What did Donald Trump do today?

He committed another crime, or lied to make people think he did.

26 USC §7217 makes it illegal for any member of the executive branch to direct the IRS to conduct a tax investigation to any particular entity. It specifically mentions the President as an "applicable person" included in that prohibition, and it applies whether the order is direct or indirect—say, for example, in a social media post.

 

Today, Trump said in a social media post that he was going to conduct a tax investigation into a particular entity, Harvard University, which has angered him by not meekly submitting to his demands to essentially take over its administration.

Of course, Trump's own DOJ won't criminally charge him over this: its top three officials were hand-picked by Trump from his extensive suite of criminal and civil defense lawyers. 

But it's also quite likely that no such "investigation" will ever happen, except in the media. Harvard has nothing to lose by trying to appease Trump now, and Trump is notorious for backing down without a fight when his bluff is called—and he wouldn't stand much of a chance in court if he did revoke Harvard's tax exempt status for nakedly political reasons.

Trump knows a thing or two about violations of non-profit tax law, though, as a defendant.

Why does this matter?

• Using the IRS to go after political enemies is about as obvious as abuse of power gets.
  

• Pretending to use the IRS to go after political enemies is about as pathetic as it gets.

• There's a difference between getting away with a crime and being above the law, and no matter how much he wants to act like it, Trump is not above the law.