Bush speechwriter reveals the key detail that is missing from Trump’s statements on company indictments
Writing for The Atlantic on Thursday, David Frum, the former speechwriter to President George W. Bush, noted that Donald Trump doesn't even appear to be trying to defend himself publicly or claim he is innocent.
Looking at speeches and statements pushed out by the former president, Frum noticed that all they do is attack other people, they never proclaim innocence.
"An early indication that things may end badly for Trump is the statement released today from the Trump Organization," he explained.
"Allen Weisselberg is a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who has worked for the Trump Organization for 48 years," the Trump Org said. "He is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President. The District Attorney is bringing a case involving employee benefits that neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing. This is not justice; this is politics."
Frum argued that what is missing from the statement is: "I'm 100 percent confident that every investigation will always end up in the same conclusion, which is that I follow all rules, procedures, and, most importantly, the law."
Over and over, he said, there are people who proclaim that they are innocent and that they are confident they will be vindicated. That isn't the case with Donald Trump.
"Everybody expects you to say that you're confident you didn't do anything wrong. It's the thing an innocent person would want to say. So it's kind of a tell when it goes unsaid," wrote Frum.
Trump isn't saying that "all taxes were paid," or even calling his tax return "perfect." In fact, there's the matter of his 2016 comment during the presidential debate when he called himself "smart" for not paying taxes.
"Trump and his team already appear to expect that the law will be against him. They are counting on that fact not to matter very much—not enough to overcome the political hullabaloo they hope to raise in Trump's defense," Frum closed. "Trump worked all his life on the theory that law can be subordinated to political favors and political pressures. That theory has carried him this far—and it's pretty far, all things considered. We are now about to see a mighty test, before the country and the world, of whether that theory will carry him the rest of the way home."