One of the first of Donald Trump’s many presidential scandals was in 2016, when he refused to release his tax returns as previous presidents and presidential candidates had done for 40 years.On Tuesday, Trump’s Department of Justice essentially ensured his taxes would never be properly audited again.As part of a settlement between the president and the IRS, the DOJ “forever barred and precluded” the IRS from pursuing Trump, his family members, and his companies over any unpaid taxes.This key addition to the settlement was signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. It was not released as part of the publicly available settlement agreement on Monday. Instead, the details were unceremoniously posted to the DOJ’s website a day later. Readers may recall that Blanche took over after Trump reportedly grew frustrated with Pam Bondi’s ability to secure indictments against his political enemies.Trump has been investigated by the IRS since he was just a humble casino owner. He even falsely claimed that a tax audit meant he could not release his tax returns during his first term (the IRS commissioner clarified that he totally could if he wanted).Protection from future audits could save the president tons of money in fines. In 2024, The New York Times found one such audit could cost Trump over $100 million.The settlement is a result of Trump dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS after an employee leaked his tax returns to the Times and ProPublica between 2018 and 2020. Since the suit was dropped, the IRS has also agreed to create a slush fund worth nearly $1.8 billion to pay January 6 rioters and members of Trump’s own super PAC who are deemed to have been unfairly persecuted by the Biden administration. Critics had already labeled the fund one of the most blatantly fraudulent creations of Trump’s second term. Now Trump and his allies appear to have swindled the federal government for yet more financial and legal gain.This story has been updated.