The “NEW” Donald

On January 20, 2020 Donald Trump will lose both his job and one of its most important perks.  Trump has faced investigations involving his campaign, his business, and his personal behavior since he took the oath of office himself four years ago. As soon as he becomes a private citizen, however, he will be stripped of the legal armor that has protected him from a host of pending court cases both civil and criminal.  He will no longer be able to argue in court that his position as the nation’s chief executive makes him immune to prosecution or protects him from turning over documents and other evidence. He will also lose the help of the Department of Justice in making those arguments.  While it is possible he could go to jail as a result of some of the probes of his business affairs, the soon-to-be-former president is more likely to face financial punishment in the form of civil fines, law enforcement observers believe. He may also be embarrassed by financial and other secrets that will be exposed in court. Nearly all his legal troubles are in his hometown of New York, where he once basked in the tabloid limelight as a young mogul and where he rode a golden escalator into an unlikely political career.  Here are some of the most perilous cases that await President Trump when he’s no longer president:

• The Manhattan district attorney’s case  When former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations for paying porn star Stormy Daniels to keep silent about her alleged affair with Trump. The indictment alleged Cohen had paid Daniels $130,000 prior to the 2016 election for the benefit of “Individual-1,” an unindicted coconspirator described as an “ultimately successful candidate for president.”
• Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is probing a variety of alleged financial improprieties. Court documents show that the DA is investigating “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization,” the president’s family business, which could include falsifying business records, insurance fraud and tax fraud.
• The New York attorney general’s case  The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, meanwhile, is investigating four different Trump Organization real estate projects and the failed attempt to purchase the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. Testimony before Congress that he had inflated his financial assets.  The Trump properties that James's office is investigating, according to court filings, include the Seven Springs Estate, a 212-acre property just north of New York City that the company is seeking to develop; 40 Wall Street, a heavily leveraged building owned by the company in Lower Manhattan; Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago; and Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles.
• The women  Multiple women have accused Trump of inappropriate sexual behavior in alleged incidents that date as far back as the 1970s. Trump has denied the allegations. A few of the women have taken legal action, and in the case with the most serious potential implications, Trump enlisted the Department of Justice as his attorney to prevent submitting evidence.

Once out of office Trump will no longer have the shield protecting him from having to answer to possible criminal activity.  Perhaps, if found guilty of any of the many allegations of criminal behavior, Trump can find a way to convert one of his money-losing golf properties into a low security prison.