To the editor:

Before he was elected President, “Donald Trump and his businesses were involved in over 4,000 legal cases …,” more by far than comparable business magnates — this according to Wikipedia.

Between 1991 and 2009, six of Trump’s hotels and casinos went bankrupt. In 2015, Trump University was found to have defrauded its students. Trump had to pay $25 million in restitution. In 2016, USA Today reported that Trump has been sued again and again by “ordinary Americans … who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.” In 2019, “The Trump Foundation was … found to have committed fraud and misappropriated funds, and was ordered to be shut down” (Wikipedia). In 2022, The Trump Organization was convicted on 17 criminal charges. In 2024, Trump and his associates were found liable for fraud and fined $464 million including interest. “At least 25 women have made sexual misconduct allegations against Trump since the 1970s,” according to Business Insider. We know about Trump’s attitude toward women from the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump declared that “when you’re a star, they let you do it. … You can do anything.”

Two of the recently concluded Trump court cases resulted from his sexual impropriety. In 2023 he was found liable for sexual assault and was ordered to pay $5 million in damages. In 2024 he was found liable for defaming the assaulted woman and was ordered to pay an additional $83 million.

In 2006 Trump had an affair with a porn star shortly after the birth of his youngest child. While he claimed presidential immunity in 2018, his lawyer, Michael Cohen, was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to the porn star to prevent the story from coming out before the 2016 election. Cohen was sentenced to three years in jail for the crime. He was released from custody in 2021. On May 30, 2024, Trump was convicted for his part in the crime.

Trump’s recent legal troubles are an extension of his long history with the judicial system. The timing of the recent cases results largely from Trump’s efforts to delay the trials as long as he can.

Sherwin Skar

Marshall

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