Trump's Slush Fund Addendum

Yesterday I wrote about a slush fund that cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump established with the apparent intention of secretly monetarily rewarding his supporters. As I noted, the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" was created as part of a so-called "settlement" of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service for the leak of Trump's tax records during his first term as President. This "settlement" is highly irregular in that it misuses funds allocated to provide for legal settlements. None of those who will receive the funds were parties to the lawsuit. Moreover, the settlement agreement was never provided to the court hearing Trump's lawsuit, and the court explicitly stated that there is no legal record of a settlement in the case. Moreover, the judge was not even convinced that there was a case that might justify a settlement. Nevertheless, Trump is moving ahead with the $1.776 billion fund that will be controlled by lackeys whom he controls and will disperse the money without revealing the recipients or the size of the payment they will receive. As bad as this is, things got even worse after I completed yesterday's post, and an addendum to the "settlement agreement" was released.

Before getting to the addendum, I want to mention a point that I accidentally left out of yesterday's post. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has said that the commission consisting of five appointees that he chooses (and who can be fired by Trump at will) will independently decide which claimants will receive payments. However, he confirmed during Senate testimony yesterday that those charged with January 6 crimes, including those convicted of violence against law enforcement officers, will be able to submit claims. Trump separately confirmed that such individuals will be able to apply. Therefore, it is expected that the fund will attract many claims from those who participated in the January 6 insurrection. In fact, one such individual, Jenny Cudd — who pled guilty to a trespass charge — said that "all J6ers will apply for restitution" and that "It's all over Twitter [and] our group chats."

However, there is a clear constitutional issue with payments to those convicted of crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. The 14th Amendment in Section 4 says:

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

To be clear, any "obligation incurred in aid of insurrection...shall be held illegal and void". The January 6 participants, and Trump for that matter, are arguing that the U.S. government has an obligation to them for weaponizing the government against them. That's not true, but even if it were, their crimes were committed during an insurrection and, therefore, such an obligation is "illegal and void." There has already been one lawsuit filed to stop Trump's slush fund from being used. This one by former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges.

In addition to the constitutional issue, there are concerns that Trump may be rewarding those who attempted to support his overthrow of the 2020 election and buying their loyalty for a future attempt. Moreover, there are also fears that financial payouts will allow Trump's fanatical supporters to purchase weapons and equipment for a future attempt to help Trump remain in power. Trump may be in the process of recruiting and equipping his own private militia, and funding it with taxpayer dollars.

Getting to the addendum, this came in the form of a three-paragraph letter signed by Blanche. Oddly, the text of the document and the letterhead are not parallel. Someone else must have drafted the text and sent an image of it to Blanche, who pasted it onto a copy of his letterhead. Moreover, the date of the document appears to have been filled in after it was drafted. The important part of the letter is the third paragraph, which reads:

The United States RELEASES, WAIVES, ACQUITS, and FOREVER DISCHARGES each of the Plaintiffs from, and is hereby FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting or pursuing, any and all claims, counterclaims, causes of action, appeals, or requests for any relief, including injunctive relief, monetary relief, damages, examinations or similar or related reviews, appeals, debt relief, costs, attorney's fees, expenses, and/or interest, whether presently known or unknown, that—as of the Effective Date of the Settlement Agreement—have been or could have been asserted by Defendants against any of the Plaintiffs or related or affiliated individuals (including, without limitation, family or others filing jointly), or parties including trusts, parent, sister, or related companies, affiliates, and subsidiaries, by reason of, with respect to, in connection with, or which arise out of (1) any matters that were raised or could have been raised in the Case or the Pending Agency Claims; (2) Lawfare and/or Weaponization; or (3) any matters currently pending or that could be pending (including tax returns filed before the Effective Date) before Defendants or other agencies or departments.

One clear ramification of this is an ongoing audit that Trump has been undergoing due to questionable accounting methods through which he received tax breaks almost two decades ago. Trump has repeatedly used this audit as an excuse not to release his tax returns. Potentially, the outcome of the audit could cost Trump more than $100 million. The addendum would put an end to the audit and prevent the government from seeking relief.

Jacob T. Levy, a professor of Political Theory and Constitutional Studies at McGill University, wrote on Bluesky that "This is not limited to tax crimes. Given what this crowd means by "Lawfare," it extends to... every part of Trump's record that has ever been investigated." He went on to describe the addendum as being "in the neighborhood of, a blanket self-pardon, & a blanket pardon for his family, for all past federal crimes."

According to Public Citizen, the addendum violates the law and could put IRS officers at risk. Public Citizen co-presidents Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert issued a written statement saying:

26 U.S.C. §7217 bars presidential requests to terminate audits made either ‘directly or indirectly’ and requires IRS officers and officials who receive such requests to report them to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Failure to do so may subject those officers to criminal prosecution.

In addition, as I noted above, the document was signed by only one party to the dispute. That just happened to be Trump's former criminal defense lawyer. The addendum was notably not signed by Frank Bisignano, the chief executive officer of the IRS, who signed the settlement agreement. It is possible that the addendum is what led to the resignation of the IRS's general counsel, Brian Morrissey. He resigned a few hours after the settlement agreement was released before the addendum was made public. It is certainly possible that he initially blocked the addendum and then resigned when he realized that it couldn't be stopped. That could explain the delay in the addendum's release.

Trump is arguably the most corrupt president in U.S. history. He once provoked an insurrection aimed at overturning an election, he has repeatedly violated the Constitution's emoluments clause, and he routinely uses his office to enrich himself. The so-called "settlement agreement" that he agreed upon with himself establishes a taxpayer-funded pool of money that will likely be used to reward his supporters and ensure their loyalty going forward. The addendum is a "Get out of Jail Free" card for his past crimes. Thanks to Trump, the U.S. is rapidly becoming a banana republic without the bananas.