Ex-diplomat explains why Trump’s 'enablers' are in grave legal peril

On Monday, it was announced that the Trump administration would drop the highly controversial $1.8 billion slush fund, at least for now, as the DOJ has merely agreed to abide by a judge’s temporary block. But whether President Donald Trump decides to push the issue again or not, experts say that not only is he likely to encounter ongoing legal challenges, but many of his “enablers” may face the same.

This is according to Norm Eisen, co-founder and board member of Democracy Defenders Action and former special counsel for the impeachment and trial of Trump during his first term. While appearing on MS Now, he was asked why many — including many Republicans — are skeptical that the president will move on from the fund.

“You only need to look at Donald Trump's long history of lies… to disbelieve the notion that the settlement fund and everything associated with it is going to vanish,” said Eisen. “We are fighting to erase the slush fund. It's a disgrace.” Eisen went on to point to settlement agreements that forbid the IRS from investigating Trump or his family, calling it “the worst example of corruption in the history of the American presidency.”

As Eisen noted, the collapse of the slush fund emerged under a legal challenge brought on behalf of 35 former federal judges, which prompted the Florida court overseeing the settlement to reopen the case to investigate its legitimacy.

“If you pull the rug out from under that case, then everything falls down,” said Eisen. “There's no legal basis to be giving away the store, as they've done with these settlements. The whole thing is illegal.”

When asked what can be done about the wider issue of Trump’s corruption, such as the alleged insider trading that has been taking place on massive scales, Eisen said the nation seems to have reached “an inflection point.”

“The country is aware now that he tried to take the Kennedy Center, and he tried to take this $1.8 billion, and he got slapped down on both by the courts,” said Eisen. “I think we need to look at some of the outside enablers of this, because it is tough to proceed against him on these stock trades. But who are the outside parties who are enabling the corruption? We need to ask some very hard questions.”

Eisen raised the example of Dell stock, which Trump has been buying, hyping, then selling in large quantities.

“He's praising Dell, saying buy Dell laptops, then Dell gets a gigantic $9 billion contract from the federal government,” notes Eisen. “Or the Paramount-Warners merger… He also purchased stock there. We've been very active in pushing back on that, exploring those outside relationships. They don't have the same immunities — these outside enablers — as Donald Trump does. So I think you're going to see legal action on some of these enablers.”

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