In broad strokes, the deal between Donald Trump and his own administration appears corrupt but straightforward: The president withdrew his deeply foolish $10 billion civil suit against the Internal Revenue Service, and in exchange, he and his team will put $1.776 billion of taxpayer money into a “fund” that is expected to benefit the Republican’s allies.
These basic contours of the agreement, widely panned as a “slush fund” by Democrats and legal experts, were evident not only in public reporting from independent news organizations but also in a nine-page agreement that Trump’s Justice Department released on Monday, offering details about the structure of the scandalous deal.
One day later, Trump’s team quietly decided to add something important. Politico reported:
[A] one-page document posted on the DOJ website early Tuesday includes a sweeping release under which the IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing “examinations” of Trump, “related or affiliated individuals,” and related trusts and businesses.
The waiver specifically encompasses “tax returns filed before the effective date” of the settlement, which was Monday.
The brief, three-paragraph addendum was signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (who, incidentally, did not sign Monday’s nine-page agreement), and posted online on Tuesday afternoon, after Blanche’s appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee wrapped up. wrapped up.
In addition to the “fund” worth nearly $1.8 billion, Trump can also take comfort in knowing that, according to his Justice Department, the IRS won’t pursue any pending tax claims against him, members of his family or his highly controversial family businesses.
A New York Times report added, “[P]rotection from audit could be quite remunerative for Mr. Trump. In 2024, The Times reported that a loss in an I.R.S. audit could cost Mr. Trump more than $100 million.”
The same report noted that existing federal law already prohibits the White House from instructing the IRS to start or stop specific audits, “but that broad prohibition does appear to include a carve out for the attorney general.”
The “slush fund” scandal was already shaping up to be one of the most important corruption controversies in recent memory. Though it hardly seemed possible, it just got worse.
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