President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he “may release” his current tax returns to the public after the IRS reached a settlement over a leak of his past tax records. The leaked returns from Trump’s first term “showed I pay a lot of tax,” he told the Washington Examiner. “I may even release my current […]
He broke the one real rule of the MAGA Republican Party.
President Donald Trump plays down the need to further ratchet up pressure on the Cuban government after the US charged the country’s former president, Raúl Castro, with murder. (Source: Bloomberg)
President Trump sued his own administration, settled and will now spend $1.776 billion of taxpayer money to pay people who say the government targeted them politically.Why it matters: The "Anti-Weaponization Fund" turns a personal Trump settlement into a new government program, shields decisions on who gets the money from the courts and limits information about what the public knows about where the funds go.The backstory: Trump sued the IRS and Treasury in January for $10 billion over the 2019 leak of his tax returns. The settlement gives Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization a formal apology but no money, and it bars the IRS from auditing Trump's past tax returns.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former criminal defense lawyer, created the Anti-Weaponization Fund with the Treasury Department's Judgment Fund.How it works: The attorney general will handpick the five-member commission that decides who will collect money from the fund, which ends in December 2028.Those decisions can't be appealed or challenged in court. The settlement does not require public disclosure of payouts.The settlement lets the fund spend part of the $1.776 billion on itself, including staff, travel and facilities. The Justice Department and the White House did not answer Axios' question about whether there is any cap on those costs.Who's eligible: Almost anyone alleging "weaponization" or "lawfare" can apply, Blanche told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday.Blanche refused to commit that people convicted of assaulting Capitol Police would be excluded: "I'm not one of the commissioners setting up the rules."Vice President Vance separately said that even Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk convicted of a state crime, and Hunter Biden, the son of former President Biden, could be compensated.Context: Trump's new fund is possible thanks to a Judgment Fund created by Congress in 1956, so the government could quickly pay off court losses and settlements without voting each time.Initially, payouts were limited to $100,000. That cap was lifted in 1978.Critics have previously warned that it lets administrations spend huge sums with little oversight. The Obama administration's $1.7 billion Judgment Fund payment to Iran became a major flashpoint in 2016.Zoom in: Paul Figley, who spent 32 years at the Justice Department and is an expert on the Judgment Fund, tells Axios this use is "certainly not what Congress anticipated when it set the system up.""It's bad policy, but it's Congress's fault" for leaving a "huge loophole," Figley said. He expects future administrations of either party to do the same "until Congress stops it."Nobody typically has standing to challenge Judgment Fund payouts in court, he said.Yes, but: Legal challenges over Trump's fund have already begun.Two officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sued Wednesday to dissolve the fund, calling it "the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century."Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges argue the fund will bankroll Proud Boys and Jan. 6 rioters who have threatened their lives.The suit invokes the 14th Amendment's bar on the U.S. paying "any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection."The other side: Blanche and the Justice Department repeatedly pointed to a $760 million Obama-era Keepseagle settlement for Native American farmers alleging Agriculture Department discrimination as precedent for the fund's existence.But that settlement was approved by a federal judge after years of litigation.Trump's case settled days before the Justice Department was due to respond to a court order asking if the president's lawsuit against agencies he oversees was a real dispute.
Retired Capitol police officer and DC officer allege Trump’s $1.8bn fund unlawfully rewards January 6 rioters and alliesUS politics live – latest updatesTwo police officers who clashed with rioters at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection in 2021 have sued Donald Trump over plans to create a $1.776bn “anti-weaponization” fund.The fund, which critics have argued is essentially a slush fund, is set to compensate allies of the US president who he claims were victims of prosecutorial overreach. Continue reading...
The president continues to rack up wins in his revenge tour.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is projected to lose his Kentucky House primary race to President Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein, according to Decision Desk HQ, a major victory for the president in his bid to oust Republican lawmakers who openly defy him. Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL and farmer, was projected to win the GOP primary…
Monday, May 18th on RealClearPolitics - Joined by RealClearInvestigations' J. Peder Zane
Authorities say they recovered a manifesto expressing hatred toward a range of groups.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday vented their frustration and disappointment over President Trump’s decision to endorse state Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R) in the Texas Senate Republican primary, a move that deals a crushing blow to Cornyn’s hopes of winning the May 26 runoff. “I don’t understand. He is an ethically challenged [...]
Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro was indicted by a U.S. grand jury — an escalation in the U.S. pressure campaign against the Cuban government.
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The Justice Department indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro on murder charges Wednesday, a move that coincides with Cuba’s Independence Day and a threat from President Trump that he could invade the island. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche joined prosecutors in South Florida to announce the indictment “in conjunction with a ceremony to honor the victims of the…
President Trump defended the construction of the White House ballroom in remarks to reporters on Tuesday. “All of this paid for by myself,” Trump told reporters during impromptu remarks from the construction site of the ballroom, referring to it as a “gift” that will not be paid for by taxpayers. The sounds of hammers could…
Interesting things happen when members lose primaries and suddenly have the opportunity to do as they please.
The Trump administration is creating a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people it says were wronged by the federal government, a group that could be largely made up of the president’s allies.
His district’s voters should send the conspiracy theorist into retirement.
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche made the announcement Wednesday in Miami. The charges stem from the downing of two civilian aircraft in 1996. They were operated by a Florida-based exile group called Brothers to the Rescue. Bloomberg's Myles Miller reports. (Source: Bloomberg)
The Senate advanced an Iran war powers bill, aiming to force an end to the war with Iran, after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) flipped his vote fresh off a resounding primary loss. The bill had previously been shot down because of a lack of Republican support. Cassidy is the key defection, as he previously withheld […]
As part of the Justice Department’s compensation fund deal, officials vowed not to pursue any matters, including those involving President Trump’s tax returns, that are pending.
Today's Kentucky primary is President Trump's biggest test yet of whether his iron grip on the Republican base can hold even as war and inflation batter his national standing.Why it matters: Trump is trying to take out longtime antagonist Thomas Massie in the most expensive House primary in history — a contest that will show whether his iconoclastic brand of libertarian politics still has a place in the GOP. Until now, the seven-term Massie had never faced a serious threat to reelection. Trump changed that.Trump's political operation launched an aggressive effort to unseat Massie last year, its first such effort to defeat a sitting Republican incumbent.The fight between Massie and Trump-backed rival Ed Gallrein has drawn more than $32 million in ad spending, according to AdImpact.Driving the news: Trump has spent months portraying Massie as disloyal to the MAGA movement. He's called Massie a "moron," a "nut job" and "major Sleazebag.""He is the Worst "Republican" Congressman in History," Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday.At a March rally in Massie's district, Trump said: "Give me somebody with a warm body to beat Massie, and I got somebody with a warm body, but a big, beautiful brain, and a great patriot."The other side: "They want 100% compliance," Massie said of the White House."I vote with the President 90% of the time. I voted for the SAVE Act. I voted for DHS. In fact, by most scorecards, I'm the most conservative Republican, so it's only the 10% of the time they're mad about."Between the lines: Trump has taken out a number of Republican politicians who cross him.Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a top target of the president, lost his reelection bid when he failed to finish in the top two in a primary Saturday.Trump also exacted retribution on a group of Indiana Republican state legislators who blocked his push to redraw the state's congressional map. Five of the seven lost their primaries last month.And Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who spent the weekend campaigning with Massie in his district, has now caught the ire of Trump. The president invited a primary challenger to run against her in a post on Truth Social Saturday, calling Boebert "weak minded."Catch up quick: Massie and Trump's contentious relationship dates back to Trump's first term.In 2020, Massie opposed Trump's Covid relief package, leading the president to call for Massie to be thrown "out of the Republican Party."Massie was also one of only two House Republicans to vote against Trump's "big, beautiful bill."Last summer, Massie sought to repair his relationship with the president, and Speaker Mike Johnson was able to broker a truce, Axios previously reported.The ceasefire didn't last long. Days later, Massie ramped up his public criticism of the administration's handling of the Epstein files, and later led the push to release the files in defiance of Trump.Zoom in: The race has spiraled into an especially nasty and personal fight, with both sides trying to portray the other as out of step with the GOP base on a range of culture-war issues.Outside groups aligned with Trump and pro-Israel donors have spent millions attacking Massie over his criticism of Israel and opposition to some foreign aid packages.Pro-Massie groups, meanwhile, have labeled Gallrein "Woke Eddie" and aired an AI-generated ad depicting the retired Navy SEAL abandoning Trump on a battlefield.One pro-Massie ad attacked Gallrein's ties to GOP megadonor Paul Singer — who is Jewish and supports LGBTQ rights — by featuring a rainbow-colored Star of David and warning that the "LGBTQ mafia" was trying to take over the district. "If Gallrein wins, the weirdos take over," the ad says.The bottom line: A loss for Massie would send another warning to Republicans about the dangers of crossing Trump — and show that the president's broader political problems haven't diminished his power with the base."If I lose, I think it's going to disenfranchise a large part of the coalition that was formed to give us the majority here and to give us the White House," Massie told reporters at the Capitol last week.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said negotiations had intensified in recent days and suggested there is still a path toward a nuclear agreement.
President Donald Trump said he’d called off a strike on Iran planned for Tuesday after an appeal by the leaders of Persian Gulf allies, who called for more time to pursue a diplomatic resolution.
The shooting, which authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime, left at least five people dead, including two suspected shooters.
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The president sued the IRS and the Treasury Department in January, demanding $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns years ago.
5/18/1860: Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination. The post Today in Supreme Court History: May 18, 1860 appeared first on Reason.com.
Trump-backed Ed Gallrein ousted Congressman Thomas Massie in Kentucky's Republican House primary. And, police have identified the victims in California's mosque shooting.
The state’s lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, will face a billionaire health care executive, Rick Jackson, on June 16 to decide the party’s standard-bearer to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp.
He is the youngest member of the Senate and once volunteered for the civil rights leader John Lewis’s congressional office.
Kentucky voters are heading to the polls Tuesday to select which House candidates will appear on the November ballot. Political observers are closely watching the ugly GOP primary in the 4th Congressional District where Rep. Thomas Massie (R) is facing off against Ed Gallrein, who is backed by President Trump. Incumbent Republican Reps. James Comer,…
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President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he “may release” his current tax returns to the public after the IRS reached a settlement over a leak of his past tax records. The leaked returns from Trump’s first term “showed I pay a lot of tax,” he told the Washington Examiner. “I may even release my current […]
He broke the one real rule of the MAGA Republican Party.
President Donald Trump plays down the need to further ratchet up pressure on the Cuban government after the US charged the country’s former president, Raúl Castro, with murder. (Source: Bloomberg)