President Donald Trump is demanding the Department of Justice pay him $230 million for expenses incurred while defending himself against federal criminal investigations and charges, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The president has filed two administrative complaints against the DOJ, one for the investigation over 2016 Russian interference claims and the other for the investigation into mishandled classified information, per the Times.
Trump seemed to acknowledge making the demand to the DOJ during an Oct. 15 event in the Oval Office.
“I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president. I said, I’m sort of suing myself. I don’t know, how do you settle the lawsuit?? I’ll say give me X dollars, and I don’t know what to do with the lawsuit,” Trump told reporters. “It sort of looks bad, I’m suing myself, right? So I don’t know. But that was a lawsuit that was very strong, very powerful.”
Considering that the decision to give Trump nearly a quarter of a billion dollars will fall in the hands of his own appointees and allies, it’s no wonder the Times called the demand “the starkest example yet of potential ethical conflicts” in the White House.
