The wave of allegations of sexual assault and harassment hasn’t ended with Hollywood, as this problem is not exclusive for the notorious American ‘Dream factory’. In fact, such allegations are now being gradually transformed into a political tool. Unsurprisingly, the most controversial US president to date, Donal Trump has got caught in the barrage of sexual assault allegations, that may soon get enough steam to get him impeached.
For several months Americans have been living in a different reality, which some journalists would describe as “the world after Weinstein.” Once a series of allegations was publicly voiced against the infamous American film producer, similar accusations of sex harassment started appearing in all spheres of public life, spreading like a forest fire. The list that started with actual harassment, was enlarged by unacceptable touches, indecent hints and greasy looks, with high-ranking employees of Google and Tesla finding themselves starring down the barrel of a gun. It goes without saying that pretty much every famous male has got its share of accusations starting with talking heads, media personalities, comedians and ending with preachers, businessmen and activists.
Predictably enough, American political figures could not escape this fever. Some may remember how Americans wanted to impeach the 42nd United States president, Bill Clinton for his love affair with the former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Sexual harassment allegations are now being voiced even against the 93 years old 41st US President George Bush Senior, forcing his spokesman to issue public apologizes on behalf of the former president on the regular basis.
So it was only logical that the sitting US president, Donald Trump, known for his dubious business reputation could only be a logical target for such allegations, especially against the backdrop of the fact that the now 69 years old politician has been equally successful in striking profitable deals and starting love affairs. After three wives, five children, eight grandchildren and an unimaginable number of adulteries with women that would be often described as ‘top beauties’, nobody can represent a better target for a sex scandal than Trump. The situation is being aggravated by the fact that the so-called Cambridge Analytica used Ukrainian prostitutes to get Trump elected getting universally known.
Noe-liberals would try to take Trump down early voicing sexual harassment accusations against in the midst of his presidential campaign. They would refer to Trump’s 2005 taped conversation released to the public by The Washington Post, which contained a recording of Trump bragging about his way of getting ladies laid in a conversation with a radio and TV personality Billy Bush. It must be pointed out, however, that the way in which those two were discussing women was really inappropriate.
But Trump managed to silence his critics rather rapidly by threatening them with inviting Bill Clinton’s former lover Jennifer Flowers to his televised debates with Hillary Clinton. It should be pointed out that after a 12 years long affair, Bill dumped Flowers, making her rather inclined to report instances of sexual harassment on his part. Sally Miller, who managed to win the Miss Arkansas contest in the very state where Bill used to be a governor before being nominated for the presidential race, has also threatened to reveal a number of really unpleasant facts about the 42nd US president. Trump was also planning to reveal the fact that Hillary Clinton is gay and, according to the testimonies of Jennifer Flowers, had more female lovers than Bill Clinton. It’s no wonder that the Democrats chose to drop sexual harassment allegations against Trump early in the election race.
On November 20, 2017 the influential New Yorker magazine published an article titled “The Weinstein Moment and the Trump Presidency”, which listed some of Trump’s questionable affairs with beauty contest winners, urging the Congress to launch an investigation against him.
A couple days earlier Summer Zervos a former contestant of the TV show The Apprentice that was hosted by Donald Trump filed a defamation law suit against the then president-elect. Back in 2016 she would voice sexual harassment allegations against Donald Trump but decided to take this matter to court only when he was elected US President. On the same year those allegations were voiced, a number of other women tried to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct including Salma Hayek and two more ladies, the 74 years old Jessica Leeds and 22 years old Rachel Crooks. Those two told the New York Times that Donald Trump would “touch them inappropriately.”
Additionally, adult film actress Stormy Daniels has been trying to sue the sitting US President over a so-called “hush agreement” according to which she had to keep their affair, that allegedly started as early as in 2006 a secret. Miss Daniels would go ass far as to announce that Donald Trump threatened her, demanding that she reveals no details about this affair.
However, the New York Times wouldn’t stop there, stating that:
The former Playboy model Karen McDougal gave her first television interview about the affair she alleges she had with Donald J. Trump more than a decade ago, saying that he offered her money after their first sexual encounter.
However, Donald Trump furiously denies all the allegations voiced against him. The situation got to the point when the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, Raj Shah had to make an official statement in which he was forced to defend the sitting US President.
At the same time, one can remind Donald Trump that upon insisting on his innocence in a number of sexual harassment cases he relies on the principle that is known as innocent until proven guilty. However, he failed to point out that Teresa May’s unfounded accusations against Russia for its alleged involvement in the Salisbury indecent disregarded this principle. Moreover, he went as far as to initiate an expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats from the US, while disregarding the fact that all implications were pointing to the fact that the Salisbury incident was a false-flag attack.
However, everyone is well aware of the fact that the legal system of the United States is based upon the principle of the Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, where a judicial precedent is considered the main source of law. Once a judgment is passed, a court’s decision becomes applicable to all the future similar cases.
If one is to follow this logic, then he must recognize that once Trump went along with taking actions against Moscow, while relying on London’s groundless allegations against Russia, he refused to take into account Russia’s official statements about its innocence. Why then the general public should treat Trump any differently? Should we accept the denials of guilt voiced by the sitting US President just because he was elected to be the president of the United States? Should his financial fortune be taken into equation, as he is obviously capable to bribe any number of judges without much effort?
It’s been pointed out that some twenty years ago, the Supreme Court rejected Bill Clinton’s argument that a sitting president should enjoy temporary immunity from all civil lawsuits while he is president, including lawsuits seeking to recover for pre-presidential acts, which has become known as the Clinton v. Jones case. In fact, Clinton v. Jones looks like a potentially very damaging precedent for President Trump and his lawyers as they battle the various civil cases pending against him.
The US Senate has been urging Donald Trump to step down because of numerous reports about instances of sexual harassment. Among other, this position was voiced by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, Ron Wyden, Cory Booker along with a number of other American political figures who have made their voices heard. But will these calls lead to any actual steps, or is there people who are above the law in the allegedly most democratic state on the face of this planet?
Grete Mautner is an independent researcher and journalist from Germany, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
