Proof of Conspiracy: How Trump's International Collusion Is Threatening American Democracy

by Seth Abramson

Consider, in answer to this question, the following anecdote. In 1990, a “hip, satirical, bomb-throwing magazine,” Spy, concocted a prank to lure fabulously wealthy celebrities into publicly revealing their greed.1 The plan: send a “refund” check for a “miniscule” amount of money, under the cover of a shell corporation, to a small group of extremely rich individuals, and see if they cash it; if they do, send them a check for half that amount and again wait to see if they cash it; and then proceed from there until the ruse discloses which already-rich person in America or beyond our shores is so venal that they would cash even a virtually worthless check.2 Spy learned that twenty-six of its fifty-eight targets would cash a check for $1.11; that thirteen of those people would cash checks for half that amount, 64 cents; and that two billionaires in the world would actually go so far as to cash a check for just thirteen cents. The first of those two people was a billionaire Saudi arms dealer and international “fixer” who had been implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal and lived a life of such “infamy,” “influence peddling,” and “spectacular scandals” that he was ultimately on the receiving end of an indictment for racketeering.3 Imagine, if you can, someone so hedonistic that the band Queen felt it had to write a song about him; that’s the first man Spy caught in its trap.4 The other was Donald Trump.