'Scowlface': Why Trump should stop comparing himself to Al Capone

Former President Donald Trump is increasingly comparing himself to Alphonse Capone, the infamous 1920s Chicago mob boss who was ultimately brought down for tax evasion. But he might want to be careful about that comparison, wrote columnist Michael Vogel for The Palm Beach Post.

Vogel particularly focused on a post Trump made to Truth Social at the start of the year, in which he said, “because of weaponization, targeting and unprecedented harassment, I have more lawyers working for me on this corrupt law enforcement-induced Bull… than any human being in the history of our country, including the late, great gangster, Alphonse Capone!”

"Al 'Scarface' Capone was involved in everything from tax evasion to racketeering to murder,'" wrote Vogel. "'Great?' Does Donald Scowlface Trump identify with him? Don’t be offended, MAGA true believers, Trump will be happy to have his scowling mug shot-inspired merchandise, from T-shirts for $34 each to beer koozies at $15, bring in money for his campaign or legal fees. If nothing else, Trump knows how to turn lemons into lemonade."

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The comparison is a tricky one for Trump, though, wrote Vogel, because Trump has been accused of similar tactics to Capone to try to get out of trouble, albeit on a lesser scale than he did: intimidating and interfering with people involved in the criminal justice process. And what judges did to ensure a fair trial for Capone for tax evasion — a charge so chosen because it didn't require any witnesses, who could be bribed or killed, to testify against him — is instructive for what they could do to thwart Trump.

Capone tried to buy off the jurors in his tax case, as the mob had done for all manner of other charges against their racketeering operations, noted Vogel. But "as jurors filed in for Capone’s trial, Judge James Wilkerson got word that all of them had been bribed, so he instructed the bailiff to go down the hall to another trial about to begin, and switch juries. Scarface was toast."

It's unclear whether anything similar will play out in Trump's trial, concluded Vogel — however, it may turn out that "the guy who turns lemons into lemonade ends up turning orange into a line of Trump orange jumpsuits."