Of all the mounting legal problems that former U.S. President Donald Trump has gotten himself into, most legal experts seem to agree that the federal investigation of Trump’s unauthorized removal of government classified documents from the White House and taking them to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Pam Beach, Florida, could be both the most egregious and easy-to-prove in court as being a crime that could result in Mr. Trump doing time in prison. But how does this have anything to do with golf?
Today, The New York Times was the first to report that this investigation of Trump’s removal of government classified docs, which is being conducted by the Department of Justice’s special counsel Jack Smith, now seems to relate to Trump’s involvement with LIV Golf. That is the new, Saudi-backed, upstart, pro golf league that is competing with especially the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, the former European Tour. LIV Golf has sued both of them, alleging they operate as monopolies and thus hinder free trade. This renegade tour is throwing some big Saudi money at some of the top pros in the world. LIV Golf launched last year with eight tournaments. Two of them were staged on Trump golf courses. LIV Golf’s schedule this year is to about double that number of tournaments.
Special counsel Jack Smith is a former U.S. federal prosecutor who in recent years has been prosecuting war crimes on behalf of the international tribunal at the Hague, which is associated with the United Nations. Now tapped by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland for this docs investigation, plus the Trump administration’s alleged involvement in the the J6 Capitol riot investigation, Smith seems to be leaving no stone unturned in his rapid investigation of both cases that has resulted in a slew of subpoenas. The Times reports of the classified documents investigation by saying,
“One of the previously unreported subpoenas to the Trump Organization sought records pertaining to Mr. Trump’s dealings with a Saudi-backed professional golf venture known as LIV Golf, which is holding tournaments at some of Mr. Trump’s golf resorts.
“It is unclear what bearing Mr. Trump’s relationship with LIV Golf has on the broader investigation, but it suggests that the prosecutors are examining certain elements of Mr. Trump’s family business.”
On another front, ten days ago Donald Trump gave an interview to an evangelical TV channel in his current hometown of Palm Beach about his attending Sunday school during his youth and his appreciation for the Bible. He said, “I went to Sunday school, which was good and which was expected. Everybody goes to Sunday school.”
He continued, “And when you think about it, the world is so different now. Sunday school is not, probably, on everybody’s key list but I remember in those days, it was something that was very important.”
As Trump was being interviewed, a copy of his new book, Letters to Trump, was lying on a table nearby. The former president then added, “I remember it so well. You’d sit there and you’d learn all the different, you know, you’d go through the Bible basically. The greatest book. That blows this book away,” referring to his book, “I have to be honest with you.”
Mr. Trump, I have to be honest with you, too, which I believe I’ve done with my book, Bible Predicts Trump Fall. It’s one thing to speak well of the Good Book, which I salute you for. But it’s quite another to do what it says. For example, Jesus’ brother James wrote in the Bible, “Be doers of the word [of God], and not hearers only” (James 1.22).
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