USA Today published a well-timed piece this weekend noting that Donald Trump has embraced a group of convicted criminals as the former president’s campaign progresses.
For now, let’s put aside the question of whether the former president will himself be a convicted felon between now and Election Day 2024. Instead, it’s worth appreciating the scope of his “team of thugs,” which by some measures is still growing.
Yesterday, Bernard Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner, was on hand as part of the parade of partisan allies who showed up at the Manhattan Criminal Court to show his support for the defendant.
Kerik, of course, also went to prison after pleading guilty to federal tax fraud and other charges before his release in 2013. As Marketwatch noted, he also received a pardon from Trump in 2020.
The former president’s entourage also included Chuck Zito, who, as The New Republic noted, also spent several years in prison on drug conspiracy charges.
This comes a week after the public learned that Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafortalso had an advisory role at the Republican National Convention, despite Manafort going to prison — until Trump pardoned him shortly before Christmas 2020 and rewarded his former aide for failing to cooperate with law enforcement.
Meanwhile, Peter Navarro, another member of Trump’s inner circle, is currently in jail, while it seems increasingly likely that Steve Bannon, who remains deeply involved in the former president’s operation, will soon also find himself behind bars.
The USA Today report added that Michael Flynn and Roger Stone “spend time with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago,” and both were pardoned by Trump after being charged with serious crimes.
The number of people close to Trump who have been convicted of crimes in recent years is so high that The Washington Post once described it as the “remarkable universe of crime” surrounding the former president.
That was almost five years ago. Frankly, the ‘team of thugs’ problem is a lot worse now.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
