President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have agreed to settle the president’s $10 billion suit against the agency, which stemmed from the unauthorized disclosure of Trump’s tax returns. The deal was already facing backlash from Democrats in Congress when Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche released an addendum that stated the US is now prohibited from “prosecuting or pursuing” outstanding tax claims against Trump, his family, or his businesses.
Trump’s Deal With the IRS
President Trump, along with his co-plaintiffs, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, LLC, agreed to drop their lawsuit in exchange for the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which the DOJ said establishes a “systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”
One day after the settlement was announced, Acting AG Blanche released an additional document stating that the US is “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting or pursuing, any and all claims,” whether “presently known or unknown,” related to “(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.” The eternal ban applies to the president’s family, “trusts, parent, sister, or related companies, affiliates, and subsidiaries.”
A DOJ spokesperson said the settlement’s details are standard, noting there would be “little point in settling several significant claims if either party could simply turn around and seek to [initiate] more adverse claims that could have been pursued previously.”
While the Justice Department told Financial Times that the ban was established “only with respect to any existing audits,” critics argue the deal is illegal because it effectively grants audit immunity to the Trump family “FOREVER.”
“Democrats are going to fight every element of this self-dealing settlement, but regardless of the outcome of those efforts, future administrations and IRS leadership should consider this illegal directive completely invalid,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. Under 26 U.S. Code § 7217, the executive branch is prohibited from exerting influence “over taxpayer audits and other investigations.”
Litigious Lefties
Trump’s legal standoff with the IRS may be finished (for now), but the deal has sparked another battle with Congressional Democrats, who filed an amicus brief to block the “anti-weaponization fund” from taking shape. A group of 93 Democrats joined the effort.
Two members of law enforcement who were working on Jan. 6, 2021, at the US Capitol, also sued Trump in the wake of the president’s IRS settlement, arguing the fund it establishes threatens their “lives and safety.”
But according to Blanche, the fund is simply the DOJ’s attempt to address past injustices that were committed against Americans: “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.”
The fund will be used to “issue formal apologies and monetary relief” to claimants. A “lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress” seems like something that should be supported by both Republicans and Democrats, but Trump’s critics simply can’t help themselves when it comes to opposing everything even mildly related to the president. God help us if Trump cures cancer.
