Inside Trump’s Law-Breaking Payroll System

In theory, U.S. government officials are expected to follow the law, but the editor-in-chief of a legal news site stated on Sunday that President Donald Trump has demonstrated that breaking the law can be beneficial — at least, for those who back him.

[Trump] was taking legal action against them for $10 billion due to an agent who disclosed his tax information a few years ago,The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell spoke with Lawfare’s Ben Wittes on SundayAnd this was a remarkable situation, as it implied that taxpayers would be responsible for $10 billion, with the DOJ making the decision. It would essentially be as if Trump was on both sides of the matter — correct? He was exerting pressure on the DOJ, and Trump was the one who made the claim. Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.

However, Longwell mentioned that, in an attempt to bypass a judge who required both parties to provide her until May 20 to examine the legality of a sitting president directing his own Justice Department and IRS to pay him billions of dollars, Trump is reportedly looking into a $1.7 billion settlement for individuals he asserts were victims of government weaponization — particularly the terrorists involved in the coup attempt on January 6, 2021.

The key point to remember is that none of this is normal, acceptable, or free from corruption,” Wittes said to Longwell. “This is endless self-interest. It’s worthwhile to go back a bit to the start of the administration.

Wittes mentioned that one of Trump’s initial actions during his presidency was granting clemency to 1,500 convicted individuals, among them several who had attempted to assist him in challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election and others who had supported him in various political capacities.

In the past few weeks, there has been an extra layer that is beginning to result in financial gains for individuals,” Wittes said. “I believe this started with Mike Flynn and Carter Page, both of whom received significant settlements. In Flynn’s situation, it’s quite surprising — he pleaded guilty, but was later pardoned, and now he sues the government and receives a million-dollar payment. Therefore, I think this needs to be viewed within the broader context of establishing immunity for your allies, including the extreme supporters who carry out riots on your behalf.

Longwell mentioned that “many of them have since committed further offenses — many of which are sexual crimes or acts of sexual assault.” Wittes agreed with this statement, and then said, “it doesn’t look good for me to be asking for a $10 billion payment for myself, so instead I’m going to set up a fund to distribute money to my loyal supporters. Rather than offer a $1 million settlement to Mike Flynn and another $1 million to Carter Page at different times — because each of those leads to negative news coverage — I’ll create a larger fund of government money to give to allies. While I continue to prosecute political opponents, whether they are James Comey or Kilmar Abrego García or Letitia James, I will have a fund to reward friends. And I will only face the political backlash once, as the amounts will be smaller, since these are not prominent figures — they’re just individuals involved in the January 6th events.”

Trump has pledged that, should he receive the compensation, he will either donate it to charity or to these alleged victims of governmental oppression, although headmitsthat at least a portion of the $1.7 billion will be directed to organizations closely linked with the president. He has pledged not to take any of it for himself, yet has offered no documentation to confirm this.

Trump’s legal action stems from the revelation that an IRS contractor disclosed his tax returns in 2019, revealing he paid minimal federal income taxes and faced several hidden financial setbacks. Furthermore, Trump filed a lawsuit against the government seeking $230 million for the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate to locate documents he unlawfully took after leaving office, along with the probe into his connections with Russia.

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