Cornered Trump Sues Twitter, Facebook

Published in El Financiero
(Mexico) on 12 July 2021
by Pablo Hirihart (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Rebecca Reekie. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
Trump has managed, once again, to divert attention away from the serious stuff: his tax fraud and Weisselberg’s arrest.

Boastful and tough, like the legendary boxer Jake LaMotta, Donald Trump withstands a flurry of judicial blows and counterattacks to avoid going to the mat — that is to say, jail.

The Trump Organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, turned himself in to the New York City Police Department to face 15 felony charges related to his boss's empire.

Fifteen years of "criminal tax fraud" by Trump's companies, "double bookkeeping," "falsification of business records," "grand larceny" and a dozen other crimes have been pursued since 2018 by Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance Jr. and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

They already have Weisselberg in jail. Keep your eyes on him, though. …

With his face disfigured by Sugar Ray Robinson's punishment in the sixth fight between the two, dazed on his legs, with the Madison Square Garden audience on the edge of their seats on the night of February 14, 1951, LaMotta was still throwing punches because he refused to fall for the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre," which was later immortalized in the film Raging Bull, and in other films (one with Robert De Niro).

LaMotta didn’t fall. Trump doesn’t intend to, either.

His counterattack was spectacular. He sued Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc. (owner of Google and YouTube) because they banned him from using their platforms after he incited the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

He claims a noble reason: freedom of speech. But, as in everything he does, there is a catch.

When he was taken out of cyberspace, Trump bragged that he was going to set up his own social network and tear his competitors Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai to shreds. The "beacon of freedom," as Trump's unborn network was dubbed, was abandoned in saintly peace 29 days after preliminary work began.

Now, with his finances in the hands of the New York judiciary, he announced the lawsuit under the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech.

There is no way he will win because the companies being sued are private entities and have their own rules, but his coup has brought him back into the public eye, back into print and electronic media commentary.

Most importantly, Trump has managed, once again, to divert attention away from the serious stuff: his tax fraud and Weisselberg’s arrest.

Those tricks he learned from his mentor, Roy Cohn, "the toughest, meanest, vilest and one of the most brilliant lawyers in America," as Esquire magazine describes him, whose life was brought to the screen by Al Pacino in an HBO series.

"When someone corners you, change the subject ... When someone sues you, you sue them ... Attack, Don't Settle, Never Apologize,"* Cohn advised Trump.

That is what the defeated American populist is doing. He also did it from the presidency.

A magnificent report in El País on June 22, 2020, brought to light that in 1975, Trump's real estate company was taken to court for violating civil rights and discrimination laws because it did not rent apartments to African Americans.

Cohn told him, "Don't defend yourself, attack."* Trump sued the U.S. Department of Defense for $100 million, for having ties to Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.**

That's what the former president, with his back to the ropes, just did: He sued the big digital media platforms, based on lies; no chance in this case, but he changed the conversation.

Trump, as president, was a compulsive liar and remains so now. He distracted from his embarrassing defeat to 78-year-old "sleepy" Joe Biden with the “fraud” lie, which still reverberates today in the country he left divided, polarized, irritable and with half a million dead from a pandemic he said was not serious.

According to the media, which he attacked relentlessly, he lied tens of thousands of times.

Cohn taught him how to lie: "Never accept defeat."*

And from Cohn, Trump learned that scruples do not serve to achieve his goals. The lawyer, a New Yorker like Trump — immeasurably wealthy but without a single property or bank account to his name — would tell his clients, "Don't tell me what the law is, tell me who the judge is."

As of a little over a week ago, the chief financial officer of the man who lived off nothing is in jail and will have to reveal the Trump Organization's tax fraud scheme.

LaMotta, having finished his boxing career, went into the movies (he participated in more than a dozen films) and came to live in Miami, where he opened a bar on Collins Avenue, near the beach. He died here, both famous and infamous due to problems with the law — a genius and a leading figure.

Cohn, an antisemitic Jew and homophobic homosexual, died as he lived: lying. He said he had liver cancer, but it was AIDS.

The outcome of Trump's mess is yet to be known. But it doesn't seem that there is much to learn.

*Editor’s Note: The quotations in this article, accurately translated, could not be verified.

**Editor’s note: In 1973, the Justice Department filed a civil rights case that accused Trump’s real estate company of violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The Trumps, represented by Cohn then counter-sued the government for $100 million for falsely accusing them of discrimination.


MIAMI, Florida.- Fanfarrón y aguantador, como el legendario púgil Jack LaMotta, Donald Trump resiste bajo una tormenta de golpes judiciales y contraataca para evitar irse a la lona. Es decir, a la cárcel.

El director financiero de la Organización Trump, Allen Weisselberger, se entregó a la policía de Nueva York para enfrentar tras las rejas 15 cargos por delitos graves relacionados con el imperio de su jefe.

Quince años de “fraude fiscal criminal” de las empresas de Trump, “doble contabilidad”, “falsificación de registros comerciales”, “hurto mayor” y otra docena de delitos que desde 2018 persiguen el fiscal de Manhattan, Cyrus Vance Jr. y la fiscal general de Nueva York, Letitia James.

Ya tienen preso a su director financiero. Sigue él, aunque…

Con la cara desfigurada por el castigo de Sugar Ray Robinson en la sexta pelea entre ambos, aturdido sobre sus piernas, con el público del Madison Square Garden al filo de las butacas la noche del 14 de febrero de 1951, LaMotta seguía tirando golpes porque se negaba a caer en la “masacre de San Valentín”, que luego fue llevada al cine en Toro salvaje y otras películas (una con Robert De Niro).

Así está Trump. Jack LaMotta no cayó.

Su contraataque fue espectacular: demandó a Facebook, Twitter y Alphabet (propietaria de Google y YouToube), porque le prohibieron el uso a sus plataformas desde que incitó a la toma del Capitolio el pasado 6 de enero.

Alega una razón noble: libertad de expresión. Pero, como en todo lo que hace, hay trampa.

Cuando lo sacaron del ciberespacio, Trump alardeó con que iba a montar su propia red social y haría pedazos a sus competidores Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey y Sundar Pichai.

El “faro de la libertad”, como le llamaron a la nonata red de Trump, fue abandonada en santa paz a los 29 días de iniciados los trabajos preliminares.

Ahora, con su financiero en manos de la justicia de Nueva York, anunció la demanda amparado en la Primera Enmienda, que protege la libertad de expresión.

No hay manera de que gane, porque las compañías demandadas son particulares y tienen sus propias reglas, pero su golpe lo ha hecho regresar a la atención pública, a los comentarios en los medios impresos y electrónicos.

Y lo más importante, Trump ha logrado, otra vez, distraer la atención de lo grave: su fraude fiscal y la detención de Allen Weisselberger.

Esos trucos los aprendió de su mentor, Roy Cohn, “el abogado más cruel, leal, vil, duro y brillante de América”, como lo describe la revista Esquire, cuya vida fue llevada a la pantalla con Al Pacino, y su historia contada en una serie de HBO.

“Cuando alguien te acorrale, cambia de tema… Cuando alguien te demande, demándalo tú a él… No te disculpes, golpea…”, le aconsejaba Roy Cohn a Donald Trump.

Es lo que está haciendo el derrotado populista estadounidense. Lo hizo también desde la Presidencia.

Viene en una magnífica reseña sobre la serie (El País, 22 de junio de 2020) que, en 1975, la empresa inmobiliaria de Trump fue llevada a proceso por violar las leyes de derechos civiles y discriminación, pues no rentaba departamentos a personas afroamericanas.

Cohn le dijo, “no te defiendas, ataca”.

Y Trump demandó al Departamento de Defensa de Estados Unidos por 100 millones de dólares, por “tener vínculos con los nazis y el Ku Klux Klan”.

Es lo que acaba de hacer el expresidente que cabecea de espaldas a las cuerdas: demandó a las grandes plataformas de comunicación digital, basado en mentiras, sin posibilidad alguna en este caso, pero cambió la conversación.

Trump, como presidente, fue un mentiroso compulsivo, y lo sigue siendo ahora. Distrajo su vergonzosa derrota ante “sleepy” Biden, de 78 años, con la mentira del ‘fraude’ que aún hoy retumba en este país al que dejó dividido, polarizado, irritable y con medio millón de muertos por una pandemia que dijo que no era grave.

Mintió decenas de miles de veces, de acuerdo con la contabilidad que le llevaron los medios, a los que atacó sin pausa.

Roy Cohn le enseñó a mentir. “Nunca aceptes una derrota”.

Y de él aprendió que los escrúpulos no sirven para conseguir sus objetivos. El abogado, neoyorquino como Trump –inmensamente rico pero no tenía una sola propiedad ni cuenta bancaria a su nombre–, le decía a sus clientes: “No me digas qué ley es el problema. Dime el nombre del juez”.

Desde hace poco más de una semana, el jefe de las finanzas del hombre que vivió de la nada está preso y tendrá que revelar el esquema de defraudación fiscal de la Organización Trump.

Jack LaMotta, terminada su carrera de boxeador, se dedicó al cine (participó en más de una docena de películas) y se vino a vivir a Miami, donde abrió un bar en la avenida Collins, cerca de la playa. Murió aquí, entre la fama y problemas con la ley. Genio y figura.

Roy Cohn, judío antisemita, homosexual homófobo, murió como vivió: mintiendo. Dijo que tenía cáncer en el hígado, y era sida.

Aún falta para conocer el desenlace de los líos de Donald Trump. Pero no mucho.
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