The law is becoming a weapon in the US election.

That& #39;s what happens when kleptocracy starts to take hold.

Here& #39;s why.

(1/15) https://twitter.com/nytmike/status/1313990589499744256">https://twitter.com/nytmike/s...
... kleptocrats fighting elections are seeking, more even than retaining the power to loot, to keep the immunity from prosecution that comes with high public office.

Here I am with @FrankFigliuzzi1 and @SRuhle on @MSNBC discussing this point. (3/15) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qC8KTYfXmU">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
And the law becomes a shield for those who wield corruption. @realDonaldTrump has reason to think he might need that shield. His campaign manager Paul Manafort (veteran adviser to kleptocrats) has been jailed. His lawyer and bagman Michael Cohen too (5/15) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54060687">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl...
Trump has found ways to enact what the brave 1930s German legal scholar Ernst Fraenkel called "the dual state". In essence: the rule of law applies, except when the powerful need it not to. Here& #39;s @jentaub explaining the dual states of Kleptopia (7/15) https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/trump-among-the-kleptocrats/2020/09/03/db0fef02-ed5d-11ea-ab4e-581edb849379_story.html">https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/t...
And Trump used his office to keep his dirty-tricks man Roger Stone from jail. @RepAdamSchiff said: "With this commutation, Trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else." (9/15) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/us/politics/trump-roger-stone-clemency.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/1...
There are already cases that came from Mueller& #39;s Russia inquiry. Plus the questions that arise from the long years before his presidency when Trump& #39;s wealth was sustained by flows of money from ex-Soviet kleptocracies, as in this bit of Kleptopia https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-kleptocrats-money-laundering-middleman-who-did-deals-with-trump">https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-klept... (11/15)
Everywhere, the spread of kleptocratic power is testing justice. The UK& #39;s Serious Fraud Office faces a crunch decision in this huge case – involving Alexander Machkevitch, the oligarch ally of Trump& #39;s ex-Soviet business partners. (12/15) https://twitter.com/tomburgis/status/1311554218873028608">https://twitter.com/tomburgis...
Worst of all is how kleptocracy is underwritten by violence. If you rule by theft rather than consent, there are only two ways to secure loyalty: buy it or stir up tribal hatred. "Only I can protect you from Them..." Here& #39;s me and @mrjamesob https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiS6gTiwJc4">https://www.youtube.com/watch... (13/15)
This is the world I& #39;ve tried to reveal in Kleptopia. There& #39;s more on the book here http://tomburgis.com/kleptopia .">https://tomburgis.com/kleptopia...

The weeks up to November 3 (and the storm that is likely to follow) will show us how far the spirit of kleptocracy has penetrated the greatest democracy. (15/15)
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