During the past week, the Trump administration announced three separate but connected decisions that are so outrageous they may lead to his comeuppance. Collectively, they reward lawlessness and undermine our democracy's very foundations.
First Decision: Victims' Fund
The Department of Justice announced the establishment of a $1.776 billion fund to compensate 'victims' of the previous administration's 'weaponisation' of the law by 'unfairly investigating and punishing them'. This fund is intended for individuals who claim to have been persecuted by the government.
Second Decision: Dropping Lawsuit Against IRS
As a quid pro quo, Mr Trump agreed to drop his questionable $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, which he charged with failing to stop a contractor from leaking one of his tax returns to the media in 2019. The judge was set to dismiss the case because it was improper for the White House to sue a federal agency it controlled.
Third Decision: Amendment to Victims' Fund
The DOJ added an amendment stating: 'The United States releases, waives, and forever discharges [Trump, his family, his business] and is hereby forever barred and precluded from prosecuting or pursuing, any and all claims [that] have been or could have been asserted [by the IRS against them or] related or affiliated individuals.' This raises questions about what tax problems they might be hiding.
Interconnection of Decisions
Each alone is problematic, but their connection is most troubling. The timing of the announcements on 18 and 19 May, just before the judge's decision on 20 May, suggests a coordinated effort to avoid dismissal of the lawsuit.
The contractor who leaked the document has already been arrested and convicted. There was no connection between his criminal act and the IRS as an institution. Therefore, the president's lawsuit and the $10 billion award in damages he sought were unwarranted and excessive.
Defending the Insurrectionists
The creation of the $1.776 billion fund to compensate individuals who claim to have been victims of the government's 'weaponisation' of law represents the culmination of the president's six-year effort to defend the violent insurrectionists of 6 January 2021. By defending them, he defends his claim that he won the 2020 election.
Just over six years ago, we witnessed the horrifying scenes of violent mobs storming the US Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election result. They struck out at Capitol Police, who were protecting members of Congress and the building itself. Some were injured; a few died.
The president was impeached by Congress for egging on the mob. Ten Republican members of Congress voted for impeachment, and seven Republican senators voted to convict and remove him from office. Most are now gone—they either resigned or were defeated by Trump loyalists.
Shift in Public Opinion
Polls show a dramatic shift in opinion. In January 2021, most Republicans were outraged by the mob violence; 78% of Trump supporters disapproved of the insurrection. More recent polling reveals that 60% of Republicans describe 6 January as 'people participating in legitimate political discourse'. Only 18% called them 'people participating in a violent insurrection'.
Believing he had set the stage for a complete rewriting of history, the president, having already commuted the sentences and/or pardoned more than 2,000 insurrectionists, felt emboldened to have the government reward them for blind loyalty. But he may have pushed too far.
Republican senators who consider themselves law-and-order fiscal conservatives recoiled in horror. A few called it 'utterly stupid', 'morally wrong', and an abuse of power. Instead of acting to pass some of Mr Trump's legislative priorities, they criticised the president's actions and took an early recess.
