Trump Is Compromised

It's not news, of course, that Donald Trump, the sitting president of the United States, is compromised by his own lechery. But a long profile by Ronan Farrow at the New Yorker, published today, details the breadth of how compromised he is, just by a single media outfit — American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer — which has repeatedly purchased exclusive rights to stories about Trump, only to not publish them, because AMI's CEO and chair, David Pecker, considers Trump a personal friend.

At the moment. As you may have noticed, despite his fondness for loyalty pledges, Trump's friends tend to come and go.

Buried deep in the article is this passage, in which Karen McDougal, the former Playmate with whom Trump reportedly had an affair while married to Melania and who sold her story to AMI only for it to be buried, addresses the seriousness of the president having so many secrets:

Without commenting on Trump specifically, McDougal conceded that she had a growing awareness of the broader implications of the President's situation. "Someone in a high position that controls our country, if they can influence him," she said, "it's a big deal."

Indeed it is.

Farrow reported that, in a statement, AMI rebuffed the notion of having any leverage over Trump: "The suggestion that AMI holds any influence over the President of the United States, while flattering, is laughable."

Except that it clearly does have leverage, even if it's not willing to use it.

Presumably, it also has detailed records of the various contracts it's struck with people like McDougal, who have unflattering stories to tell about Trump. Records which could easily be hacked.

AMI is probably not the only publisher that has purchased stories on Trump, which almost certainly include far worse stuff than a consensual affair. Any publisher who has thus has the capacity to influence Trump, by threatening to deploy whatever content they're holding.

Trump is prickly, vain, and image-conscious — which makes him highly susceptible to threats to his (perceived) reputation.

The Republican Party doesn't seem to believe this is a serious issue worthy of their concern, but they are dead fucking wrong. As usual.

It's infuriating, though hardly surprising, that the Party of Moral Values and Real Americans don't care about Trump's lack of personal ethics nor about the threat he poses to our national sovereignty.

Any reporter who has a chance to ask Mike Pence a question NEEDS to ask him about this story. Not just because he's a pious shit who should be forced to answer why he tolerates Trump's immorality, but because he's a veep to a president who's profoundly compromised. https://t.co/Ceo8SrpXeN

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) February 16, 2018

Let's at least get these disloyal gremlins on record.