What gets lost amidst all the outrageous things Donald Trump says is his record of criminal activity and alleged criminal activity. It is as if the media and public assume that Trump cannot be both an outrageous buffoon and a criminal. Here is a summary of the most notable allegations against Donald Trump, conveniently all in one place.
-Trump and his father were sued by the federal government for housing discrimination in the 1970's for refusing to rent to blacks after an uncover investigation. They lost, signed a consent decree, and were forced to desegregate their properties, which they later violated.
-He is being charged with fraud in connection with Trump University. Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York, who is prosecuting Trump, told CNN, "If you look at the facts of this case, this shows someone who was absolutely shameless in his willingness to lie to people, to say whatever it took to induce them into his phony seminars. Telling people who are in hard economic times -- we're talking about 2008, 2009 -- people desperate to hold onto their homes, to make some money, convincing them that he will teach them his entrepreneurial secrets."
- Trump Tower was built using undocumented Polish laborers to demolish the building that previously stood on the site. At trial, the workers testified they worked without basic safety equipment like hardhats and gloves and they were supposed to earn $5 an hour from Trump's low-bid contractor. But court documents show that for weeks, they were paid nothing. An NBC News story in which numerous witnesses were interviewed showed that Trump knew about the undocumented, unpaid workers. Yet under oath, Trump testified that he knew nothing, thus adding perjury allegations to the labor law violations.
-Trump is alleged to have violated immigration laws in hiring foreign models for Trump Model Management. These models worked illegally, and he failed to pay them fairly. Two of the former Trump models said Trump's agency encouraged them to deceive customs officials about why they were visiting the United States and told them to lie on customs forms about where they intended to live. "It's like modern-day slavery," one model told Mother Jones. Senator Barbara Boxer has called for the Department of Homeland Security to investigate Trump for human trafficking in relation to Trump Model Management.
- Trump's charitable foundation appears to have repeatedly broken IRS rules, according to the Washington Post. In five cases, the Trump Foundation told the IRS that it had given a gift to a charity whose leaders told The Post that they had never received it. In two other cases, companies listed as donors to the Trump Foundation told The Post that those listings were incorrect.
-His charitable foundation violated tax laws by giving a $25,000 political contribution to a campaign group connected to Florida's attorney general, Pam Bondi, in 2013. As a registered nonprofit, the Trump Foundation was not allowed to make political donations. He paid a $2,500 fine.
-Trump is accused of bribing the Attorney General of Florida, Pam Bondi to drop her investigation of Trump University. She successfully solicited a donation from him before the fraud case, and afterward, he held a fundraiser for her at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.
-In 2007 and in 2012, Trump and his wife bought two gifts for themselves at charity events for his foundation, totaling $32,000, breaking IRS rules. One gift was a $20,000 painting of himself.
-A deposition describes him raping his first wife Ivana, pulling out fistfuls of her hair in a fit of rage, stripping off her clothes, then penetrating her forcefully without her consent, after which she hid in a locked room and cried all night, as revealed in the 1993 book Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump, and described in a Daily Beast article. The divorce was granted on grounds of Donald's "cruel and inhuman treatment" of Ivana.
-He is currently being charged with child rape in a case for which there is an eyewitness and credible information to support the claim. The woman filing suit in April 2016 claims that as a 13-year-old in 1994, she was enticed to attend parties with the promise of money and modeling jobs at the home of Jeffrey Epstein, a Level 3 registered sex offender (the most dangerous kind), after Epstein was convicted of misconduct with another underage girl.
The woman alleges Trump initiated sexual contact with her on four separate occasions, with the fourth being a "savage sexual attack" in which he tied her to a bed and forcibly raped her while she pleaded with him to stop. He threatened that she and her family would be "physically harmed if not killed" if she ever revealed what was done. The eyewitness, Epstein's party planner wrote, "I am coming forward to swear to the truthfulness of the physical and sexual abuse that I personally witnessed of minor females at the hands of Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein . . . I swear to these facts under the penalty for perjury even though I fully understand that the life of myself and my family is now in grave danger." Trump told a reporter a few years ago: "I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side . . ."
In sum, this history and these allegations alone would disqualify someone from a job as a camp counselor, bank teller, or any position of trust. Imagine what Human Resources would say to this record. Perhaps Trump could get a job pumping gas. But President of the United States? I don't think so. Many have served prison time for doing a lot less.