In another move that strains all credulity, the DOJ under Trump’s full control claimed in early June to have no responsive documents to a FOIA request submitted by nonprofit-watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). As Hafiz Rashid reported for The New Republic, the documents sought are connected to a “settlement” that would create an unprecedented “anti-weaponization” slush fund for anyone who feels they were “harmed” for stating political beliefs.
The division of DOJ that was supposed to have handled Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS—and the subsequent settlement that created a slush fund for his allies—claims to have no communication records related to it.
CREW, a progressive watchdog organization, filed a Freedom of Information request with the DOJ, and in response, they were told that the DOJ ‘did not locate the case you have cited’ within the DOJ’s Civil Division’s case management system.
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$1.776 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund is for anyone who believes they were unfairly prosecuted for their political beliefs—essentially trump’s allies who were prosecuted under the Biden administration. As part of the settlement, the IRS also pledged not to audit the Trump family or businesses now or at any point in the future.
Hafiz Rashid, The New Republic
Rashid adds, quite starkly, that the nation’s top law-enforcement division is either lying, working outside of normal channels—or both. “The fact that DOJ claims to have no records relating to communication about the settlement suggests that either it is lying or negotiations were conducted outside of the legal bodies that should have handled them.”
In a different TNR article (and for additional background), staff writer Matt Ford is even more blunt in his characterization of the fund being a “criminal enterprise” in search of legitimization.
The Trump administration set the stage for the largest heist in American history this week by creating an illegal fund of taxpayer dollars to compensate Donald Trump and his allies—including the January 6 insurrectionists for being brought to justice after storming the Capitol in 2021.
The Justice Department’s announcement that it will set a $1.8 billion slush fund to settle a $10 billion lawsuit from Trump himself against the IRS drew widespread outrage from Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are exploring ways to block the payments. It also drew criticism from Capitol Police officers who were injured on January 6, who have filed a lawsuit to challenge the legality of this compensation scheme. Brian Morrissey, the Treasury Department’s top lawyer, reportedly resigned after the fund was announced.
Matt Ford, The New Republic
Morrissey’s resignation is notable if for no other reason than he had been working in Trump’s orbit since Regime 1, that time under monied operative Steve Mnuchin.
Like so many other polluted three-letter agencies, IRS under Trump has seen its fair share of chaos and scandal (which is likely the point here; see my Author Footnote for more): Profoundly unqualified Billy Long got tapped to “lead” the agency—and then was summarily fired after a few short months; Elon Musk’s “DOGE” folks invaded IRS‘ digital systems with still-unknown consequences; and news of the slush fund dropped after corrupt moves last year to use the agency as a cudgel against perceived enemies.
AUTHOR FOOTNOTE
As I often point out on Bluesky, Donny’s mafia frequently engages in “dry runs” to hone and perfect criminal operations. Their profoundly false “weaponization” messaging dates back, of course, to the nonsense House panel of the same name: essentially, the whole affair is just a series of whiny-baby temper tantrums from right wingers who can’t stand getting checked by facts and actual Earth 1 adults.
In fact, so-called “House” “Select” “Subcommittee” on the “Weaponization” was the venue for Matt Taibbi and Elon‘s nonsense “Twitter Files” disinformation campaign. Central to that hot nonsense is the false claim that federal government was used as some sort of weapon (not even a dull butter knife, but okay) against the “oft-persecuted” MAGA Republicans™. They since got compliant media to type up tick-tock stories and Elmo of course since destroyed any vestige of Twitter’s original digital-town square.
Which brings me back to this “IRS” “settlement” and slush fund: that is weaponized government. As in, Webster’s Dictionary-level exact definition: Using federal dollars to enrich yourself, your crime family, and to investigate liberals who “wronged” you is exactly the type of overreach they were bitterly complaining about during the Biden years.
If you’re gonna go to all these lengths to convene a right-winger stitch-and-bitch club? At least make it halfway believable.
SOURCES
- New Republic (Hafiz Rashid)
- New Republic (Matt Ford)
- CREW
- June 3 DOJ Response
- The Hill
