Let’s just say that you and I are neighbors. One day I come over to your house and ask if you could please front me a steak, since I’m a little down on my luck.
You give me the steak gladly, you’ve got plenty, and you’ve always liked talking to me over the fence or with a brew on the porch. As I leave, I say, Thanks! See ya again soon!
The next day, you come home from work, change into scruffies, and check your video security feed as you get a beer. And watch me walk into the kitchen, take a steak out of the freezer, and walk out again.
The next day, you see me once again on the video feed, glomming another steak and walking out. You start to think that we need to have a chat. The next day you watch me grab a whole crown roast from the freezer. The capper is that you know full fucking well that I know the camera is there, since you told me about the system when you had it installed.
That’s exactly what we’re talking about in this latest episode in Trump campaign finance, reported on so ably by our own dear Ursula Faw, as well as the New York Times. Supporters went to Trump’s campaign website to make what they thought was a one time donation, just as you felt that the steak you gave me was a one off.
But unknown to the supporters, there was a recurring donation button at the bottom, which on a reputable website you have to fill in to activate, that was already set as the default position. Just like me saying I’ll see ya again soon! when I walked out the door that first day.
This is literally too stupid to be true. And yet it is what it is, the facts are clear. Let me ask you this. Would you run over an ex boss that you hate in an intersection knowing full well that there was a security camera on a pole that was taking a picture of your goddamned license plate? Even desperate people don’t try to take down a casino, simply because it’s a suicide mission to take on a whole army of trained guys with guns.
Make no mistake about it, this order had to come from or through Trump. After all, it’s his campaign website, and we’re dealing with potential bank fraud. With Trump’s mania for micro management, nobody would sign off on a hair brained scheme like this without having run it past the Big Kahuna.
This leads me to the conclusion that Trump has finally lost it. No matter how desperate he was for funds, he had to realize that this scheme was doomed for failure. After all, each transaction would leave a date and time stamped withdrawal on the bank records of the donor, they would know who it was!
Anyone with even a basic understanding of online transactions, and I spent 9 years working fraud prevention for a major online retailer, knows that any purchase or donation in an online transaction is a one time transaction, unless the customer themselves hit the button to make it a recurring donation or purchase.
This makes no sense at all. This is like trying to mug a nun outside of a police station, even people high on drugs have more common sense and self preservation than to even attempt it. And yet Trump let the good times roll. Now he’s paying the price.
There is only one circumstance in which case I can see this unfolding. Trump was so high on his own authority and omnipotent power that he went ahead with the scheme, planning on winning the election, after which his Tubby the Ewok Justice Department would make this all go away. It’s thin gruel, but it’s the only way I can see Trump actually thinking he could get away with this lame ass shit.
But, cynical bastard that I am, I can see any competent lawyer that Trump may be able to get trying to make hay out of this. And that is that for any case within a defined timeline, they may stand up in court and argue diminished mental capacity.
Any civil lawsuits or criminal charges arising from the January 6th Capitol insurrection would be prime fruit. Lawyers could argue in court that Trump was so obsessed with his loss of the election, and desperate to maintain control, that he had no idea that what he was bellowing out to his followers could actually incite a bloody and fatal riot. Whether they can get His Lowness to go along with it or not is another question.
The point is that this whole thing is too fucking stupid for words. The whole scheme was so piss poorly conceived that even a 12 year old miscreant with functioning brain cells would walk away. But all of the evidence shows that Trump went ahead with it anyway. Which means that there had to be a reason. And from where I’m sitting the fact that Trump is off of his coconut is top of the list.