Horny's Ghost Will Not Be Going Away: Who and Where are the Ghostbusters?

Silver-backed gorilla Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay 

Outgoing President Donald J. Trump is used to being the gorilla in the room who sits where he likes. He even has a new silver gray hair colour to show it. But his new *ghostly appearance indicates he does not intend to fade away just yet. Trump has not formally conceded his loss of the 2020 US Election yet, even after President-elect Joe Biden just took Georgia and has soundly defeated him with Electoral College votes to spare (360:232), and may never do so as a middle finger gesture to Biden and Democrats. He has decided instead as a strategic move to become obstructive about President-elect Biden's access to intelligence briefings, has instructed his staff to be uncooperative about the transition (many of whom are ignoring him), has dog-whistled and incited far-right extremists The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers to create MAGA havoc in Washington on the weekend, and will no doubt find any opportunity to show contempt and discourtesy to the norms of handover.

This all may simply be another Trump feint and distraction despite his implied threats (and the actual violence resulting), and his nuisance-value doomed legal challenges.

Because he may already be plotting to return, whether in 2024 himself, or via a surrogate adult child, Don Jnr. or Ivanka (God Help Us All!). The 'Dynasty of Trump Tower' has to go on. They have all had a taste of power, despite initially regarding the presidency as a step down. His grip on the Republican Party remains secure for the foreseeable future given 71 million plus Americans voted for him. His approval rating remains high, according to pollsters FiveEightThirty (44.8%) But he has ended up with a mirror image of his own victory in 2016. He will now concede "nothing", although he just shot himself in the foot with a public "almost concession". Enabling a smooth transition to at least facilitate urgent work on the #coronaviruspandemic is unimportant to him as he remains indifferent to the escalating crisis as it doesn't affect him. His deliberate failed response to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria (still making little progress) gave an early warning of his callousness and cruelty.

So, why would he want to return? Because he can. He likes being an authoritarian and reckons his base is strong enough for him to be an even better one next time. Power corrupts and Trump was corrupt already. But above all else, the safest refuge for Donald Trump is actually the White House. There prosecution is delayed due to the constitutional rule/convention that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted or sued while in office ie "presidential immunity".

Trump has been not only trying to outrun Biden but New York prosecutors as well. The tortoise is catching up with the hare! Yes, Aesop found that the race is not always to the swift.

"The Tortoise and the Hare", from an edition of Caleb's Fables illustrated by Arthur Rackham, 1912

"The President has survived one impeachment, twenty-six accusations of sexual misconduct, and an estimated four thousand lawsuits. That run of good luck may well end, perhaps brutally, if Joe Biden wins":

• Jane Mayer, The New Yorker

Who and Where Are These 'Ghostbusters'?

The Attorney-General of the State of New York and the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance will be waiting for January 21, 2021, hopefully with indictments (or at least full speed and fully-powered investigations) for ex-President Trump for his business practices and taxes. How likely are they to succeed?

"The Manhattan District Attorney's Office made a more pointed case for the legality of its grand jury subpoena for eight years of President Trump's tax returns and related records, saying in a brief to an appeals court Monday that news reports of misconduct alone justify such a wide-ranging review of business dealings. The filing marks the first time the prosecutor has publicly suggested specific criminal charges — including falsifying business records and tax fraud — that could hypothetically apply, should the grand jury find evidence to support them."

• The Washington Post, dated 22 September, 2020

But the Supreme Court may end up ruling on the matter. With a court stacked with Republicans (the latest being Justice Amy Coney Barrett), Trump may be free to run again. Or else he may not and be contending with criminal prosecution.

So, what other "ghostbusters" might be in the wings? There is of course the A-G for New York State, Letitia James, a Democrat, who is investigating the Trump Organisation which has stonewalled her repeatedly. She has sought court assistance to get Eric Trump to comply with her interview request:

"Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said her civil investigation of potential fraud in Trump’s business dealings, which began last year, has been held up by a lack of cooperation from the president and his family.

The petition seeking the court’s intervention was filed after lawyers for Eric Trump abruptly cancelled his planned interview with investigators late last month."

• AP

Who Else Is Out To Get Donald Trump?

"We the People" in an original edition; Detail of Preamble to Constitution of the United States

Attorneys general in both Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

The emoluments clause of the US Constitution prohibits those in public office from accepting gifts from foreign governments: Congressional Research Service

Benefitting from the presidency?

"Attorneys general in both Washington, D.C., and Maryland have an ongoing lawsuit against Trump alleging he unlawfully used the office of the presidency to benefit his personal finances.

Their suit accuses Trump of violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits accepting gifts from foreign governments, with the attorneys general specifically citing foreign patrons to Trump’s hotel in the nation’s capital and other properties."

• abc news

The irony is that Trump himself, a psychopath, has been a vexatious litigator frequently threatening and filing lawsuits. He has coerced NDA's from his female victims.

"Aside from the threat of prosecution and the unearthing of tax returns he has long kept private, Trump is facing a litany of other lawsuits that could put his family in an unflattering spotlight and force him to provide DNA evidence to the attorneys of a woman who accused him of rape."

• USA Today

Finally, will Horny's ghost come back to haunt us all? Yes, that is highly likely even as tortuous investigations (which may or may not lead to actual prosecutions) and civil suits roll on like an enveloping fog. The evidence is there already. At least the Mueller Investigation did that groundwork and dispelled the myths that Trump enablers comforted themselves with at night while wide awake scared of the Ghosts of Trump Past and Present and Their Futures.

"Edward Kelly, a Magician. in the Act of invoking the Spirit of a Deceased Person." (engraving from the Astrology by Ebenezer Sibly, 1806)

* Horny's Ghost is a Great Horned Owl character in "The Classified Adventures of Owl of O.W.L."

??READ Chapter 4 of Season 8

GO to: the Owl of O.W.L. page for Owl information and links.

AND Go to "The Classified Adventures of Owl of O.W.L." page for the evolution of a strategic narrative (the backstory of its creation) and previous chapters.

Pamela Williamson

Sky Canopy Consulting

17 November, 2020

Auckland, New Zealand

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