Podcast Appearances
And who's footing the bill for it?
Well, the last part of that is the easiest to answer.
The American taxpayer is footing the bill because this fund comes about as part of a settlement, as you just mentioned, in a suit that Donald Trump bought against his own government.
over the leaking of his tax records a few years ago.
He sued for $10 billion, and the government earlier this month suggested a settlement, and this settlement would come in the form of this so-called anti-weaponization fund worth approximately $1.8 billion, and it would be used to pay people who were wrongly investigated or convicted by previous administrations.
Well, the criticism is coming from many quarters.
Todd Blanch, the acting attorney general, was up before Congress this week and he was asked whether those involved in the January 6th riots on Capitol Hill in 2021 would be eligible for this scheme.
And he declined to rule them out.
He said anyone would be eligible to apply.
And then a decision would be taken by the commission.
So many Democrats are calling this a slush fund for the president's allies and essentially a way of paying off his donors and people who have been loyal to him over the years.
OK, that's a lot right there.
How does it work, Joe?
Well, we have very few details because the settlement agreement and the terms of this were filed to a court and it's about a nine-page document.
But what we do know about how it will work is that the fund will be administered by a five-member commission, which will be appointed by
whoever's the attorney general at the time, so Trump's attorney general, with just one member of that commission chosen in, this is quotes, consultation with congressional leadership.
And we're not quite sure what that means.
But more strikingly,
This commission would be able to decide who gets apologies, who gets cash awards without any congressional approval, and their decisions will not necessarily be made public and won't be subject to appeal.