The U.S. government will permanently drop tax claims against President Donald Trump, according to a settlement document that is part of a deal to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.
As part of the settlement agreement, the U.S. is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump organization’s current tax issues, according to a one-page document posted to the Justice Department’s website on Tuesday.
The settlement, which marks an extraordinary use of executive power, goes beyond resolving litigation and effectively helps shield the president from further examination of his finances and legal conduct.
The White House referred Associated Press inquiries to the Justice Department, and the U.S. Treasury did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment.
The settlement refers only to existing audits, not future examinations, the Justice Department said in response to a request for comment on the expanded settlement.
The move comes after the Trump administration announced Monday the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate allies of the Republican president who believe they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted, an arrangement that Democrats and government watchdogs derided as “corrupt” and unconstitutional.
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The “Anti-Weaponization Fund” of $1.776 billion will allow people who believe they were targeted for prosecution for political purposes, including by the Biden administration Justice Department, to apply for payouts, creating what acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”
Blanche, who was grilled by lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, would not rule out the possibility that people who carried out violence during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol will be considered for payouts from the new fund.
Democratic lawmakers and ethics watchdogs slammed the creation of the fund, saying it was corrupt, opaque and had the potential to become a “slush fund” for the president and his allies. Even Republican lawmakers have expressed signs of discomfort about the fund’s creation, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who told reporters that he’s “not a big fan.”
Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that the fund is dedicated to “reimbursing people who were horribly treated.”
Vice President JD Vance said unequivocally during a press briefing at the White House on Tuesday that neither the president, his administration, nor his family will benefit from the new fund.
“Is a dollar of this money going to the Trump administration? No,” Vance said. “Is a dollar of this money going to Donald Trump personally? No. Is a dollar of this money going to Donald Trump’s family? No.”
Vance said that anyone can apply to be compensated from the fund and defended using taxpayer money for it, adding that claims — including from Jan. 6 defendants — would be reviewed on a “case-by-case basis.”
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Daniel Werfel, a former IRS Commissioner during the Biden administration, said he was unaware of the IRS agreeing in advance “to permanently forgo examination of previously filed tax returns for a specific person or business.”
He said the arrangement granted Trump and his family separate tax rules from other Americans.
“Whether you are the president or Joe the Plumber, people expect the same tax rules and enforcement framework to apply to everybody.”
The fund was announced after Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization agreed to drop their lawsuit against the IRS and the Treasury Department. The lawsuit alleged that a leak of confidential tax records caused them reputational and financial harm and negatively affected their public standing, among other allegations.
According to a separate settlement agreement posted to the Justice Department website Monday, Trump will receive a formal apology from the U.S. government but “will not receive any monetary payment or damages of any kind” from the settlement.
Kathleen Williams, the judge handling the lawsuit, dismissed the case on Monday and, in her filing, admonished the government agencies, notably the Justice Department, for failing to be transparent about the settlement.
She said no agency “submitted any settlement documents nor filed any documents ensuring that settlement was appropriate where there was an outstanding question as to whether an actual case or controversy existed.”
—With additional files from Global News
Lots of stupid people here. It says:
“The settlement refers only to existing audits, not future examinations, the Justice Department said in response to a request for comment on the expanded settlement.”
You guys talk about him committing fraud later on, but you didn’t read the story. morons
And the T D S heads here go nuts! hahahah nice!!
Stupid IRS allowed a leak of his tax return info, and now they’re simply paying the price.
Move along move along, nothing to see here.
Absolutely wild.
Never paid taxes and never will now.
So he can commit tax fraud for life, and nothing will happen to him moving forward. Good to know.
God it is hard to beleive how corrupt and stupid the U S administration is. What about the millions that have been hurt by Trump’s policies.
Because the folks to forever bar it are just plain stupid and suck an orange you know what. They will overturn this with the next president most assuredly.
Hard to decide which is the more disgustingly corrupt – the “settlement” and tax holiday for anyone named Trump, or the $1.8B slush fund for friends and supporters who can claim they were dissed by the previous administration. I’m Canadian raised in the UK, and accustomed to a less blatantly criminal political system. I’m sorry for my American friends having to live with this regime. Stand by for 250th anniversary deluge of claims of Freedom (but only for the rich and MAGA.)
While I’m no fan of Trump, the far-left comments here are hilarious! I wonder how they’d feel if the CRA leaked their personal financial info?
what a joke the US has become
Crime families run governments in the US of Israpel and in Canada… it’s citizens who are suffering from extreme governmental corruption.
Doug Fraud is a prime example.
Billionaires are destroying us.
When exactly did being president of the USA mean that the position exempted the holder from the laws that every other citizen is subject you?
Sounds like Trump’s case had some serious merit. Not like the mainstream media could ever admit it.
I have no seen or heard of a population so coward. Unbelievable!
China will be the next power and very soon.
And yes, I introduced the trumps.
@ William : huh??? What does the debt have to do with corrupt donnie getting off again.
And the crook triumphs again when will this end !
Americans have lost all sense of what is right! DJT will eventually destroy the USA!
$750 is a faint fart in a tornado when it comes to the National Debt
So let him keep his pocket change
reply to try this….. you really think there will be “the next president”
And us citizens still bow to this corrupt president
Like all the other edicts that Trump has announced, this will be overturned with the next president. And used against him.
I wonder what the final bill to the US citizens will be from this lunatic.