Trump: Serial Predator

[This post deals with sexual abuse.]

Stephen Colbert's comment about Trump trying to block civil judgments against him made me think. As one article reminded us:

At least 26 women accused President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, including assault, since the 1970s.

The article summarizes with a Trump response to the allegations. The allegations include his first wife:

Ivana said Trump attacked her after he underwent a painful "scalp reduction" procedure done by a doctor she had recommended, tearing her clothes and yanking out a chunk of her hair.

"Then he jams his penis inside her for the first time in more than 16 months. Ivana is terrified … It is a violent assault"

There is a lot of groping, assisted in various cases by his role as a celebrity host. Summer Zervos is a notable example:

2007 meeting at The Beverly Hills Hotel.

"He then grabbed my shoulder and began kissing me again very aggressively and placed his hand on my breast," she said. "I pulled back and walked to another part of the room. He then walked up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into the bedroom. I walked out." Zervos added that Trump thrust himself on her before she left the room.

Zervos sued Trump for defamation after he accused her of lying about the allegations. Trump's attorneys have moved to dismiss the case, arguing that, as president, he can't be sued in state court and that his remarks about his accusers are political speech. 

The litigation then dragged on and on with the usual costs, abuse, and inability to respond openly given the limitations of litigation. Trump's being in office (which will be a stain on our nation for time immemorial) was used to delay.  She (as many victims do) finally said it wasn't worth it:

"Ms. Zervos no longer wishes to litigate against the defendant and has secured the right to speak freely about her experience," her lawyers Beth Wilkinson and Moira Penza said in a joint statement. "Ms. Zervos stands by the allegations in her complaint."

Zervos' case remained unresolved in part because Trump sought while in the White House to halt a variety of legal proceedings by arguing a sitting president could not be sued.

When the events that a civil jury now has decided occurred as she alleged occurred, E.J. Carroll was warned by her friends not to sue. This was in the 1990s, long before Trump was as powerful as he is now. A change in New York law to allow for more time to bring old allegations of sexual abuse allowed her to bring suit as late as she did. Her case is still pending.

More information on the sexual allegations of wrongdoing can be found here. The overall nature of the allegations is not really denied by most people. You will have the usual people not want to believe them or who will diminish them. There are a few tools that are doing that with the civil suit in New York referenced by Colbert.  

However, again, the fact he has played fast and loose with real estate laws all his professional career is not news to those who have kept track.  

Go down the line here. The Manhattan DA requested a limited gag order for the criminal trial, able to provide detailed evidence as to why it was necessary. Some concern trolls are upset that people are mad that Trump blithely gets to do this without nearly no penalty (unpaid contempt fines are not really that), worrying about the First Amendment or people not concerned with due process. I'm tired of them too.  

Trump is a predator. The fact enough people voted for him in 2016 (three million more did not, but not in the right places) and keep on supporting him is a travesty. I have not kept a close eye on the coverage of the E.J. Carroll case, but the headlines alone should reference his past history.

Down the memory hole as in 2016, he is often seen as a generally vague distasteful person without people being forced to address the particulars. And, finally, why hasn't the Supreme Court decided whether or not to take the immunity case so that the D.C. trial can officially get back on track?  Or, hand down an opinion in the insurrection case? 

Are they waiting for Nikki Haley (whose campaign texted me for a donation today; sorry, no) to drop out?  Yet another enabler of a serial predator. Nauseating.  

ETA: They took the immunity case. Enablers.