Trump And The Constitution Turned Into A Coupon Machine

Lede

A constitution is meant to restrain power, not become a discount booklet for the man holding the pen.

Hermit Off Script

Trump is not only about Trump. He is about everything wrong with the US, and with any country that sees the signs, sees the wrongdoings, sees the danger coming, and still chooses to suffer by losing its rights and freedoms one piece at a time. Finally, someone like Rory and Alastair dared to say clearly what many people avoid saying politely: that Trump has become one of the most openly corrupt-looking and protected political figures of our time, with a family and circle around him that seem to move through power as if law is only for other people. Maybe not the most corrupt of all time, because history has a large basement, but certainly one of the clearest modern examples of how power, money, showmanship and legal delay can turn wrongdoing into a political brand.

I hoped people would realise how wrong this man is for them. I hoped they would choose at least someone who looked humble before the law, before citizens, and before the basic idea that public office is service, not a golden throne with television lighting. But he cursed, swore, mocked people weaker than him, insulted women, spoke with cruelty, showed no real moral centre, and still millions treated that as strength. His name has appeared in the shadow of Epstein-related reporting and files, which is already enough to poison public trust, even without turning suspicion into proof. He has faced so many legal cases and accusations that any normal person applying for a modest office job would probably be asked to explain themselves before touching the printer. But in politics, somehow, this became part of the show.

Then came the failed assassination attempt, and the whole thing bent again around image. Political violence should never be treated lightly, and I don’t want anyone killed for politics. That is not democracy, that is collapse wearing a flag. But the way the moment was used, the way the image hardened, the way the polls and emotion moved around it, showed again how easily public feeling can be pulled by spectacle. Maybe it was just survival turned into theatre. Maybe it became something more useful than anyone should be comfortable with. With Trump, reality often feels like a film that refuses to admit it has a script.

At some point, his success makes people believe the lies. That is the sick part. A rich showman keeps repeating things until the noise itself looks like proof. Before, it was business noise, television noise, casino noise, branding noise. Then it became political noise. Then came the king talk, the conspiracies, QAnon, the idea that secret enemies control everything and only one man can save the country. He embraced that madness when it helped him. He used it when he did not like the election result. Then, years later, when he won again against all odds, he pardoned rioters and people tied to January 6 as if attacking the democratic process had become a loyalty badge. Some people call it mercy. I call it a warning label peeled off the bottle before everyone drinks.

What worries me is not only that he was harsher than before, ruder than before, more disrespectful than before, and still won. What worries me is how easy it is to understand what that means. A person who speaks so badly about former presidents, about competitors, about a woman with strong character who spent her career fighting people who broke laws, is not suddenly going to respect poorer people, weaker people, immigrants, workers, women, or anyone who lives by the rules. He will respect praise. He will respect loyalty. He will respect money. He will respect those who bend the knee and pretend it is patriotism.

That is why I was afraid, and still am, that when he has to go down in shame, or when the law finally catches him properly, he will not accept it like a normal democratic leader. He may prefer to act as if he is still in a movie, except this time the movie becomes reality for everyone else. I am not worried by him as a person. One man is only one man. I am worried for the people who may suffer for years if he refuses to comply with the law, or if the system keeps bending around him until the law looks tired, confused and embarrassed to be in the room. He tried to change rules in his favour. He succeeded in many ways. But I still hope there are enough people, courts, records, journalists and laws left to fight his corruption and wrongdoings properly.

And then I look at billionaires and rich people, and I ask myself what they actually want. Do they enjoy this power if it works in their favour? Do they accept licking the boots of the most infamous man on Earth if the tax bill is lower and regulation becomes softer? Or do some of them still treasure liberty, real freedom, democratic stability and even AI ethics more than the short-term comfort of having a strongman open the door for them? Because that is the question now. It is not only whether Trump is corrupt. It is whether the richest people around him are happy to live under corruption as long as it has a private entrance.

P.S. Vision, not fact

I still believe there is a multiverse somewhere where Trump did good. In that world, he respected the law, respected people, respected women, helped the poor, stayed in good terms with Europe and democratic countries, despised tyrants, rejected authoritarian regimes, and fought corruption instead of breathing through it. In that world, the US becomes part of a better future, with abundance helped by AI, but guided by ethics, dignity and law. That world feels like the future of good. Ours feels like a warning from the version of history that forgot to save itself.

Is Donald Trump The Most Corrupt President In History?

Premiered on 26 May 2026 The Rest Is Politics
Has the scale of Donald J. Trump’s corruption become too big to prosecute? Is the US Constitution now a roadmap to tyranny instead of a protection against it? Why do 72% of Gen Z think things will only get worse, and can mainstream politics win them back?
Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.

Trump wrongdoings and law shields

Trump’s scandal is no longer one scandal. It is an operating system. He has a 34-count felony conviction with no prison, fine or probation. His company was convicted in a tax fraud case. He has civil liability in the E. Jean Carroll cases. His civil fraud penalty was cut on appeal, but the case still exposed the machinery of inflated wealth. His federal election case was dropped because he became president again. His Georgia case was dropped because prosecutors saw no realistic path to try a sitting president. His classified documents case was dismissed and the report was blocked. His January 6 pardons turned punishment into loyalty politics. His DOJ removed January 6 prosecution records from public view. Then came the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund and the Reuters report that the IRS was forever barred from auditing past tax claims for Trump, his relatives and his companies. This is not “drain the swamp”. This is building a private bridge over it.

1. Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in New York for falsifying business records connected to hush-money payments. On January 10, 2025, he was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, meaning no prison, no fine and no probation, but Reuters reported that the judgment of guilt remained on his record. That is the modern magic trick: convicted, but politically untouched.
2. The Trump Organization was convicted in a separate New York tax fraud case. The Manhattan District Attorney said the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corp. were sentenced to pay the maximum fine of $1.61 million after a felony trial conviction, and said evidence proved a sophisticated tax fraud scheme for more than a decade. Allen Weisselberg, the company’s former chief financial officer, had pleaded guilty to 15 criminal charges.
3. In the New York civil fraud case, Attorney General Letitia James said Donald Trump, his adult sons and former executives were ordered to pay more than $450 million after the court found years of fraud and illegal conduct. The original judgment also barred Trump from serving as an officer or director of any New York company for three years, barred Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump for two years, and kept an independent monitor over the Trump Organization.
4. That civil fraud case was later modified on appeal. The Appellate Division record shows the original Supreme Court judgment included a $464,576,230.62 disgorgement award, but the appeal modified the judgment to eliminate that disgorgement award. That matters because the financial penalty changed, but the underlying case still shows the same old pattern: inflate, deny, appeal, survive.
5. In the E. Jean Carroll case, a federal appeals court upheld a $5 million verdict after a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll. Reuters also reported that a different jury later held Trump liable for $83.3 million in a separate defamation verdict. He denied wrongdoing, but the civil findings are not gossip. They are court results.
6. The Supreme Court’s 2024 immunity ruling gave presidents absolute immunity for core constitutional powers, at least presumptive immunity for official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts. In plain English, the Constitution was handed back with a new protective wrapper around presidential power. That does not mean Trump can do anything, but it makes prosecution harder when conduct can be dressed up as official action.
7. The federal 2020 election interference case was dismissed after Trump won the 2024 election. Reuters reported that prosecutors cited the Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents, and that prosecutors wrote the outcome was not based on the merits or strength of the case. That is the whole absurdity in one legal sentence: the case did not die because it was empty. It died because the defendant won the office that makes prosecution almost impossible.
8. The Georgia 2020 election interference case was also dropped. Reuters reported that the prosecutor said there was “no realistic prospect” that a sitting president would be compelled to appear in Georgia to stand trial, and called further pursuit “futile and unproductive”. So the same power being questioned became the reason the questioning stopped.
9. The classified documents case was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon in 2024 after she ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith had not been lawfully appointed. In February 2026, Reuters reported that Cannon permanently barred the Justice Department from releasing Smith’s report on that case. Trump had been accused of unlawfully retaining national defence documents, including material related to the American nuclear programme, and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. The case never reached a jury.
10. On January 20, 2025, Trump used the pardon power for January 6 cases. The White House proclamation commuted sentences for named individuals and granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to all other individuals convicted of offences related to events at or near the Capitol on January 6, 2021. It also directed the Attorney General to pursue dismissal with prejudice of pending indictments related to that conduct. Mercy is one thing. Turning a failed attack on certification into a political loyalty certificate is another.
11. The Justice Department later removed January 6 prosecution news releases from its website and called the material “partisan propaganda”, according to AP. AP also reported that the purge removed material documenting charges, convictions and sentencings from the Capitol attack. That is not only a legal move. It is memory management.
12. The Anti-Weaponization Fund is the latest and most grotesque chapter. The DOJ announced it as part of the settlement in Trump v. Internal Revenue Service. The plaintiffs were Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump Jr., Eric Trump and the Trump Organization. The DOJ said the fund would receive $1.776 billion and could issue apologies and monetary relief to claimants. So Trump dropped his lawsuit, his side received a formal apology, and a huge fund appeared for people claiming government “weaponization”.
13. Reuters reported that January 6 defendants and Trump allies were already eyeing that $1.776 billion fund, including people connected to Capitol riot prosecutions. AP reported that the acting Attorney General had not ruled out violent rioters being eligible for payouts. In normal language: some people convicted over January 6 may now become potential claimants against the government that prosecuted them. The fire asks for compensation from the smoke alarm.
14. The tax shield is the line to treat carefully. Do not call it “tax exempt for life”. Reuters reported something more precise and still outrageous enough: the Justice Department “forever barred” the IRS from pursuing audits into past tax claims for Trump, his relatives and his companies. Reuters said the order covered tax returns filed before May 18, 2026 and any matters “that were raised or could have been raised”. That is not a blanket future tax exemption. It is a permanent shield over past tax exposure. The roast does not need exaggeration. The fact is already standing there with a gold-plated umbrella.
15. This is even darker because the IRS had already failed to audit Trump properly during his first presidency. Axios reported from the House Ways and Means Committee report that the IRS did not audit Trump’s taxes during the first two years of his presidency, even though sitting presidents’ returns are meant to face mandatory audits. Axios also noted the report did not suggest Trump tried to influence the IRS in that period, which is important. The scandal there is the system sleeping at the desk.
16. The Epstein issue should be written with caution. Reuters reported that law enforcement authorities have not accused Trump of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Reuters also reported that Trump socialised with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, denies knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, and says he broke ties before Epstein’s 2008 conviction. That means the fair line is not “Trump is guilty because Epstein”. The fair line is: public trust is poisoned when a president is named around Epstein-related files, while his own Justice Department is accused by Democrats of withholding material and the public cannot easily see the full record.
17. The DOJ said in January 2026 it had published over 3 million additional pages responsive to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, with the total production nearly 3.5 million pages. It also said some material contained “untrue and sensationalist claims” against Trump and described those claims as false. Again, that does not clear the political trust problem. It makes the problem more poisonous because everything now depends on whether people trust the same institutions being pulled around by power.
18. The pattern is not only the wrongdoing. It is the escape architecture. Conviction without punishment. Fraud findings with penalties changed on appeal. Federal charges dropped because the defendant became president again. A classified documents report blocked from public release. January 6 pardons. DOJ records removed. A compensation fund created through a settlement involving Trump’s own lawsuit. A permanent audit bar over past tax claims for Trump, relatives and companies. This is why people lose faith. They are not imagining a rigged system. They are watching a rich man turn every exit sign into a private door.

What does not make sense

• The “law and order” crowd keeps applauding when law becomes optional for the powerful.
• A constitution built to stop kings now has to survive people who seem to miss the crown.
• The pardon power was designed as mercy, not a loyalty reward scheme.
• Calling scrutiny “weaponization” becomes very convenient when the weapon is a tax audit.
• If young people think the future is getting worse, shouting at them to love the system is not a policy.
• The same politics that complains about elites keeps finding new ways to protect elites.

Sense check / The numbers

1. The Rest Is Politics episode was published on 27 May 2026 and framed the discussion around Trump corruption, the US Constitution, and why 72 per cent of Gen Z think things will get worse; Trump won the 2024 Electoral College by 312 to 226. [The Rest Is Politics] [National Archives]
2. Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in the New York hush-money case and sentenced on January 10, 2025 to an unconditional discharge, with Reuters reporting that the conviction stayed on his record. [Reuters]
3. In 2024, the Supreme Court held that a former president has absolute immunity for core constitutional powers and immunity for official acts, while unofficial acts can still be prosecuted. [Cornell LII]
4. On January 20, 2025, Trump commuted 14 named January 6-related sentences and granted a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to all other individuals convicted of offences related to the events at or near the Capitol. [White House]
5. The Justice Department announced that the Anti-Weaponization Fund would receive $1.776 billion; Reuters reported that January 6 defendants and Trump allies were looking at possible compensation, while the same settlement barred IRS audits into past tax claims for Trump, relatives and companies. [DOJ] [Reuters]

The sketch

Scene 1: The loyal coupon
Panel description. A giant constitution lies open like a voucher book. A suited figure clips coupons labelled “pardon”, “immunity” and “tax shield”.
Dialogue:
Figure: “The founders left benefits.”
Clerk: “Sir, those were checks and balances.”
Figure: “Same aisle.”

Scene 2: The taxpayer window
Panel description. A cracked Capitol window has a payment terminal attached to it. Ordinary workers queue while pardoned silhouettes hold claim forms.
Dialogue:
Worker: “I paid for the window.”
Claimant: “Now pay for my feelings.”
Terminal: “Approved.”

Scene 3: The young future
Panel description. A group of young voters stand outside a cinema showing a film called The Republic. The poster says “sequel delayed”.
Dialogue:
Young voter: “Does it get better?”
Projectionist: “Only if people stop clapping at the villain.”
Poster: “Coming soon, maybe.”

What to watch, not the show

• Legal immunity becoming a political strategy instead of a narrow constitutional shield.
• Pardons being used to turn accountability into proof of loyalty.
• Public money routed through technical legal machinery that ordinary voters will struggle to follow.
• Conspiracy language becoming the shortcut around evidence.
• Wealthy supporters deciding whether they value stable democracy or useful chaos.
• Young voters losing faith because politics keeps asking for trust while selling exceptions.
• AI and technology being discussed as a future miracle while ethics is treated as paperwork.

The Hermit take

A republic dies first in the small permissions it gives to power.
The rest is ceremony, flags and invoices.

Keep or toss

Verdict: Keep / Toss.
Keep the courts, records and people still counting evidence.
Toss the culture that treats accountability as persecution when the powerful feel heat.

Sources

• The Rest Is Politics episode page: https://alastaircampbell.org/2026/05/536-is-trumps-corruption-machine-reaching-new-extremes/
• YouTube inspiration video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s568yek7m8s
• National Archives 2024 Electoral College results: https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/2024
• Reuters on Trump hush-money sentencing: https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-be-sentenced-hush-money-case-days-before-his-inauguration-2025-01-10/
• Cornell LII on Trump v. United States: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/23-939
• White House January 6 pardons and commutations: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/
• DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund announcement: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-anti-weaponization-fund
• Reuters on Trump IRS audit bar: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-irs-settlement-forever-bars-audits-into-tax-claims-trump-his-family-2026-05-19/
• Reuters on January 6 defendants and the Anti-Weaponization Fund: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/im-not-greedy-january-6-rioters-and-trump-allies-eye-18-billion-weaponization-fund-2026-05-20/
• AP on E. Jean Carroll verdict: https://apnews.com/article/trump-rape-carroll-trial-fe68259a4b98bb3947d42af9ec83d7db
• FBI update on Butler assassination attempt: https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/update-on-the-fbi-investigation-of-the-attempted-assassination-of-former-president-donald-trump
• AP on Trump sharing QAnon-related posts: https://apnews.com/article/trump-social-media-conspiracy-e3bbd855a2710d6b4bb4f480dd77e190
• ONS public opinions and social trends, January 2026: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/publicopinionsandsocialtrendsgreatbritain/january2026
• Reuters on Trump IRS settlement and audit bar: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-irs-settlement-forever-bars-audits-into-tax-claims-trump-his-family-2026-05-19/
• Reuters on Trump dropping IRS lawsuit and Anti-Weaponization Fund: https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-dismisses-lawsuit-against-irs-court-filing-shows-2026-05-18/
• DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund announcement: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-anti-weaponization-fund
• Reuters on January 6 defendants eyeing the fund: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/im-not-greedy-january-6-rioters-trump-allies-eye-18-billion-weaponization-fund-2026-05-20/
• White House January 6 pardons and commutations: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021/
• AP on DOJ removal of January 6 prosecution releases: https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-capitol-riot-news-releases-purged-29c580044a9ed27b643c99feac9e2964
• Reuters on hush-money sentencing: https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-be-sentenced-hush-money-case-days-before-his-inauguration-2025-01-10/
• Manhattan DA on Trump Organization tax fraud sentence: https://manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-trump-corporation-trump-payroll-corp-sentenced-to-pay-maximum-fines-under-law-following-felony-trial-conviction/
• New York Attorney General on civil fraud judgment: https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2024/attorney-general-james-wins-landmark-victory-case-against-donald-trump
• Justia record of New York civil fraud appeal: https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/appellate-division-first-department/2025/index-no-452564-22-appeal-no-2834-2835-2836-case-no-2023-04925-2024-01134-2024-01135.html
• Reuters on E. Jean Carroll $5 million verdict appeal: https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-loses-appeal-e-jean-carroll-5-million-defamation-verdict-2024-12-30/
• Reuters on E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million verdict appeal: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-fails-overturn-e-jean-carrolls-83-million-verdict-2025-09-08/
• Supreme Court opinion in Trump v. United States: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf
• Reuters on dismissal of federal 2020 election case: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-prosecutor-smith-asks-judge-dismiss-2020-election-subversion-case-against-2024-11-25/
• Reuters on dismissal of Georgia election case: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/georgia-prosecutor-drops-election-interference-case-against-trump-cnn-reports-2025-11-26/
• Reuters on classified documents report being blocked: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-permanently-blocks-release-report-trump-documents-case-2026-02-23/
• Axios on IRS failure to audit Trump during presidency: https://www.axios.com/2022/12/21/trump-taxes-irs-audit-read-report
• Reuters on Trump and Epstein-related document dispute: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/democrat-accuses-justice-department-withholding-documents-trump-epstein-2026-02-25/
• DOJ on Epstein Files Transparency Act release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-publishes-35-million-responsive-pages-compliance-epstein-files