Why do they do it?
We knew that it was going to happen.
A week after state prosecutors in Manhattan indicted Donald J. Trump’s family business and its chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, the company began removing Mr. Weisselberg from every leadership position he held atop dozens of its subsidiaries, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The move could be a potential precursor to a wider shake-up at the former president’s company, the Trump Organization, as the reality of the indictment takes hold for Mr. Trump and his senior executives. While Mr. Weisselberg continues to work at the Trump Organization, and there is no indication that Mr. Trump wants to cut ties with him, the company might seek to move him into a lower-profile role.
The Times article has more faith in Donald Trump than any of his lackeys should have. If removing Allen Weisselberg from dozens of Trump shell companies isn't an indication that Trump wants to cut ties with him, I don't know what is.
This begs the question posed in the title to this piece: Why do they do it? Michael Cohen had a good career before he was sucked into Trump's dark orbit; he gave it all up to become his strongarm, and all it got him was to be cast aside and become a convicted felon. Weisselberg fell into Fred Trump's circle, and never got out of it, shifting his loyalty to Fred's son as if he were some feudal lord.
But Weisselberg and Cohen are small potatoes. What gets people with their own names, their own list of accomplishments, surrender their honor to this orange monster? I'm thinking of relatively prominent people who served in Trump's early cabinet, like Rex Tillerson or James Mattis. I'm thinking of a career Department of Justice lawyer like Rod Rosenstein working to cover up Trump's crimes. What dark charisma—unnoticed by myself—does Trump have to wraith these people, like a dime-store Sauron?
It could be as simple that all these people had severe character flaws to begin with, flaws which laid them open to Trump's blandishments. I would like to think anyone with empathy and morals would shun Trump.
If that's the case, what's sobering is that so many people either became active accomplices in Trump's efforts to destroy American democracy, or that many others stood by and remained silent, allowing the degradation of the Republic. Democracy is a fragile thing, and its survival is not guaranteed. What Trump ripped the scab off of was the parlous state of our democratic ideals, with a large enough proportion of our citizens and our elites no longer believing in this American experiment, but wanting to replace it with something dark and dystopian.
We can no longer think that they're frightened, or they're under some sort of kompromat. They simply agree with Trump and his ilk, and support him for wealth and power. The problem for them is that Trump has loyalty to no one but himself, and he will discard you if he feels the law's breath on his neck. We're seeing this with Weisselberg. And this is the saving grace: once Trump jettisons any debt of loyalty to you, there's really no reason to keep his secrets. Even the most lost, like Rudy Giuliani, may see this. Their souls may be decrepit, but the will to survive is hard to overcome, and they will eventually do what they have to do to eke out a few more years of life.
A man with no honor attracts likewise people with no honor. Trump should consider that as he lays waste to his old alliances. It won't turn out well for him.