Monday, May 18, 2026

Well, I Was Wondering

This does  look like an end run on the trial court, because DOJ is presenting this as separate from Trump’s IRS claims, although the source of the funds (my big question) is the judgment fund. 

I’m not familiar with the statute or the case law around it, but my understanding is that the fund is for the payment of judgments won against the federal government, which would mean pursuant to a lawsuit taken to final judgment. The fund was established in 1952 (IIRC) to obviate Congress having to approve payment every time a situation like that arose. It would discourage settlements if it was limited to that, so the fund (I’m going off the Treasury’s explanation on their website) also allows payments for settlements of lawsuits or even threatened litigation (many settled disputes never cross the courthouse door. The courts actually prefer it that way.).

There is also a provision for administrative claims.  But which one of those two (litigation, real or threatened; administrative settlements) is this?

I don’t honestly know, and can’t presume. But $1.776 billion is certainly something Congress should take an interest in. They could stop it; they could, eventually, claw it back.

Stopping it is better.

I say it’s an end run, but I speak too soon:
The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that as a part of the settlement agreement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service, the Attorney General established “The Anti-Weaponization Fund”to provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.

The plaintiffs in the case, President Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, LLC, filed suit against the Treasury and IRS in Southern District of Florida federal court following the leak of their tax returns. Per the settlement, plaintiffs will receive a formal apology but no monetary payment or damages of any kind. They have agreed, in exchange for the creation of this fund, to drop their pending lawsuit with prejudice, and also withdraw two administrative claims including for damages resulting from the unlawful raid of Mar-a-Lago and the Russia-collusion hoax.
... blah, blah, blah. I read the excerpt from the press release (in the tweet above) and assumed this announced fund was wholly separate from the lawsuit. But apparently they think $1.776 billion is more palatable than $10 billion, and since the plaintiffs won’t be getting it, a group wholly unrelated to the litigation, can, and hey! presto, no more legal problems! Yeah, that’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works. 

And the DOJ used to be the premier lawyers in the country who would understand that without any one having to tell them.

For one thing, the arguments against the settlement that I’m aware of, still stand, including whether the suit is even timely (statute of limitations), and whether the award is legally justified. I don’t mean the briefs of the amici are dispositive; I just mean those questions still stand. And since the trial court took on the issue of the $10 billion settlement of, it still has jurisdiction over this settlement. A different settlement doesn’t start a different lawsuit, or settle a claim that never reached litigation. If anything, this is even more preposterous than the first attempt at getting money from the government. This announcement isn’t analogous to announcing the “end” of Operation Epic Fury and restarting the War Powers Act clock. Congress will do what it’s going to do about that, but the court doesn’t lose its authority to rule on the legitimacy of this second proposed settlement of the same suit. This is 3 Stooges quality shit.💩 

I understand the outrage this announcement is generating, but my reaction is: is this a joke? 

I assume DOJ is doing this because it is only through legitimate litigation that it can it access the judgment fund. Except the court is still considering the question of whether or not this is legitimate litigation. This announcement doesn’t advance an advantageous argument for the plaintiffs by one jot. If anything, it reaffirms the court’s already announced belief that there aren’t two sides represented in court in this suit. Because aside from the POTUS, it’s hard to see what interest the rest of the plaintiffs have in this proposed fund. It’s clearly meant to be a political benefit for Trump; but beyond that?

This just makes their position weaker come Wednesday. Clowns 🤡 to the left of it, jokers 🃏 to the right.
Irony is in the corner, getting blind drunk.
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