Donald Trump to be removed from ‘cloak of immunity’ when he leaves office, legal experts say

While US President Donald Trump continues to criticize the election result that saw him lose to Democratic candidate Joe Biden, it could be that his own legal troubles are the real reason behind his refusal to admit defeat.

Without the diplomatic protection he currently has as president, legal experts have warned that Trump will be “vulnerable to prosecution” as soon as he leaves office.

The president has refused to concede defeat to President-elect Joe Biden, despite mainstream media calling for the election result on Saturday, instead citing election fraud and instigating legal challenges in several states.

It has left the US leader struggling with the idea of ​​being branded a “loser”, something for which he has openly mocked his rivals. It has also driven a wedge between those who believe Trump is simply refusing to face the facts and those who think he should fight.

His reaction to the elections has also left other world leaders in a state of confusion, divided between those who have congratulated Biden and those who have resisted, such as Russia, China and Brazil.

Now, legal experts have suggested that Trump could face another set of problems related to his electoral problems as he returns to private citizen status and no longer has the legal protections that the presidency affords him.

“Once you leave the office, your cloak of immunity, real or implied by [Justice Department guidelines]It will disappear, “former Florida prosecutor David Weinstein told USA Today.

The convention of the United States Department of Justice states that incumbent presidents cannot be prosecuted for criminal offenses, a policy cited by former special counsel Robert Mueller during his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections.

However, Weinstein said it only applies to actions taken in office and “stops there,” meaning Trump could be vulnerable to several pending investigations regarding his companies and private life by the time he steps out. of the White House.

In New York, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is investigating Trump and his company’s business practices, while New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating allegations of tax fraud.

Notre Dame law professor Jimmy Gurule told USA Today that the president is “very vulnerable to prosecution.”

“I think the threat is very real and very substantial,” he said.

Trump also faces a host of other lawsuits that could keep the family in the limelight for unsavory reasons. He faces two defamation lawsuits from women who accused him of sexual assault and later claim he disparaged them in public.

Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, also turned on his former ally and sued the Trump Organization for legal fees that he claims were not paid after he became the focus of the Russia investigation, saying that cooperate with prosecutors.

An authoritarian leader

The warnings come as Trump continues to insist that his rivals are trying to “steal” the election.

He has made a series of allegations of voter fraud and is taking legal action over ballots in various battle states.

However, his lawyers have not yet been able to present evidence to support those allegations.

Meanwhile, various psychologists and academics have commented on his refusal to compromise in recent days, pointing to the authoritarian qualities that marked Trump’s presidency and that make it extremely unlikely that he will resign gracefully.

History professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat of New York University told AFP that Trump had opted for an “authoritarian model of the presidency” based on “arrogance, brutality and the idea that he must be defended from his enemies”.

“It is easier to claim that the entire election was a fraud than to admit that his policies turned his people against him in sufficient numbers to ensure his defeat,” he said.

“We can hope that he will continue along this line and delay the public humiliation of a concession speech,” he said.

“We should be watching what he might do in the coming months with a vengeful spirit.”

Psychologist John Gartner agreed and said he was concerned that Trump might try a “Nero decree” or “Scorched Earth” approach as he grapples with his electoral defeat, reports AFP.

The Baltimore-based mental health professional is among a growing number of people who have publicly warned that Trump is an “evil narcissist.”

Gartner claims that Trump displays all four aspects of malignant narcissism: narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, paranoia, and sadism.

But the psychologist was hopeful that in this case, Trump would begin to lose control over some of his followers after his electoral defeat.

Emperor without clothes

Trump’s personality has also been analyzed by his own niece, Mary Trump, who is a clinical psychologist.

She wrote a book on Trump published this year called Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Most Dangerous Man in the World, saying that her father was a sociopath and that his first home life had been traumatic.

So Trump had built this great man personality, a false self, which revolved around being a winner, first by selling real estate in New York and then through his reality TV show The Apprentice, where he sold the myth of his dexterity, despite its numerous corporate bankruptcies, AFP reports.

Mary Trump described her uncle as a “petty, pathetic little man” who is “lost in his own delusional turn.”

“He is absolutely incapable of running this country. And it is dangerous to allow him to do so,” he told ABC News at the time of his book launch.

“Their ability to control unfavorable situations by lying, twisting and confusing has diminished to the point of helplessness amid the tragedies we currently face,” he said.

Trump responded to the allegations of mental health problems by calling himself a “very stable genius.”

Trump has also tried to fire his rivals: He called war veteran John McCain a “loser,” adding “I like people who weren’t caught,” and just before the election, he said Biden was the “worst candidate. of history “. of presidential politics “.

In this way you continually position yourself as a winner, despite polls saying otherwise.

“Can you imagine if I lose?” he mused, “maybe I’ll have to leave the country?”