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The Most Corrupt Presidential Act in U.S. HistoryCitizens in revolutionary France guillotined their nobility for less than what Trump did this week.
Good morning, AlterNet America family. Welcome to the Saturday Wrapup, where I get you the week’s news as I consume my morning caffeine with you. To our paying subscribers: thank you. Your support has allowed us to remain at #2 in Rising News on Substack for our first two months. It’s also allowed us to hold our first Substack Lives with independent journalists Erin Reed and Hamilton Nolan. You make this possible. That means everything. If you’re not yet a paying member, I’m asking you to join us today. Independent media has never mattered more. Support our people-powered movement and upgrade your subscription today. Trump does something impeachable every day, but this week was different. Citizens in revolutionary France guillotined their nobility for less. Let’s talk about it. The Most Impeachable Thing a President Has Ever DoneEvery previous entry on the list of great American presidential scandals involved someone trying to hide what they were doing. Trump did this in a DOJ press release. In January, Trump sued the IRS (which he controls) for $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns during his first term. The Justice Department (which he controls) was theoretically supposed to defend the government against this lawsuit. Instead, the DOJ lawyers tasked with defending the IRS never made an appearance or filing. Trump withdrew the suit before the judge could rule on its merits. He sued himself, settled with himself, and won. What did he win? Two things: a permanent tax shield, and nearly two billion dollars in F-you money. The settlement declares the U.S. is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization for tax matters. Then there’s the creation of a $1,776,000,000 “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a number chosen to invoke the year of the American Revolution. But here’s what the headlines keep burying: the $1.776 billion figure is not based on anything real. The settlement itself states that the fund’s value does not represent the value of Trump’s claims, but is instead based on the “projected valuation of future claimants’ claims.” In other words, they made up a number. There is no cap. The five-member commission deciding who gets paid is handpicked entirely by Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was previously Trump’s personal criminal defense lawyer, which itself should be a scandal. Almost anyone alleging “weaponization” can apply, and Blanche has refused to say that people convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers on January 6 would be excluded. The money comes from the Treasury Department’s Judgment Fund, a permanent appropriation designed for paying government settlements. Congress has not approved a penny of it. The Constitution says explicitly that no money shall be drawn from the Treasury except through congressional appropriation. In a functioning democracy, this alone would be a felony. Now compare this to what came before. Teapot Dome, the great scandal of the 1920s, involved a Cabinet secretary secretly leasing federal oil reserves to private companies in exchange for bribes. It was corrupt, but it was one official acting outside his authority, who was eventually prosecuted and imprisoned. Nixon used the IRS to harass political enemies. Reagan’s administration sold weapons to Iran and funneled the money to Nicaraguan rebels in defiance of Congress. These were serious abuses of power. But none of them involved the president engineering his own permanent legal immunity while creating a billion-dollar reward fund for his political allies. Trump has already been impeached twice. Once for pressuring Ukraine, and once for January 6. Neither resulted in conviction. His actions this week make both of those look like parking tickets. The founders were worried about a lot of things: a standing army, a state religion, taxation without representation. They did not anticipate a president who would sue his own Treasury Department, win, and use the proceeds to bankroll his friends. Not because they lacked imagination, but because they assumed the people watching would do something about it. Luckily for us, the next president won’t have to — because Trump’s slush fund expires right before he leaves office. Not: "Slush fund" - Redhouse sözlüğü : ABD Rüşvet vermek için toplanan para. |
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