In the current culture war, one of the skirmishes involves a law in Tennessee that forbids the doctrine that “the rule of law does not exist, but is a series of power relationships and struggles between races or other groups.” This deeply cynical view of the possibility of a just legal system is one of the most controversial tenets of Critical Racial Theory. It is also the basis of Donald Trump’s worldview.
Trump has taken from his father the belief that the concept of a “law abiding citizen” – although they certainly would never have used the term – is a social construct. The only relevant categorical distinction in their mind is winners versus losers. Winners do what they have to or want to do. Rules and consequences are for fools and losers.
Trump’s ongoing battle with Manhattan prosecutors is a test of this thesis. The indictment against the Trump organization and its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg cites a 15-year plan to evade tax by channeling money under the table to Trump employees, all of which are meticulously documented by internal documents and by filing false tax returns. “If we hold his claims to be true, this is not a tick-tack, foot error, or contentious tax fraud case,” notes Daniel Shaviro, professor of tax law at NYU. “They may as well overturn federal, state and city income taxes as they may expose this type of behavior and not prosecute it.” Trump spokesmen, paid and unpaid, insist that he be targeted for his political worth. But if there is any injustice, it is that he has evaded legal accountability for so long.
Trump’s first major role at his father’s company was their open behavior against federal regulations prohibiting discrimination against tenants in Fred Trump’s apartments. The Justice Department upheld the theory that the Fair Housing Act required landlords like Trump to rent apartments to customers of all races and sent testers to apply for vacancies. Black applicants would be told that there are no rooms in Trump’s apartments, while white applicants are welcome on the same day.
The Trump theory was that this law was just a proposal to ignore. Trump “turned the lawsuit into a protracted battle, complete with angry denials, character assassination, allegations that the government was forcing him to rent to ‘charities’ and a $ 100 million counterclaim in which the Justice Department accused libel will, “The New York Times told, which ultimately allowed him to” wear down the government. “
This successful disregard of the black letter law set the stage for Trump’s career. He didn’t just cut corners. He understood that his indifference to conventional notions of ethics and legality gave him his primary business advantage. He made use of this advantage again and again: with his father he conspired to launder profits through bogus companies and thus cheated the government of tax payments in the millions in the 70s and 80s; the refusal to pay contractors for services provided, knowing that they had little recourse against his legal powers; Operate scams like the Trump Network and Trump University to get its goals out of their savings; Using the Trump Foundation to channel charitable giving into Trump’s campaign and bag; to today’s cases involving a range of gross tax fraud.
The charges against Weißelberg do not include Trump’s own tax fraud allegations that New York prosecutors are allegedly prosecuting, and will likely be indicted at a later date. But they point to the ubiquitous criminality of his company and at least open up the possibility that Weißelberg will testify against the man whose criminal activities he helped direct and whom he allegedly admires.
If Trump has an ethical principle to guide him, it is that guessing is wrong and subordinates should not be allowed to do business with prosecutors by turning on the boss. (He called John Dean a “junk bag” and a “rat” for betraying Nixon; “I know all about flipping – I’ve been watching fins for 30 or 40 years,” he raged.) It’s a moral worldview shares with the gangsters he worked with in New York. The law is a joke, the officials who carry it out are corrupt hypocrites, and loyalty is the only real value.
When he ran for office, Trump boasted of his ability to buy out politicians. Once there, he believed throughout his tenure that the government prosecutors should work personally for the president and let him decide who to prosecute and who to operate with impunity.
It is ironic that the Republican Party should become obsessed with critical racial theory at a moment when its leader appears to be committed to justifying its rules. At best, the CRT can serve as a valuable criticism of the inequality hidden beneath racially neutral institutions and principles; When taken to extremes, it can become a nihilistic battering ram, dismissing the rule of law ideal as nothing more than an invention that allows the strong to rule the weak.
This cynical interpretation is one that Trump has adopted all along. The law is for the little people, the fools. Society’s winners make their own rules. His belief in this ethos got him so far. We’ll see if he was right in the end.
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