Trump sued the IRS for leaking his tax reports, the ones that showed that this billionaire seldom paid taxes. Some years, he paid none at all. No wonder he wouldn’t release them, unlike every Presidential candidate since Nixon.
Did anyone think that Trump would walk away empty-handed? Of course not. He was suing himself. If it had gone to court, the judge (an Obama appointee)would likely have thrown the case out because there were not two adversaries, but the President suing an agency he controls.
The Justice Department has already awarded $1.25 million to Michael Flynn, who was convicted by a jury, and an equal amount to Carter Page, a figure in the Russia investigation during Trump’s first term.
Doubtless, Tina Peters will cash in, along with the insurrectionists who beat up police officers. So much for “law and order.” Storm the Capitol, defecate on its floor, bash a cop in the head, get convicted by a jury, get a full pardon from Trump, then collect an award! What a country.
The Associated Press reported:
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration on Monday announced the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate allies of the Republican president who believe they were mistreated by the Biden administration Justice Department.
The “Anti-Weaponization Fund” was announced by the Justice Department as part of a deal to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in announcing the fund in a statement that it was “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”
Democrats and government watchdogs immediately pledged to fight what they called a “corrupt” and unprecedented resolution, warning that the arrangement would unjustly enrich people close to the president with taxpayer dollars and open the door to meritless claims of political persecution.
Trump’s lawyers disclosed the dismissal of the case in a filing Monday in federal court in Florida, where the president sued earlier this year.
The fund would represent not only a highly unorthodox resolution but also a further demonstration of the administration’s eagerness to reward allies who before Trump came to power were investigated and in some cases charged and convicted. Most notably, the president on his first day back in office pardoned or commuted the sentences of supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His Justice Department since then has approved payouts to supporters entangled in the Trump-Russia investigation and investigated and prosecuted some of his perceived adversaries.
“This case is nothing but a racket designed to take $1.7 billion of taxpayer dollars out of the Treasury and pour it into a huge slush fund for Trump at DOJ to hand out to his private militia of insurrectionists, rioters, and white supremacists, including those who brutally beat police officers on January 6, 2021, and sycophant accomplices to his election stealing schemes,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
Trump’s attorneys suggested in their court filing seeking to dismiss the case that the resolution would not be reviewable by a judge. But a group of 93 members of Congress filed a brief teeing up a challenge.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
When my children were young, they watched a TV show that celebrated “opposite day.” We seem to be living “opposite day” every time we watch the news or hear another court decision from SCOTUS.
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CNN summed it up precisely:
News Alert: Trump administration creates $1.776 billion fund for allies of the president after he drops lawsuit against IRS
The Justice Department on Monday announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies who claim they were unfairly targeted by the previous administration.
It’s an unprecedented move that would allow the president’s administration to pay his supporters from a government agency he controls with taxpayer money.
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Imagine if Biden had done this, the howls and epic fury from MAGA!
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Trump just confirmed in the strongest possible way that was his Insurrection from the beginning and now he wants to reimburse his private militia for their service. It’s always possible none of his troops will see a dime of that money, but if they do it will simply be his way of funding the next Insurrection.
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I was under the impression that only Congress controlled the budget. Do we have a different version of the Constitution?
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TRUMP HAD NO VALID LAWSUIT TO BEGIN WITH — the court was about to dismiss his lawsuit because it failed to meet the constitutional test of the two parties in the lawsuit — Trump and the IRS — being actual adversaries because at the time Trump’s tax returns were released in 2019 Trump was the actual head of the IRS, so he was suing himself for releasing his tax returns!
PLUS, since Trump is now again the head of the IRS he is actually making a settlement with himself.
TOTAL CON JOB!!!
Basically, what Trump is now trying to do is to create a “settlement” with himself that results in a $1,776,000,000 political slush.
Will the Supreme Court become involved? Will the Supreme Court just shrug and let Trump get away with this fraud, or will the Supreme Court shut down the fraud?
And raise your hand if you remember when Trump promised to release his tax returns “as soon as the audit is complete”? There never was an audit, and Trump never intended to release his tax returns as previous Presidents voluntarily did.
Trump is Grifter-In-Chief.
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Ten years later, do you think the audit is complete?
Fact is, he wanted to hide his tax returns because he seldom
Paid taxes.
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Many news reports refer to a $1.8 billion slush fund.
That’s because the actual amount is $1.776 billion.
Trump flaunts his patriotism while ripping most of us off.
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I’m late to this blog post because I was so mad when I first read this outrageous story, I went outside and worked the rest of the day. Until sunset, when I had a beer on the porch.
The thought came to me at some point out in the fields: is this one of the most stupid moments in U.S. history? I mean, yeah, this slush fund is pure evil. The thought of all the kids in our country and far beyond who desperately need this money to better their lives. But this moment is STUPID, too. Where is the common sense of so many of our fellow citizens including the G.O.P?
And, it could get worse….much worse.
Meanwhile…. I got a ton of exercise yesterday while DJT just seems to getting more and more bloated and grotesque and demented each day. (Reading about some of these MAGA folks reminds me of that circle of Dante’s hell that is reserved for gluttons.)
And, I’m still plugging away at building some sort of resistance in this corner of Upstate New York. I’ve met lots of great people along the way. They’re all around us. Of course, MAGA’s high tech trick is to be make so many decent people feel isolated and alone. It’s the oligarch’s 21st century sleight of hand. Anomie on steroids.
BTW an important reminder: TODAY (May 19) New Yorkers outside our biggest cities get to vote on school budgets and boards. Please vote to support public education today -and every day you can, wherever you live.
And encourage people to vote for a better future. It can happen but only if we get out there -which includes this blog. Thanks to all of you for keeping it going.
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