The New York Attorney General’s trial has definitely gotten under Trump’s skin. Yet he was far calmer at his arraignment on 30-plus counts of unlawfully retaining classified documents. Why is he stressing? 1/
Part of it is image. Trump’s self concept and public persona alike rest on his King of All Real Estate construct. Although the Attorney General has already exposed how much of it is a fiction, the trial will methodically unspool his legend, witness by email by letter. 2/
But it’s more than that. The remedies the AG is seeking — which Trump himself acknowledges constitutes a sort of “corporate death penalty” — are the only ones he can’t campaign away. If restored to the presidency, he can pardon himself for his alleged federal crimes. 3/
He can also arguably force the Manhattan and Fulton County DAs, who might not be able to try their cases against him before the election, to stop on the ground that prosecuting a sitting president is constitutionally verboten. 4/
But the only way out of Tish James’s civil suit is through (and then appeals). And before then, the court could impose serious penalties: bars on acquiring NY real property, borrowing from any NY-registered lender, or serving as an officer or director of any NY company. 5/
A monitor to direct (and correct) all financial reporting and controls; even a receiver to oversee the unwinding of his metaphorical trophy cases. And yes, maybe even the liquidation of his properties. 6/
And that’s before we get to any disgorgement of the profits from his fraud, which the AG estimates at “at least $250 million.” Collectively, for Trump, that smorgasbord of potential remedies is worse than any threat of prison. FIN.
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