By Eddie D. Gillis

Former president Donald Trump should be happy( no doubt that he is) that he is a rich man and that he is “living” the American dream. He’s been in the company of kings, a queen, dictators and even a porn star. He has properties worth billions and even lived in one of the world’s most famous buildings, that being the White House. But, one might ask, how can a man who has lived the kind of life many dream about, yet always seems to find himself in some kind of legal quandary. For some reason, the former president and current businessman can’t seem to stay out of one legal dilemma after another. Most of Mr. Trump’s troubles have to do with his businesses and how he ran it over the years. And one can’t forget the numerous bankruptcies that he has filed and the number of times he has been sued for alleged non-payment of debts. Up until now, Trump has always seemed to find a way to escape any legal accountability, except for when he had to shut down his so-called Trump University and pay a fine. His business empire remains intact, as he is the only man to have been a president and still allegedly ran his company as if he never left. Now that he is no longer in the White House, there is a more detailed focus on how Trump ran his business and how he fulfilled his duties as president. Mr. Trump is about to face his stiffest legal challenge, as New York Attorney General Letitia James alleging that Trump, his adult children along with company executives, falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to secure loans on more favorable terms and to gain tax benefits. James has said that she “has the receipts” to support the lawsuit. It has been reported that Trump allegedly tried to make a deal with the Attorney General, the kind where major charges are dropped with no jail time for a small confession to wrongdoing. It was allegedly turned down. Though the suit against Trump is about as serious as they get, many in the GOP say that James’ actions “are political”, that she like all Democrats, are out to get the former president. They dare not say that Trump is in serious legal peril and if he has the kind of success, he had fighting the 2020 election, he is in a losing battle. There are no Republicans in the Senate to save him, no indicting a sitting president. It is now just Mr. Trump and his lawyers and a judge/jury that will decide his fate. Mr. Trump has only one recourse left, that is unless he confesses, to keep paying his lawyers millions of dollars hoping for a miracle that somehow his case is delayed until 2024 through legal maneuvers, giving him the opportunity to run again in 2024. Sounds farfetched, one might say, but for Mr. Trump, all options are on the table.

But Mr. Trump is also facing a legal headache that is just big as the New York lawsuit and that is the federal case against having retained classified documents at his Florida property after he was asked to return them. Most of us would seem to think that if we had classified documents in out possession, knowing that we shouldn’t, we couldn’t get to the feds fast enough. That is because we all understand the gravity of holding onto government documents that are classified, the need to return them. It appears that Mr. Trump wants to proclaim that doesn’t apply to him. While Mr. Trump fights the feds to hold onto the documents, or in this case, have them returned to him, a Special Master that he got through a judge’s ruling(one he appointed), is making Trump’s headache worse by appearing to paint his lawyers in a corner. Trump’s lawyers have not said in their filings that Trump as president de-classified the documents in question. Trump said in front of Sean Hannity that he “can de-classify” documents just by thinking about them. The thinking of a “stable” genius at work. Trump has gone far as to say that the FBI “planted” documents at Mar-a-Lago, though offering no proof, nor has his attorneys said so in any legal filings. The lawyers won’t, because in a legal filing, they would have back up that claim with evidence to convince the judge. They can’t allege anything, but must present the facts. Trump can say what he will, but he hasn’t supported any proof or evidence.

The only weapon Mr. Trump has is his mouth. There are those who are saying that he should say as less as possible because anything that he says in public, can be used against him if he is indicted. But Mr. Trump knows that he has to stay in contact with his supporters by telling them that he is the victim of a witch hunt and to send him money to fight a “racist” New York Attorney General. Then there is also the Jan. 6, 2021 committee hearings that are slated to come to a close. The riots are not forgotten at the Capitol, as are not that Mr. Trump is also under investigation by Fani Willis in Georgia over the “I need one more vote” phone call allegedly made by Trump in hopes of overturning the Georgia vote tally during the 2020 presidential election. That sounds like a “1-2-3” punch and probably feels like one to Mr. Trump. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.