3 to 5 years? You -- US 'democracy' and law -- don't have that long, sorry to tell you.

@David1955 the undermining of the required trust in the system, be it monetary or governance or voting is the root of all the current ills.

Reported on Lawrence O'Donnell last night.

He will try, but,. this time, we and our institutions are ready for the SOB.

@wordywalt hope it happens soon enough!

In many countries around the world corruption is rife and hidden, however, there are a few countries where it is very much in the face of the public and nothing changes. It would seem that the law only applies to the proverbial John Doe and not the rich and those who hold high office. We all know it is happening and we complain and protest and it makes no difference, it continues.

When those who hold the highest office in government break the rules there is no effective accountability, instead we witness the repugnant spectacle of feigned contrition.

@David1955
You are so very right!

@David1955 while I share your frustration that there has been no prosecution yet, having been a prosecutor for 20 years, investigations like this take time. And, unfortunately these have to be perfect and they have to be sure of the conviction. Can you imagine what happens if they charge him and lose? So unfortunately we have to be patient and all we can do is hope.

@lerlo but time is what they don't have. It's like Al Capone. They could have spent years getting him on murder and racketeering. Instead they got him on tax evasion. He was then out of the way, despite some influence in jail. Get Trump on anything and he's a convicted criminal. I fear by the time they're ready, it'll be too late.

@ASTRALMAX despite movie and TV propaganda peddling law and order, much of the legal system is about repression of underclasses and protection of privilege -- to a greater or lesser degree. I'm not an anarchist and I believe in the rule of law, for the same reason I believe in regulation in economics: we just can't expect that people will do the right thing, though statistically most actually do. But it has to apply equally to everyone. The thrust in economics over the past 40 years towards so-called free market economic rationalism, has been accompanied by rising elites who see themselves as above the law, and have the finance and legal people to prove it. All this does is breed contempt for the law throughout society, as we see now. America is a prime example of this decline. I still do not believe Trump et.al. will face anything. The laws are too weak; the structures too feeble, and the get out of jail free cards too obvious.

@David1955 well they might get this asshole on tax evasion but they're just getting the records for that. They have time. They have two years. If they charge him right before he might run for president, and if that doesn't ruin his presidency, we don't want to l live in this country anyway. If he doesn't run they have all the time in the world

His own wreitten statement provides clear evidenceof criminal intent.