convicted and sent to prison.
Trump spent his entire life getting away with crimes, but only because he was able to keep it under the radar. There was never any public demand for prosecutors to dig into the finances the host of the Apprentice. No one cared. So he got away with it all.
But once Trump became President, his crimes were always going to surface, and at that point he bet his freedom on the premise that he'd be able to remain in office for the rest of his life. He lost that bet. So now he's in the worst legal situation possible.
Keep in mind that the three confirmed state-level criminal cases against Trump are separate from anything the Feds end up doing or not doing to Trump. If the Feds also get him, that'll be icing on the cake.
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