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Kurt Eichenwald embarked on a twitter storm this afternoon to rip into Donald Trump over his unsubstantiated attack on Boeing. The whole claim of overruns is a lie, says Eichenwald:

I have searched everywhere. I cannot find anything saying there was a $4B cost overrun in 3wk old Air Force One contract. Trump made it up. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 6, 2016

Eichenwald went on to ask Trump supporters to “Explain how a 3-wk old contract has $4B in cost overruns. Trump is lying because Boeing said something he didnt like.”

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Then come the other problems that arise from his lies:

Trump is priv citizen. $4 bill, Air Force One falsehood cratered Boeing stock. He "sold" shares in June. Shareholders can sue him 4 fraud. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 6, 2016

Not to mention stock market manipulation:

If any person associated with Trump purchased Boeing shares today, that could be charged as a market manipulation called "stock bashing." — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 6, 2016

The lies and possible fraud and market manipulation are only the beginning. Awful as these charges are, and however damaging to Boeing, there are many more companies and individuals who can be hurt going forward once Trump is sitting in the Oval Office. There is the abuse of power factor:

Air Force One tweet tantrum — a lie pushed just after Boeing says concerned about Trump trade policies — is a frightening abuse of power. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 6, 2016

Far more serious for what all this means going forward into four years of a Trump administration is a Congress that lacks the spine to even pretend to investigate actual Trump scandals while working overtime at invented Obama and Clinton scandals:

In any real world of actual government oversight, this Air Force One lie that cratered stock wuld be subject of congressional investigation. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 6, 2016

Yeah. That’s not gonna happen.

Trump just showed he will scream lies 2 cripple the share price of any company that raises concerns about him. They will go silent. Obscene. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 6, 2016

This is how Trump has functioned all along, of course, intimidating critics and even destroying them. Now, about to become the most powerful man on earth, the dangers his reckless and vindictive behavior poses is breathtaking. This is only the beginning. It won’t be the end.

As he has so often before, out of spite or sheer vindictiveness, Trump simply lied without worry over the consequences for others. He did what he has done so often before: he made sure none of the fallout fell on him and the devil take the hindmost.