Trump, the Litigious One

Published in El Heraldo de Mexico
(Mexico) on 23 September 2022
by José Carreño Figueras (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Stephen Routledge . Edited by Wes Vanderburgh.
The former president exaggerated his net worth by billions of dollars "to unjustly enrich himself and cheat the system."

The political and personal future of former President Donald Trump is at stake, including the fate of the Republican Party and the direction it will take in the coming years.

The situation became particularly evident after the two judicial blows that Trump received. One was expected: the announced lawsuit by New York State Attorney General Letitia James over a series of issues related to tax matters.

According to the complaint, Trump overstated his net worth by billions of dollars "to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system." The lawsuit lists his children Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump as participants in the scheme.

The second blow was the decision of an appeals court, which authorized the Department of Justice to continue the review of classified documents found by FBI agents during a search of Trump's mansion in Mar-a-Lago (Florida). Trump claims that as president he declassified the papers, although he has not produced anyone who knew about it, including his own lawyers.

The outcome of either of these two processes may hinder, if not completely prevent, a new Trump presidential campaign in 2024, in which he appears today as the most viable Republican candidate.

At the same time, no one denies that he is the top Republican front-runner, that it will be difficult for him to be displaced and that some of his supporters are willing to go to extreme lengths. Trump claims that the first lawsuit is a political witch hunt and that the second is a vendetta by his enemies in the security agencies, the "deep state," whose existence he denounced during his term in office.

But, to some extent, these are themselves political arguments with the promise of further complications. Trump and some of his supporters have warned about the possibility of violence, perceiving the attacks on him as contributing to the political polarization of the country. More than a few specialists have expressed fears along those lines.

It is true that this may all be part of Trump's judicial tactics, for he is someone who throughout his adult life has courted controversy and been the focus of more than 4,000 lawsuits, especially commercial ones.

Many of those lawsuits were to seek damages, but also to make the process so expensive that the other side would feel pressured to accept a settlement advantageous to Trump's interests.

Trump's willingness to litigate is not simply a desire for litigation, but a calculated strategy to try to put his opponents at a disadvantage. Certainly, one should question to what extent politics influences the proceedings against the former president. But also that he is not above using any argument and strategy for his own benefit.


El exmandatario exageró su patrimonio neto en miles de millones de dólares “para enriquecerse injustamente, para engañar al sistema”

El futuro político y personal del expresidente Donald Trump está en juego, y en alguna medida, con él, la suerte del Partido Republicano estadounidense y la dirección en que seguirá los próximos años.

La situación se hizo particularmente evidente tras los dos golpes judiciales que recibió Trump. Uno era esperado: la anunciada demanda de la Fiscal General del estado de Nueva York, Laetitia James, por una serie de problemas relacionados con asuntos fiscales.

De acuerdo con la denuncia, Trump exageró su patrimonio neto en miles de millones de dólares “para enriquecerse injustamente, para engañar al sistema”. La demanda incluye a sus hijos Donald Jr., Ivanka y Erik, como participantes en el esquema.

El segundo golpe fue la decisión de una Corte de Apelaciones, que autorizó al Departamento de Justicia continuar la revisión de documentos clasificados encontrados por agentes del FBI durante un cateo en la mansión de Trump en Mar-a-Lago (Florida). Trump afirma que él, como Presidente, desclasificó los papeles, pero no ha presentado a nadie que se haya enterado. Ni sus abogados.

El resultado de cualquiera de esos dos procesos puede obstaculizar, si no evitar por completo, una nueva campaña presidencial de Trump en 2024, para las que hoy aparece como el más viable candidato republicano.

Pero al mismo tiempo nadie niega que sea el principal líder de los republicanos, que será difícil que sea desplazado y que algunos de sus seguidores están dispuestos a llegar a posturas extremas. Trump afirma que la primera demanda es una cacería de brujas política, y que la segunda es una venganza de enemigos en los organismos de seguridad, el "estado profundo" cuya existencia denunció en su mandato.

Pero, en alguna medida, esos mismos son argumentos políticos y la promesa de mayores complicaciones. Trump y algunos de sus seguidores han advertido sobre la posibilidad de violencia al considerar que los ataques a él contribuyen a la polarización política del país. No son pocos los especialistas que han expresado temores en ese sentido.

Cierto que eso puede ser parte de las tácticas judiciales de Trump, que a lo largo de su vida adulta ha sido un ave de tempestades y muy en concreto el eje de poco más de cuatro mil juicios, especialmente mercantiles.

Muchos de esos procesos fueron para demandar reparaciones por daños y perjuicios, pero también para encarecer tanto el proceso que la otra parte se sintiera presionada a aceptar un arreglo ventajoso a los intereses de Trump.

La disposición de Trump al litigio no es simple deseo de pleito, sino una calculada estrategia para tratar de poner a su contrincante en una situación de desventaja. Y ciertamente habría que preguntarse en qué medida la política influye en los procesos contra el exgobernante. Pero también que él no está por encima de usar cualquier argumento y estrategia en beneficio propio.
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