Trump Wants $1.7 Billion Of Taxpayer Money To Pay Jan. 6th Criminals And Other Trump Allies

 It looks like a judge might toss out Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. To avoid that, Trump is now negotiating with the DOJ (which he controls) to reach a settlement. His terms are ridiculous. He's demanding an apology from the IRS, and promises to drop all audits of himself, his family, and his businesses. He also wants a $1.7 billion slush fund (of taxpayer money) to pay off the January 6th criminals and other Trump allies.

From ABC News:

Donald Trump is expected to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate allies who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.  

The commission overseeing the compensation fund would have the total authority to hand out approximately $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds to settle claims brought by anyone who alleges they were harmed by the Biden administration's "weaponization" of the legal system, including the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as well as potentially entities associated with President Trump himself. . . .

In addition to a public apology from the IRS, the compensation fund is believed to be the main condition for Trump to drop a series of legal actions he filed against the federal government, including the $10 billion lawsuit related to the 2019 leak of his tax returns as well as $230 million in legal claims related to the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office, sources familiar with the ongoing deliberations said. 

The settlement terms are expected to prohibit Trump from directly receiving payments related to those three legal claims; however, entities associated with Trump are not explicitly barred from filing additional claims, sources said. . . .

he proposed fund -- which could face significant legal hurdles -- would draw money from the Treasury Department's Judgment Fund, a permanent appropriation used by the federal government to pay court judgments and settlements, sources said. 

The arrangement would be an unprecedented use of taxpayer dollars with little oversight. Under the terms of the potential settlement agreement, President Trump would have the authority to remove members of the commission running the fund without cause, and the commission would be under no obligation to disclose its procedures or decision-making process for awarding more than a billion dollars, the sources said. 

The proposed creation of the compensation fund has led some administration officials to raise ethical concerns about the arrangement -- stemming not only from Trump suing his own government but also having control of an entity that can freely hand out $1.7 billion to his allies. . . .

Trump's proposed commission is expected to be composed of five members who would issue monetary awards based on a majority vote, and the process for awarding money and the identities of the recipient could be kept private, according to sources.