Has there
ever been an episode of presidential corruption so blatant and threatening to
constitutional order? Certainly not in modern times, suggests The New York Times Editorial Board. President Trump’s Justice
Department is using taxpayer money to create a $1.8 billion political slush
fund. Ostensibly set up to compensate those who the department claims have
“suffered weaponization and lawfare,” it will in fact reward loyalists willing
to defy the law and commit violence on behalf of the president.
The fund
manages to combine three of Mr. Trump’s most alarming behaviors. One, it is an
obvious form of corruption, coming from a president who has used his
office to
enrich himself, his family and his allies. Two, the fund continues his
pattern of using the Justice Department as
an enforcer to punish his perceived opponents and protect his friends
and allies. Three, the fund is his latest attempt to
rewrite history about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack
on Congress.
It is
worth pausing to put the fund into the larger context of Mr. Trump’s political
project: He is destroying pillars of American democracy to empower himself. He
claims elections are legitimate only if he wins. He uses federal law
enforcement to investigate and prosecute his perceived enemies. He purges his
party of officials who defy him. He describes members of the other party and
civil society as traitors and enemies. He incentivizes his supporters to break
the law on his behalf and rewards them when they do. He directs his allies
to change
election rules to keep his party in power.
Mr.
Trump’s project has not yet succeeded, at
least not fully. Many Americans — in the judicial system, in Congress,
in state governments and elsewhere — continue to stand up for democracy and
oppose his autocratic ambitions. By now, though, nobody should have illusions
about
The fund’s
existence is a story of political self-dealing. It is nominally the
product of a flimsy personal lawsuit that Mr. Trump filed this year against the
Internal Revenue Service, which he oversees, over the leaking of his tax
returns during his first term. That lawsuit led to an absurd negotiation, in
which the lawyers on one side worked for Mr. Trump the citizen and those on the
other side worked for Mr. Trump the president.
Adding to
absurdity, the government lawyers reported to Todd Blanche, the acting attorney
general, who previously worked as Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer. A federal judge
in Miami helping to oversee the case, Kathleen Williams, pointed
out that the two sides were not adversaries, which called into
question the process. Even Mr. Trump acknowledged the situation shortly after
filing the suit by saying, “I am supposed to work out a settlement with
myself.”
Yet the
talks proceeded because Mr. Trump’s Justice Department was in charge.
Unsurprisingly, they led to a deal that was extremely favorable to him.
In
exchange for the president’s dropping the suit against the I.R.S., both he and
his supporters will receive government handouts. For Mr. Trump, the handout
comes in the form of permission to have cheated on his taxes. The
government has
granted him and his family immunity from ongoing audits of his tax
payments. He has a long history of using
questionable accounting maneuvers, and the audits could have cost him more
than $100 million, experts have said. Now they will cost him nothing.
For his
supporters, the handouts will come from the slush fund. The Justice Department
will tap a permanent stream of revenue that Congress created in 1956, known as
the Judgment Fund, to settle lawsuits against the federal government. As Paul
Figley, a former Justice Department official, noted, the new fund appears to be
both legal and at odds with Congress’s intent. “It’s horrible policy,” Mr.
Figley told The Times.
The
department has
allocated $1.8 billion for what it calls, in an Orwellian flourish, an
Anti-Weaponization Fund and invited applications from people who have been
targeted for “political, personal or ideological reasons.” Mr. Blanche — who
holds his position as acting attorney general largely because of his
willingness to use federal power in service of Mr. Trump’s personal whims —
will appoint a five-member board, with congressional leaders given input on one
of the five. Mr. Trump can fire any of the members at any time.
To
understand who is likely to receive payments, look at who has previously
received settlements from the Justice Department. Michael Flynn, who was
briefly Mr. Trump’s national security adviser in 2017, received
$1.25 million, even though he pleaded guilty to lying to F.B.I.
agents. The family of Ashli Babbitt, who participated in the Jan. 6 riot, and
whom federal agents shot as she and others approached the House floor, received
nearly $5 million, even though investigators cleared the shooters of
wrongdoing. The Trump administration is paying off people who committed
violence and crimes, as long as they are Trump allies.
The fund’s
timeline is the giveaway of how Mr. Trump plans to use it. The Justice
Department said the fund would stop processing claims on Dec. 15, 2028, weeks
before the president is to leave office, ensuring the money is distributed
while he still holds the power to fire anyone who objects. The window is
precisely the window of Mr. Trump’s authority.
Even some
of Mr. Trump’s usual defenders are unhappy. Senator John Thune, Republican of
South Dakota and the majority leader, meekly said that he was “not a big fan”
of the fund. Brian Morrissey, the Treasury Department’s general counsel, resigned
within hours of the announcement, seven months after the Senate had
confirmed him.
Providing
payoffs is only part of the point. Another, according to Mr. Blanche, is
“ensuring this never happens again.” What, exactly, is “this”? The evenhanded
enforcement of the law.
The Trump
administration has already fired federal agents who did their duties by
investigating the president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Mr.
Trump has
issued blanket clemency to more than 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters, some of
whom may soon
receive payments. His Justice Department secured an indictment of
James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, on dubious charges as retribution for
his role in the investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign’s Russia ties. The
fund continues the effort to turn law enforcement into a tool of raw political
power.
The fund
also encourages future lawlessness on Mr. Trump’s behalf. It sends the message
that he will use his power not only to shield people who break the law from
accountability but also to shower benefits on them. Just as punishment is a
deterrent, rewards are an incentive.
After
President Richard Nixon’s abuses in the Watergate scandal, Congress and the
executive branch built rules and traditions to ensure that federal agencies,
especially the Justice Department, operated in the public interest, rather than
that of the president. Mr. Trump has tried
to break this system. Once he is gone, it will need to be rebuilt, and
better than before. He has exposed and exploited its flaws and gaps. Unless
they are filled, Mr. Trump’s corruption and perversion of justice risk becoming
the norm.
In the
meantime, Americans should be cleareyed about what the president is doing. He
is taking their money and showering it on criminals.
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