President Trump’s latest move represents a new depth of corruption conducted in plain sight. According to reporting from The New York Times, Trump has formally demanded that the Department of Justice pay him roughly $230 million in “damages” for the criminal investigations that lawfully examined his conduct — including the Russia probe and the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
This demand would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous.
The officials now responsible for reviewing and approving any such payment are Trump’s own former defense lawyers, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Attorney General Pam Bondi. In a staggering conflict of interest, Trump has installed his legal team inside the Justice Department — the same department now being asked to compensate him for his past prosecutions.
Even more brazenly, Trump himself admitted:
“I’m the one that makes the decision, and that decision would have to go across my desk… it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.”
That statement is not “strange.” It is self-dealing on a presidential scale — an attempt to extort nearly a quarter-billion dollars from U.S. taxpayers under color of law. The Supreme Court’s radical Trump v. United States ruling may have given him immunity from criminal accountability, but it does not entitle him to profit from his own wrongdoing.
At a time when federal workers are missing paychecks and essential services are being cut, this attempted payout is an insult to every American who pays taxes in good faith. It is a test — a trial balloon to see how far the public will allow open corruption to go.
Congress must:
1. Demand immediate recusals of all DOJ officials with prior attorney-client relationships with Trump.
2. Reinstate and empower the Department’s independent ethics office, which was fired by Attorney General Bondi.
3. Prohibit any administrative settlement or payout to Trump or his companies without congressional oversight and public disclosure.
The American people are the last line of defense against this corruption. Members of Congress — Republican and Democrat alike — must reject Trump’s audacious demand and make clear that no president may pay himself with taxpayer money.
First sent on October 22 by Coleman · 4,004 signers in
the past 7 days
