Trump's '7 Magic Tricks' as Illustrated by his '11-page Letter'
"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)
Donald Trump. I bet you thought that I was going to pick a really nasty picture, didn't you? (And there are plenty of those.) Well, fooled ya'
(Image by cornstalker) Details DMCA
As regular readers of my columns know, I have been writing on "Trumps' Six [now seven] Magic Tricks" for quite some time now. They are the tricks of guile and gall that made him wealthy (on paper at least), successful (on paper at least in the real estate business although in the others he tried --- airline, steaks, casinos --- not so much), the President of the United States, and the de facto leader of the Republo-fascist Party. To review them, they are:
1. He has always had one or more protectors and enablers, either personal, or financial or both.
2. For decades he has had a standard operating procedure when he faces an adversary of any kind. He learned it from Roy Cohn (who learned it from Joseph McCarthy): "Always attack; Never defend." A variation on this Trick is to utter a falsehood, and then just say it over and over and over again.
3. Also learned from Roy Cohn is the mantra: "when you run into a problem, just sue." You may not win, and it may cost you some money. But a) you might win and b) with the endlessness with which civil litigation can be drawn out in the U.S. legal system, that other side may just get worn out.
4. In the whole of his business life, Trump has never been responsible to anyone else, either above him (except for Dad, of course) or even alongside.
5. Trump has (for the most part happily) lived his life surrounded by enemies, whether in business, in his personal life, in his banking and financial life (except for a select few, like Deutsche Bank), certainly in politics, and not just at this time. In dealing with them his "Art of the Deal" has not been deal-making, but attempted opponent-crushing. Negotiation is just not his thing.
6. Trump is history's greatest con man (a subject to which I have also devoted a previous column). And, it should be noted that the Con Man or Woman by definition always knows that what they are selling is lie.
To which I recently added a seventh:
7. "Oh woe is me; everyone's against me, and it's so unfair[!]"
In this text, I use "TMT" as the abbreviation for "Trump's Magic Trick."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It should be noted here that the great New York Times journalist, Maggie Haberman, has just published a 600-page book entitled Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, New York: Penguin Press, 2022. It should also be noted that Ms. Haberman goes into rather more detail (sic) than I ever have on Trump's "Ultimate Conning" (what I call TMT6).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As for "The Letter," let us first note that Neil Katyal, the well-known liberal legal commentator, has characterized it as "an insanity defense" (click here). Whether he is serious about that characterization or not, let's take a look in some detail at some of the key segments of "The Letter," and certain related matters, and see how they, respectively, represent Trump's use of one or more of his Magic Tricks.
To begin the analysis:
As for No. 1, he still has major protectors and enablers. On the personal side, several of the most prominent ones are: Roger Stone, who was introduced to him by Roy Cohn 30 years ago, Steve Bannon, who is at his side off and on, and Peter Navarro. It remains to be seen how close his various children are to him, especially if the legal heat starts to mount on one or more of them. On the financial side, they seem to have mostly disappeared, e.g., his personal banker at Deutsche Bank. She was finally axed by them a couple of years ago, most likely under pressure from the German government. Her principal deputy was let go too. For the most part, the Big Banks won't lend to him anymore.
As for No. 2, "Always attack; never defend," this is and has been the most prominent trick in the Trump Bag since it was taught to him by Roy Cohn. (It should be noted that this Trick has become very prominent in the playbook of all Republican Trumpers, from Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert to Kevin McCarthy and Elise Stefanik. Just watch any of them in any campaign speech or debate. Same thing, over and over again.) As for Trump himself, the Trick is highlighted in The Letter below as TMT2 --- Trump Magic Trick 2.
A classic Con (TMT6) is found in the paragraph that begins "The double standard of the Unselects." The focus of "The January 6th Committee" and what it was established to do was focus precisely the "Assault-on-the-Capitol-attempted-insurrection-attempted-overthrow-of-U.S.-Constitutional-Democracy," not anything else.
Indeed, this paragraph in The Letter attempts to convince Trump's partisans that there is some equivalence between random rioting in the Black Lives Matter/George-Floyd-murder demonstrations that occurred in the summer of 2020 (by whom in all cases we still do not know --- agents-provocateurs anyone, in at least some cases?) and a planned assault on the Capitol in the planning for which Trump seems to have been directly involved. Of course, Trump wants to equilibrate them, TMT2: "Always attack; never defend." (And so, by the way, does FOX"News," see esp. Carlson and Hannity, who somehow seem to play the same "buildings on fire" clip over and over again, for different locations.) But of course, there is no equivalence.
And then in further detail, let's go to the full text of "The Letter" itself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Letter"
"THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020 WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN." (This is variation on TMT2. He is simply uttering, over and over again, the false claim that has made since the election, a projected alternate reality proven false by, among other things, its refutation by 60 or so courts in the various states and at the Federal level.)
"The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson Chairperson The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 [Well here is one truthful statement: the title of the Committee and the name of its chairman.]
"Dear Chairman Thompson, THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020 WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN! (TMT2: Attack, attack, attack; Repeat, repeat, repeat.) The same group of Radical Left Democrats who utilized their Majority position in Congress to create the fiction of Russia, Russia, Russia, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, the $48 Million Mueller Report (which ended in No Collusion!), [TMT2 again, and actually, Part 1 of the Mueller Report identified approximately 75 instances of collusion between the Trump Campaign and various Russian actors] Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, the atrocious and illegal Spying on my Campaign, and so much more, are the people who created this Committee of highly partisan political Hacks and Thugs whose sole function is to destroy the lives of many hard-working American Patriots, whose records in life have been unblemished until this point of attempted ruination. (TMT2)
"The double standard of the Unselects between what has taken place on the "RIGHT," and what has taken place with Radical Left, lawless groups such as Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and others, is startling and will never be acceptable, even to those who will be writing the history of what you have done to America (TMT6: The Con). This memo is being written to express our anger, disappointment, and complaint that with all of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on what many consider to be a Charade and Witch Hunt, and despite strong and powerful requests, you have not spent even a short moment on examining the massive Election Fraud (TMT6, again) that took place during the 2020 Presidential Election, and have targeted only those who were, as concerned American Citizens, protesting the Fraud itself.
"Those who committed the Fraud, thereby having created the Crime of the Century, go unblemished and untouched, but those who fought the Crime have suffered a fate that was unthinkable just a short time ago. (This is a TMT7, "Oh woe is me," plus the repeated falsehood directly below, a TMT6). We have a two-tier system of Justice in the United States that cannot be allowed to continue. A Majority of people in our Country say that the Presidential Election of 2020 was determinatively dishonest, including the fact that many Legislatures were overridden by local and State politicians and judges on vital regulations and requirements, which is totally illegal and UNCONSTITUTIONAL. (This is a TMT3, "when in doubt sue" which he did over-and-over again, --- except that there is no provision in the Constitution that authorizes State governments to get directly involved in elections [although if the Republicans take the Congress next month you can bet your sweet patootie that there will be next time].)
"In February 2021, Time Magazine broke the story of the shadow campaign that was launched to rig the 2020 Presidential Election. The authors write: "'To the President, something felt amiss. 'It was all very, very strange,' Trump said on Dec. 2. 'Within days after the election, we witnessed an orchestrated effort to anoint the winner, even while many key states were still being counted.' In a way, Trump was right. (This is a TMT5 - Trump is Surrounded by Enemies.) There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes" You did not ask one question about any of this. Since 1888, no incumbent President has gained votes and lost reelection. I received many millions more votes in 2020 than I did in 2016, unheard of in our political History. When you win Ohio, Florida, and Iowa, which I did in a landslide, no President has lost the General Election since 1960. (This is a TMT7 --- "it's sooo unfair".)
"We swept all four bellwether States (Iowa, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina) that have correctly predicted Election winners since 1896. I won 18 of the 19 bellwether counties, my coattails secured the Victories of 27 out of 27 "toss up" House races, and the Democrats did not flip a single State Legislature. Yet somehow Biden beat Obama with the Black population in select Swing State cities, but nowhere else. It is all not possible, or very likely, but should have been a major subject of your Committee's work because it was the Election result that brought this record-breaking crowd to Washington, D.C. on January 6th. (This is a TMT6 [another con], gobbledygook surrounded by telling the Committee what its purview should have been, which happens to be the job of the House of Representatives, which established the Committee, not the Former President.)
"A large percentage of American Citizens, including almost the entire Republican Party, feel that the Election was Rigged and Stolen (because they have seen the determinative evidence, some of which is attached to this letter). (This whole paragraph is a classic TMT 2: "Always attack; never defend.") No work was done by the Committee on Election Fraud. We, and a huge portion of the American people, simply asked that it be a part of your Committee's work. (Repeat, repeat, repeat.) It wasn't. In addition, the Unselect Committee has willfully ignored the fact that days before January 6, 2021, I recommended and authorized thousands of troops to be 3 deployed to ensure that there was peace, safety, and security at the Capitol and throughout Washington, D.C. on January 6th because I knew, just based on instinct and what I was hearing, that the crowd coming to listen to my speech, and various others, would be a very big one, far bigger than anyone thought possible. (SJ: this paragraph is essentially a repeat of the previous paragraph, plus the addition of the falsehood about who would be responsible for "troop mobilization." If it was ordered, it was simply ignored, except that the pleas for National Guard troops to be sent which were being made by the Democratic Leadership during the assault were held up, apparently, by the Pentagon, for a critical couple of hours.)
"As it turns out, it was indeed one of the largest crowds I have ever spoken before, a very wide swath stretching all the way back to the Washington Monument. The massive size of this crowd, and its meaning, has never been a subject of your Committee, nor has it been discussed by the Fake News Media that absolutely refuses to acknowledge, in any way, shape or form, the magnitude of what was taking place. [SJ: There's Trump, still stuck on crowd size.] In fact, for such a historic event, there are very few pictures that accurately show the event, or how many people were really there. Incredibly, it seems that pictures showing the size of the event were perhaps cancelled, scrubbed, deleted or, in any event, not available, but we still have some"as attached.
"The Department of Defense timeline shows that National Guard troops could have easily been present at the Capitol before January 6th and that I fully authorized this recommendation and request. Following my authorization, the Department of Defense was surprised to receive a wholesale refusal, in writing, from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Capitol Police, who do not report to me, but report to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. [Again, all of this is totally false, a TMT6.) The law requires their authorization before any troop deployment could be utilized in Washington, D.C. Why the failure to act or use this ready force? Had even a small percentage of National Guard or fencing been there, there would have been no problem, January 6th would have been just another date. I did my job long ahead of schedule. Some people call it good instinct, but the troops were ready to go. Nancy Pelosi and Muriel Bowser didn't do their job, they didn't like the look of soldiers, and sadly your Committee refuses to say anything about it, because if they did, it would be clear that I did everything correctly, and that is not what the Committee wants to see. You stated openly that Nancy Pelosi is off limits, there will be no discussions on this subject, yet she and the Mayor were responsible for this very bad decision not to bring in the troops." [Another TMT6. Apparently, the hold-up on the use of National Guard troops came from The Pentagon. As for the claim that "the whole thing was Nancy Pelosi's fault" has been proven to be false, quite some time ago too. But then again, Trump stating falsehoods over-and-over again is nothing new, is it?]]
[This next paragraph is also a classic TMT6 --- con, con, con, distract, distract, distract, and TMT7 --- "everyone is against me and my great {Patriot"} supporters," --- as well as a classic (all together now) TMT2 --- Always Attack; Never defend.] "The troops were ready to go, and you refuse to even discuss this subject. Why? Despite very poor television ratings, the Unselect Committee has perpetuated a Show Trial the likes of which this Country has never seen before. There is no Due Process, no Cross-Examination, no "real" Republican members, and no legitimacy since you do not talk about Election Fraud or not calling up the troops. It is a Witch Hunt of the highest level, a continuation of what has been going on for years. You have not gone after the people that created the Fraud, but rather great American Patriots who questioned it, as is their Constitutional right. These people have had their lives ruined as your Committee sits back and basks in the glow. The people of this Country will not stand for unequal justice under the law, or Liberty and Justice for some. Election Day is coming. We demand answers on the Crime of the Century."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion:
Well, there are actually three of them. First, in this particular case Trump did not use TMT3, "when in trouble just sue" (yet). When in the context of the subpoena the Committee has issued to Trump to testify, they deny his demand to do it live (are you kidding me, live?), #3 will be employed full force, to delay, delay, delay, as it so often has been over the course of his career and his legal troubles. The second is that this analysis shows that "The Letter" is indeed rife with use of Trump's Seven Magic Tricks. The third is if you look closely at Trump speech-after-speech (as I have; see for example my forthcoming book in six volumes, "Trump's Presidential Years: As They Happened, 2015-2121," [publisher to be announced]), he just actually gives the same (selected) "7 Magic Tricks" speech over-and-over again. The use of which particular Tricks at which particular time is of course tailored to the time/subject at hand. And then a final (promise) side-point. If you look at the speeches of any Republo-fascist these days, from Taylor-Green up or down, (depending upon your point of view), you will find TMT2, "Always attack; Never defend," employed over-and-over-and-over again.