I get it. People think politicians are corrupt. Trust me, some really are, and I know it first-hand.

I haven’t worked on a political campaign in years. I’m 52 years old, and my last campaign was when I was 21. I loved every minute of working with most of the candidates I knew, but in New Jersey (go ahead, make fun all you want), there was plenty of corrupt behavior to go around — on both sides.

I remember running around a fall festival for one campaign, and having the mayor of that town (who shall remain nameless) hand me a slip of paper and ask me to take it to the fire department for him. He was placing a bet, of course. When the candidate I was working for found out, he was furious. To make amends, that mayor made me an honorary Italian-American, with a certificate — complete with his signature — that I treasure to this day! It was a weird moment, to be sure.

I’ve had political operatives ask me to spy on members of my home town Democratic committee (all my friends’ parents, and friends of my parents), threaten to sue me for tattling on them when they were badly behaved, and even have their daughter hit on me (and she sucked at it) just to get me to come work in their field office during a primary.

That was nothing though, compared to the rumors about the woman (we’ll keep her name out of it too) who was a Republican that owned a junkyard. That — supposedly — was where they put Jimmy Hoffa — with her knowledge and permission. You know, New Jersey, right?

But even the worst criminal behavior of an elected official of any stripe pales in comparison to the criminal enterprise that is Donald Trump. I define him as a criminal enterprise, because he is an organized, corrupt business — as a businessman and now as a politician. A criminal enterprise requires more than the corrupt head, but a bevvy of immoral henchman. In fact, it seems pretty clear that Donald Trump is probably the most corrupt Presidential nominee in modern history.

In fact, let’s start there: Corey Lewandowski (who went to court for assaulting a reporter), Paul Manafort (who had to quit after it became clear he violated federal law by not reporting fully his dealings with at least the Ukrainian government), Stephen Banning (who is on record as a spouse abuser), and Roger Ailes (serial sexual predator).

Oh, and let’s not forget Chris Christie, NJ Governor and now we know he’s culpable for the George Washington Bridge closing (I think this has all yet to play out).

OK, so Trump has a cadre questionable and immoral support.

How about business behavior?

1. Clearly the Trump Foundation is a money laundering operation of some sort, taking other people’s money and using it to do — whatever — Donald Trump wants with it. This apparently includes paying off Florida’s Attorney General and using the fund to pay legal settlements in support of his business.

2. As Newsweek has detailed, Trump will make deals with anyone, anywhere — including Putin oligarchs in Russia, and the late Mummar Qadaffi — to advance his business. These deals are so complicated and so complex that, were Trump to actually become President, he couldn’t possibly act on America’s behalf in good faith. Think about that.

3. Trump company practices include a pattern of refusing to pay companies they contract with even when services are delivered. Not because of shoddy work, or contract violations, but because they simply don’t want to pay them.

4. Trump University clearly engaged in a deliberate scheme to defraud customers out of tens of thousands of dollars apiece by guaranteeing an educational experience they did not come close to delivering (and by pretending to be an accredited educational institution — which it was not).

5. Trump will become the first presidential candidate since Nixon to refuse to release he tax records to the public because — well — because they clearly show more obvious evidence of this corruption.

So, the man who refers to his opponent as “crooked” on a routine basis is, in reality, more crooked than anybody to ever run for President. A candidate, for whom any one of these five items would make him a crook. But all of this, lumped together — well, that’s a criminal enterprise.

It’s really hard to believe he’s even this close to the White House.