Scandal Scorecard

Trying to keep up with every single Trump scandal is exhausting.  There were multiple scandals under Nixon and Reagan - garden level corruption all the way to Watergate and Iran Contra - but there has never been an administration so steeped in wrong doing.

And, please, unlike Solyandra, Benghazi and Fast and Furious, these are REAL scandals, not partisan confections.

David Leonhardt has kept his naughty list.  Here's a partial rundown, and frankly it hasn't kept pace with the times:

- Trump is funneling government money to his private properties.
- Trump is using his private properties to allow others, including foreign powers, to curry influence with him.
- The following Cabinet officials are either under investigation for abusing public funds or have already resigned: Tom Price HHS, Ryan Zinke Interior, David Shulkin Veteran's Affairs, Steve Mnuchin Treasury, Scott Pruitt EPA.
- The following Cabinet and White House officials are under investigation for violating federal ethics laws: Kellyanne Conway, Ben Carson HUD, Brenda Fitzgerald CDC, KT McFarland NSC.
- The following are being investigated for conspiring with Russia in the lead-up to the 2016 election: Michael Flynn (guilty plea), Paul Manafort, Rick Gates (guilty plea), George Papadopoulos (guilty plea), Carter Page.

Things Leonhardt has omitted:
- Jared Kushner's financial ties to various countries - the UAE, Russia and Saudi Arabia - have led to the revocation of his security clearance.  There are credible allegations of influence peddling and policy outcomes linked to loans.
- Erik Prince (Betsy DeVos' brother) had a meeting in the Seychelles with Putin's buddies to set up backchannel communications.  George Nader, a participant in those meetings, has flipped to Mueller.
- Possible campaign finance violations in the payouts to Stormy Daniels.  Not to mention the payouts to Stormy Daniels.
- The Rob Porter scandal, whereby a serial domestic abuser was given White House security clearance.
- Trump's transparent effort to obstruct investigations into his affairs by firing James Comey.
- Trump's comments after the Charlottesville violence.
- Carl Icahn appears to have used White House connections to engage in insider trading.
- The almost inevitable and sadly comic cavalcade of lies that erupts from every White House press briefing.

This list - which itself is probably incomplete - does not even begin to touch the dysfunction and poor policy of the Trump White House.  It doesn't touch on the failure to repeal Obamacare, the deficit busting tax cut, the giveaways to banks, Wall Street and big business (especially polluters).  It doesn't touch on the various Twitter feuds and the inconsistent messaging that has led to the DACA travesty or the tariff maelstrom or the indecision on gun policy.

Still, the economy added 313,000 jobs this month.  Wages are stalled however, which doesn't really make sense.  With unemployment near record lows, most Presidents would see sky-high approval ratings. Rasmussen - a noticeably GOP leaning outfit - has Trump at -10 approval. Reuters pegs it at -14, same with Monmouth.  IBD/TIPP has it at a whopping -21.

There are a lot of pessimistic voices about how America is now a land of Trump loving yahoos.  The reality is that Trump won a narrow Electoral College victory over an unpopular insider by drawing an inside straight.  His support since then has collapsed in certain key demographics.

As the indictments and resignations pile up, all except his Fox News chugging base will have to reckon with a man who has already made the Grant and Harding administrations look like paragons of virtue in comparison.