President Trump has turned his office into a giant ATM, providing him and his family with billions of dollars. Now New York Times report He is “demanding” taxpayers pay him approximately $230 million to settle his claims that the Justice Department improperly investigated him.
Forbes magazine report Trump’s immediate family “is now estimated to be worth $10 billion, nearly doubling its net worth since last year’s election. Trump’s own wealth grew by $3 billion in a year,” a staggering 70 percent increase.
It is clear that if Trump had not been President, Trump and his family would not have received this huge financial benefit. Before his first term, he declared business bankrupt Six times when he could not pay the loan of 3.4 billion dollars. This is hardly the mark of a successful tycoon.
Now that Trump is the most powerful man in the world – able to reward those he favors and weaponize the government to punish those who oppose him – his supporters and favor-seekers are rushing to invest in his businesses and donate to their favorite projects. which includes the building $300 million ballroom In the White House.
Trump first sought reimbursement from the Justice Department for about $230 million during the Biden administration — to be paid for by American taxpayers. Trump absurdly claimed that he was entitled to the huge payout because his rights were violated by the Justice Department on two occasions. The first case was when the department investigated Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign for possible ties to election interference to help him win the presidency. The second came when the FBI conducted a court-approved search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida in 2022 and found several boxes of classified documents that he had refused to return to the National Archives after his first presidential term ended.
There is no evidence that the Justice Department or the FBI did anything improper in any case. Their job is to investigate possible crimes. Trump was criminally charged in the classified documents case, but the charges were dropped because he was elected president for a second time — not because the case against him was weak. This was indeed a strong case.
The Biden administration did not act on Trump’s claims seeking $230 million, which were filed using the government Standard Form 95. The form states that it is used to seek compensation for “property damage, personal injury, or death allegedly caused by a federal employee’s negligent or wrongful act or omission occurring within the scope of the employee’s federal employment.”
Trump has not followed up on the claims since returning to the White House, but he may do so at any time. If he does so, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney and Trump loyalist, there will be power Accepting Trump’s request for $230 million.
I believe that Blanche will do whatever Trump tells her. But this would be a blatant and unethical conflict of interest. Blanche should recuse herself from dealing with Trump’s claims. I would be shocked to see Blanche do this.
When asked about his effort to get taxpayers to pay back the $230 million, Trump said: “I suffered a lot and whatever money I get, I will donate to charity.”
But Trump has made false claims about his charitable donations in the past. This makes me doubt that he will donate any money he receives from the Justice Department.
In 2016, Washington Post reported That Trump took credit for charitable contributions he did not make and claimed to have made contributions he could not verify. The Post said the foundation Trump created in his name used the money to benefit Trump, including to settle legal disputes.
In 2019, a court ordered Trump must pay more than $2 million to eight charities found to have illegally misused Trump Foundation funds for political purposes and ordered the foundation closed.
In 2020, New York Times reported Trump’s tax records show that he claimed nearly $120 million in tax deductions for charitable contributions, which included agreements not to develop land he owned, instead giving the money to charity.
Many federal employees are going without pay due to the government shutdown. Trump may not immediately press his claim for the $230 million as long as he is struggling financially. This would seem very greedy. But there is nothing stopping him from making the financial payments before leaving office. I would be surprised if he didn’t.
If Trump takes the $230 million, lawsuits challenging his embezzlement of the money are inevitable. The challenges will have a strong chance of success, and I hope they will prevail.
Sadly, Trump ignores the long tradition of elected officials prioritizing serving the public over enriching themselves. I’d rather he were President John F. Note Kennedy’s 1961 call for patriotism inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
A Scott Bolden is an attorney, NewsNation contributor, former chairman of the Washington, DC Democratic Party, and former New York State prosecutor.
