Trump’s Culture Of Crime And Corruption
Artwork by Sarah Simon
On October 17, 2016, Donald Trump said, “It is time to drain the swamp in Washington DC.” This appealed to many voters who found themselves frustrated with politics. It was a promise to end the mugginess of corruption and bring clarity.
Trump drew this analogy while saying he surrounds himself with the “best people.” If he was going to drain that swamp, then those individuals were going to help – whatever superlative he granted upon them.
But these “best people” seem to have been sinking deeper into whatever swamp was already there. Or worse – into an entirely new one. There are, of course, Trump’s Cabinet appointees misusing taxpayer dollars and other forms of corruption, but we’re going to focus on the criminality, and alleged criminality, of Trumpland.
For the past four years, Trump’s 2016 election campaign team has found itself submerged in the Russian probe, resulting in criminal convictions. Others found themselves in investigations of their own making. Seven of Trump’s close associates have been indicted, convicted, or secured guilty pleas. They include Trump’s 2016 Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, former Deputy Campaign Chairman Rick Gates, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, former Campaign Advisor George Papadopoulos, longtime advisor Roger Stone, former Campaign CEO and WH Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen.
The charges Cohen was convicted of included hush-money payments to Trump’s mistresses, conduct that directly implicated President Donald Trump. Associates outside of the Trump’s inner circle who have been indicted include Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman, Elliot Broidy, and George Nader. Others like Rudy Giuliani, Erik Prince, and Tom Barrack are reportedly under ongoing investigations.
Along with those “best people,” Trump’s own family engages in swampy behavior. Whether it’s Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump barely dodging fraud charges in their Trump SoHo scheme, or Eric Trump being probed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, they are submerged, too.
When it comes to President Trump himself, he’s been impeached for obstruction of Congress and abuse of power, and is currently under investigation for fraud at the Trump Organization. Trump University had to settle a fraud lawsuit and the Trump Foundation was forced to shut down over self-dealing. The Trump Organization, Trump Foundation, Trump Campaign, Trump Transition, Trump Inaugural Committee, Trump Administration – nearly every organization Trump has ever run has been under investigation at one time or another.
The self-proclaimed “law and order” president, does not appear to have much respect for the law.
With this article, Rantt hopes to shed light on the criminality of Trump’s associates.
Moments like these require unrelenting truthtelling. We take pride in being reader-funded. If you like our work, support our journalism.
Donald Trump
Title: President
Status: Impeached and under investigation
Conduct: Impeached for obstruction of Congress and abuse of power, settled a Trump University fraud lawsuit, self-dealing at the Trump Foundation, currently being probed for potential bank and tax fraud.
Paul Manafort
Title: Former Trump Campaign Chairman
Status: Convicted
Conduct: Tax and bank fraud
Rick Gates
Title: Former Trump Campaign Deputy Chairman
Status: Pleaded Guilty
Conduct: Tax and bank fraud; lying to the FBI
Roger Stone
Title: Longtime Trump advisor
Status: Convicted (sentence commuted by Trump)
Conduct: Lying to Congress about his conversations about Wikileaks, obstruction, false statements to investigators, and witness tampering
Michael Cohen
Title: Former Trump lawyer and advisor
Status: Pleaded guilty, serving three years
Conduct: 8 counts that include bank fraud, tax fraud, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress
Michael Flynn
Titles: Former Trump campaign advisor; national security advisor
Status: Indicted, Barr’s DOJ Sought to Drop Charges, Still Under Review
Conduct: Lying to the FBI
George Papadopoulos
Title: Former Trump campaign advisor
Status: Convicted
Conduct: Lying to the FBI
Steve Bannon
Title: Former Trump Campaign CEO; White House Chief Strategist
Status: Indicted
Conduct: Fraudulently misusing funds from the “We Build the Wall” campaign
Elliot Broidy
Title: Longtime to fundraiser for Trump and the GOP, Former Deputy Finance Chairman of the RNC
Status: Indicted
Conduct: Efforts to influence the US government on behalf of foreign interests and, more specifically, an effort to “illegally lobby the Trump administration to stop investigating the embezzlement scandal at the 1MDB Malaysian state investment fund” according to Bloomberg
Erik Prince
Title: Trump advisor and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
Status: Under investigation
Conduct: Alleged arms trafficking violations and potentially lying to congress
Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas
Title: Associates of Guiliani
Status: Indicted
Conduct: Allegedly conspiring to violate the ban on foreign donations and contributions in connection with federal and state elections
George Nader
Title: Lobbyist and informal Trump advisor
Status: Convicted and Indicted
Conduct: Convicted for possessing child pornography and indicted for illegally funneling money into US campaigns.
Rudy Guiliani
Title: Trump’s personal lawyer, former Mayor of New York
Status: Under investigation
Conduct: Business dealings in Ukraine
Tom Barrack
Title: Real estate CEO and friend
Status: Under Investigation
Conduct: Chairman of the Trump Inaugural Committee, which is under investigation. Also under investigation for alleged tax evasion.
Corey Lewandowski
Title: Former Trump campaign head
Status: Charges dropped
Conduct: Misdemeanor battery charges for grabbing the arm of a reporter
Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump
Titles: Daughter and sons
Status: Charges dodged (Ivanka & Jr.); Under investigation (Eric)
Conduct: Allegedly defrauding customers at Trump SoHo (Ivanka & Jr.); potential tax and bank fraud in the Trump Organization (Eric)
