I’ve been hearing a couple of words used by the media with increasing frequency: ‘brazen’ and ‘egregious’. That’s because Trump’s actions have become much more and more brazen and egregious these days. He has really ‘jumped the shark’ with his latest corruption: stealing 1.8 billion dollars from the Treasury to distribute to the thugs who attacked the capitol on Jan. 6 and injured many law officers.
As you’re probably aware, Trump ‘sued’ his own Justice Department for $10 billion, and then withdrew the case because he had made a ‘settlement’ with the DOJ for his $1.8 billion slush fund.
I have a couple of questions that seem important to me, but which I’m not hearing in the media.
- If he cancelled the lawsuit, then the 1.8 billion was not a settlement at all, but rather a deal made with his own team to empty 1.8 billion into his slush fund. He simply directed his minions to give U.S. Treasury money for his private use. Can that possibly be legal?
- More importantly, if he gets away with this one, there is nothing stopping him from pulling the same stunt with every other U.S. Government department. He could threaten to sue the FBI and then make a deal with Kash Patel to give him $10 billion. Then he could do the same with Hegseth in the Defense Department, then Lutnick in Commerce. Then Rubio, then Bessent, etc. He could end up with 100 billion dollars. He could bankrupt the entire government.
In fact, why not just direct the Treasury Department to give him personal control of all U.S. money? He controls them all anyway, and they must do his bidding or be either fired or charged with some made-up crimes.
There’s even more to it. According to CNN, the ‘settlement’ states:
According to the new document, dated Tuesday and signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the federal government is “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED” from prosecuting or pursuing “claims” or “examinations” arising from matters pending before the IRS, including “tax returns” filed by Trump before the agreement was reached. The language applies not just to Trump, but to his family, trusts, companies and other affiliates.
Again, this can’t be legal, can it? The President can’t just order that he not be investigated, even if it’s part of a real ‘settlement’. This is one area where the courts could step in.
One final stipulation from the agreement: the American people must apologize to the rioters. “Sorry that your flagpole was bent when you struck the officer over the head with it.”
Is there any way this could be stopped? Well, for one thing, the timing of the cancellation of the lawsuit may matter. If the lawsuit were cancelled before the ‘settlement’, then there was no pending lawsuit, and therefore no settlement. There would be only an agreement between the DOJ and Trump. That agreement would be illegal, since the DOJ doesn’t control the purse strings of the government. On the other hand, Trump is justifying the deal on grounds that the DOJ already has a fund to compensate people unfairly treated by the government, and this fund was already used years ago. Do we know how much is still in the fund?
On the other hand, if the settlement happened while there was still a lawsuit pending, then the judge could order hearings to determine whether the suit was between adversaries, or where there was collusion. If the judge rules that there was no adversarial relationship, then the suit is again cancelled, and the $1.8 was just a deal and would again be illegal, as explained above.
In any case, the words ‘egregious’ and ‘brazen’ clearly apply to Trump’s latest grift.