Donald Trump speaks at the “Save America March” rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
In yet another staggeringly corrupt and unprecedented move, President Donald Trump’s Justice Department on Monday announced a $1.776 billion slush fund, drawn from public coffers, to funnel payouts to Trump loyalists.
The fund is part of a deal decided by the Trump administration to drop its weak $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over a leak of the president’s tax returns. The entire lawsuit had itself become an egregious example of self-dealing: Trump’s Justice Department suing Trump’s IRS on behalf of Trump.
Over 90 House Democrats recently signed an amicus brief to the presiding judge asking that she dismiss the suit. A settlement, the Democrats wrote, would create a “specter of corruption unparalleled in American history.”
With his popularity at historic lows, Trump can only turn to these kinds of payouts for his allies and dwindling base.
