The next 48 to 72 hours are likely to be the most nerve-wracking of Donald Trump’s life, and based on what White House insiders are telling The New York Times, the president is worried not only about losing the election, but also about being hit with multiple indictments in the weeks before his term of office expires and he walks out of the Oval Office for the last time on January 20, 2021:

“President Trump arrives at Election Day on Tuesday toggling between confidence and exasperation, bravado and grievance, and marinating in frustration that he is trailing Joseph R. Biden Jr., whom he considers an unworthy opponent.

“’Man, it’s going to be embarrassing if I lose to this guy,’ Mr. Trump has told advisers, a lament he has aired publicly as well. But in the off-camera version, Mr. Trump frequently exclaims, ‘This guy!’ in reference to Mr. Biden, with a salty adjective separating the words.”

For Trump, losing means failure, which he believes he has a natural immunity to. But it also raises the specter of the legal problems hanging over his head like the proverbial Sword of Damocles.

Legal moves are already underway, mostly in New York, where both the Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr. and Attorney General Tish James have been busily working and impaneling grand juries to determine if either Trump, his children, or his company have committed crimes ranging from insurance and tax fraud to money laundering.

Though he appears upbeat in public, in private Trump is making it clear that he’s preoccupied with what will transpire if he does lose to Joe Biden:

“In unguarded moments, Mr. Trump has for weeks told advisers that he expects to face intensifying scrutiny from prosecutors if he loses. He is concerned not only about existing investigations in New York, but the potential for new federal probes as well, according to people who have spoken with him.”

That alone tells you that Trump knows he has indeed done illegal things over the course of his life. An innocent man wouldn’t be fretting what might happen once he’s out of office.  A guilty man, however, loses sleep over what might be found when all of his actions see the cold light of day.

By the end of this week, we should know with certainty who has won the election. And then Trump’s worries will be taken to the next level, as he imagines the many court proceedings which await him the second he walks off the White House compound for the last time.