JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
President Trump's settlement with the government he heads has gotten even more sweeping. New disclosures by the Justice Department suggest Trump and his companies will now receive a free pass for any past tax problems and perhaps immunity for even more legal trouble. Critics say that is an abuse of the system. NPR's Carrie Johnson joins us now. Hi, Carrie.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: Carrie, what is the latest on President Trump's settlement?
JOHNSON: Well, there had already been a huge outcry over the creation of a nearly $2 billion pot of taxpayer money that could compensate January 6 defendants and other MAGA allies who say Democrats weaponized the justice system. But then, the Justice Department quietly posted a new document online yesterday afternoon. It's three short paragraphs that go even further. This new document purports to bar the U.S. government from taking action over past tax returns filed by Trump and his companies. Brandon DeBot works at the Tax Law Center at NYU Law School.
BRANDON DEBOT: This is a breathtaking abuse of the tax and legal system. DOJ does not have authority to offer this extraordinary concession to the president, his family and his entities.
JOHNSON: DeBot says the IRS would have to act to lift the audits against Trump and his family, that the Justice Department cannot do that on its own. And he says laws in place after Richard Nixon tried to abuse the IRS mean people inside that agency are supposed to be protected from political interference from the White House. One lawyer already resigned from the Treasury Department around the same time this settlement with Trump came together, but he has not commented publicly about why he left.
SUMMERS: And, Carrie, how are Congress as well as watchdog groups responding to this?
JOHNSON: Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Richard Neal of Massachusetts are demanding answers from the administration. They worry the new language seems to cover something much broader than taxes. They say, essentially, the federal government threw in a super pardon for the president, his sons, freeing them not only for taxes, but other pending federal criminal or civil probes, things maybe even like insider trading, antitrust violations or false statements. A former U.S. attorney, Joyce Vance, wrote in a blog post that the government is, quote, "giving the store away and getting nothing in return." And to protest the deal, a group of former government lawyers projected an image onto the DOJ headquarters building last night, a quote that reads - a government of laws, not of men. Those words appeared in a bright white light on top of a banner showing President Trump's face.
SUMMERS: And, Carrie, what's the Trump administration had to say?
JOHNSON: Vice President JD Vance told reporters yesterday this is all about compensating Americans for what he called injustices in the Biden era.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JD VANCE: Is a dollar of this money going to the Trump administration? No. 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. The people that would get the money are people - some of whom have been prosecuted completely disproportionate to any crime they've ever committed.
JOHNSON: But tax experts I interviewed say nobody else would have got this deal and that Trump and his family could, in fact, receive financial benefits from the dropping of tax audits. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is the one who signed off on that part of the deal. He's a former personal attorney for Trump, but he balked at that description before Congress this week.
SUMMERS: Carrie, as I understand it, the settlement wasn't filed with the federal court, so I wonder, is there any way to block it?
JOHNSON: This could be a difficult go in the courts, but some people are trying. Two police officers who worked at the Capitol on January 6 filed a lawsuit in federal court today to try to block that nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund. They say the administration lacks authority to do this without Congress and that it infringes on Congress' power of the purse. Howard Law professor Sherrilyn Ifill flagged another possible legal problem. She says the alleged slush fund violates the 14th Amendment ban on payments to support an insurrection.
The simplest way, of course, to disrupt this settlement would be for a majority in Congress to do something about it. But it's not clear when that might happen. Democrats today tried to issue subpoenas, but Republicans blocked them. Some lawmakers, including Republicans like Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, told reporters on Capitol Hill they are working on legislation.
SUMMERS: NPR's Carrie Johnson, thanks as always.
JOHNSON: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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