More bad publicity hit 76-year-old former President Donald Trump with the Supreme Court clearing the way for six-years of Trump’s tax return to go to the House Ways and Means Committee. With Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland appointing a new Special Counsel Nov. 18 to evaluate whether or not Trump committed any crime in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot or Mar-a-Lago document raid, it spells doom for Trump’s recent bid to run again in 2024. Whether or not indictments come from the Justice Department, the public knows too much about many of Trump’s legal woes to back him for president. How much that affects Trump 25% voter base is anyone’s guess. But releasing potentially embarrassing tax returns, showing that Trump paid virtually not taxes, won’t sit well with the public growing more fed up by the day. More bad publicity doesn’t help Trump’s chances in 2024.
Supreme Court rejected a continuation for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ Nov. 1 temporary restraining order on the release of Trump’s taxes. Trump exhausted his legal remedies and must live with the consequences now that six-years of personal tax returns become public knowledge. Trump’s defeat in the Supreme Court today was yet another set back, after the Supreme Court ruled in October the High Court refused to get into Trump’s scrum with the FBI after seizing potentially classified documents Aug. 8 from his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump also faced a defeat when the Supreme Court last January, refused to stop the National Archives from turning over docs to the House Jan. 6 Select Committee. Trump finds himself in a PR nightmare, with one thing after another falling apart. Trump’s Nov. 15 2024 announcement has gone over like a led balloon.
Mounting legal problems, whether they amount to charges or not, can’t help Trump’s 2024 launch. More Republicans like former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have joined the “Never Trump” movement, the same way it affected Trump’s chances in 2016. But unlike 2016, Trump has been in the news daily, since losing to 80-year-old President Joe Biden Nov. 3, 2020. Democrats call Trump’s statements about massive voter fraud or a rigged election the “Big Lie,” blaming him for the angry mob that descended on the Capitol Jan. 6, 2021. Democrats have been trying to get Trump from the day he was inaugurated Jan. 20, 2017. Most people know about former FBI Director James Comey’s counterintelligence investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign, all based on fabricated intel from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s paid opposition research AKA the Steele dossier.
Can you imagine the horror of Trump finding out Nov. 18 that Biden gave Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland the green light to appoint another Special Counsel? Trump lived through nearly two years of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, investigating Democrats wild allegations that Trump had ties to the Kremlin. Even after Mueller concluded his $40 million investigation, clearing Trump of any wrongdoing, Democrats like House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) insisted he had evidence of Trump’s involvement with the Kremlin. Schiff never produced any evidence to support his partisan claims about Trump. Yet Trump had to endure nearly four years of the Russian hoax harassing his presidency. Any possible Trump relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin was viewed a proof of collusion. Today, U.S.-Russian relations have been destroyed by Biden.
If Trump’s four years in office taught him anything, it’s that the government uses federal intel and law enforcement agencies to pursue frivolous investigations. No one from Comey’s Russian hoax investigation went to jail for misusing federal agencies to get Trump out of office. So, when it comes to latest Supreme Court ruling, it’s just another setback for Trump, another obstacle thrown in his path toward 2024. Trump knows this time around there’s more organized opposition inside the GOP, not just anti-Trump stalwarts like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.). Former House Speaker Paul Ryan said his opposition to a Trump 2024 nomination is purely about electability. Ryan doesn’t think Trump has enough independent and crossover appeal to mount a successful campaign for national office. Ryan said he looks forward to a new candidate, maybe himself, to lead the Republican Party.
Today’s Supreme Court ruling allows the IRS release of Trump’s tax returns only provide more embarrassing material for public consumption. Trump has run out of options to protect his privacy, realizing the public won’t look favorably at his tax returns, especially if it shows him paying no taxes. With the GOP taking control of the House in January, it’s possible a GOP panel could shut down any attempt to embarrass the former president. But House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass) hopes to make the disclosures before he’s out of his job in January. Whoever Republicans plan to run in 2024, they’ll know that Trump carries a heavy load of baggage, making it easier to make a case for a new nominee. Trump finds himself on thin ice by the day, not knowing whether the new Special Counsel will recommend charges against the former president.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.
