Donald Trump is starting to sound panicked.

“WHY NOT BRAG THIS BUSINESS?” he wrote on his Truth Social account last week

from Manhattan Dist. thoughtful

Alvin Bragg,

investigating Trump’s alleged payment of hush money to a porn star

. “

…

THIS IS NOT A LEGAL SYSTEM, THIS IS THE GESTAPO, THIS IS RUSSIA AND CHINA, BUT WORSE.”

In a series of social media posts, the former president called

Bragg, who is black

a degenerate psychopath and an animal.

Trump urged his supporters to PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” and warned he was suing him

C

old

he said “potentially”/sw produce result

death & destruction.

And all because of a charge that was not filed

,

in an investigation into whether Trump treated the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels as a business expense.

There is a baroque theory that Trump welcomes criminal charges because every fight makes him a hero in the eyes of his followers.

But last week he didn’t sound heroic. He sounded scared and whiny.

The comically sordid hush money case is probably the least of his problems. The real threat to his serenity and his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination comes from three more weighty investigations.

Indictments from those probes would put Trump in the center of attention, which he likes. But they will also take his time and energy away from the presidency. They will also take money since he

shall

need

S

expensive lawyers to defend him in every location.

Charges they

could give his too

2024GOP

rivals

more

chances to question his character and fitness for office, old-fashioned criteria Republicans once used to judge candidates.

Trump faces big problems in Georgia, where

Fulton County Atlanta

Prosecutor Fani Willis is investigating his press campaign

stands

civil servants

in the state

overthrow

are

2020 Presidential Election Results. It’s a felony

in below

Georgia

law

asking an official to commit electoral fraud. Trump called Willis, who is black, a racist for conducting the investigation.

A federal prosecutor,

S

special

C

Onsel Jack Smith, examines Trump’s retention of

secret government

documents at his home in Mar-a-Lago, along with false claims from his lawyers that he

had

sent them all back. Trump called that prosecutor a felon.

The biggest potential criminal case is Smith’s investigation into Trump’s role in January’s case

.uari

6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and its wider effort to overturn the 2020 election. That could lead to federal charges

of recording

incitement to insurrection, obstruction of federal proceedings, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Trump said Smith is the one to be considered a terrorist.

compared

with to

investigating them, the hush money investigation can be little more than a trivial question: who was the first prosecutor to indict a president, and why?

Now add the danger that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s main rival for the nomination, could turn the former president’s legal troubles against him.

Last week, DeSantis, who is expected to announce his candidacy this spring, used a voter question about

Stormy

Daniels to draw a not-so-subtle contrast

between itself and with

Trump.

Look, I don’t know what’s involved in paying a porn star hush money to keep quiet about some alleged affair, he said slyly.

Hi

worked in found a way to make

another mention of hush money payments by porn stars

,

adding, “I’m in real trouble here in the state of Florida.”

Expanding on the theme the next day, DeSantis told Fox News’ Piers Morgan: At the end of the day, as a leader, you really want to look at people like our Founding Fathers.

.

It’s not to say you never make a mistake in your personal life, but I guess what kind of character do you bring?

That was pretty mild, but it set off a blast from Trump.

Ron DeSanctimonious is, for a Republican, an average governor,

Hi

said in a lengthy social media post.

…

He fought for massive cuts in Social Security and Medicare

.

We don’t want Ron as our president!

In other words, game on.

If DeSantis keeps this up, he could turn the race into a battle for Republican voters looking for a candidate who promises to fight their culture wars, torment their liberal enemies and cut their taxes without Trump’s baggage.

But he has to show that he can throw more than one punch. In the 2016 GOP primary campaign, Trump faced challenges from fellow candidates Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz, all of whom collapsed as the frontrunner hit back with bald insults and character assassination.

In the campaign now underway, Trump’s legal troubles seem unlikely to help him.

They won’t just take up his time. They will keep the spotlight on him for all the wrong reasons. They’ll let him talk about his grievances instead of issues voters care about, like inflation.

If Trump is indicted by just one accuser, he will claim that he is the victim. If he is designated by three different prosecutors in three different locations, he is more likely to cast doubt on his eligibility for office.

Some will remain stubbornly loyal

to him

, does not matter what. But others will watch everything

by

That

D

umpster burns and yearns for a less chaotic alternative. That creates opportunities for DeSantis and others to showcase what they have to offer.

Trump knows. That’s why, instead of welcoming his impending martyrdom in court, he sounds so unhappy.