FUNNY THAT, SAME COST AS WHITE HOUSE RENO?!
David Edwards
October 21, 2025
RAW STORY
President Donald Trump has reportedly demanded that his Justice Department pay him $230 million in taxpayer dollars as compensation for past actions that he disagreed with.
Trump submitted claims to the Justice Department beginning in 2023, alleging that his rights were violated by investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, The New York Times reported Tuesday. A complaint submitted last year accused the Department of Justice of privacy violations that occurred during an FBI search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
Ethics experts said the situation was unparalleled in U.S. history because many people tasked with approving the payments were Trump's personal lawyers and supporters, whom he installed at the Justice Department after being re-elected.
"What a travesty," Pace University ethics professor Bennett L. Gershman told the Times. "The ethical conflict is just so basic and fundamental, you don't need a law professor to explain it."
"And then to have people in the Justice Department decide whether his claim should be successful or not, and these are the people who serve him, deciding whether he wins or loses. It's bizarre and almost too outlandish to believe."
Trump seemed to acknowledge that he had asked the Justice Department to pay him during an Oval Office event with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the president's former criminal attorney.
"I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president. I said, I'm sort of suing myself. I don't know, how do you settle the lawsuit?? I'll say give me X dollars, and I don't know what to do with the lawsuit," Trump said at the time. "It sort of looks bad, I'm suing myself, right? So I don't know. But that was a lawsuit that was very strong, very powerful."
Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin declined to say whether Blanche would recuse himself from approving payments to Trump.
"In any circumstance, all officials at the Department of Justice follow the guidance of career ethics officials," Gilmartin said.
Trump under fire over demand DOJ cut him $230M check: 'Straight up looting taxpayers'
Sarah K. Burris
October 21, 2025
RAW STORY
President Donald Trump is demanding that the Justice Department give him $230 million to cover his legal fees for the investigations into him over the Russia probe, for stealing classified documents, and for the Jan. 6 attack and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
While the Times cited experts who say there's no ambiguity when it comes to the ethics of the matter, others fear the U.S. Supreme Court's decision giving Trump complete control over his branch of government could give him a pass here, too.
"A nice illustration that the unitary executive theory violates nemo iudex in causa sua, since it holds that he could just order this to be approved (which is de facto what he's going to do)," said Jacob T. Leavy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory at McGill University.
"This isn't complicated, he's just straight up extorting the Justice Department and looting taxpayers to put $230 million in his own pocket. Don't hold your breath waiting for any Republicans in the party to speak up about this either," complained the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project.
"Not taking a salary, but demanding 575x his salary as tribute from DOJ," commented Media Matters fellow Matthew Gertz.
"This would be the most corrupt act in presidential history. No complicated schemes, no outside actors, just a straight up looting of the taxpayers to put $230 million in Trump's pocket," said former State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Political scientist David Leheny posited that the DOJ might kick in an extra $50 million "to thank him for the opportunity to serve."
"Looking forward to the roar of silence from elected Republicans about this truly shocking, unprecedented display of corruption, and of course the MAGA ditto heads breaking their backs trying to come up with some whatabout comparison to a Democrat," said senior political science lecturer Damon Linker.
"Democrats should be drawing up legislation right now, this very minute, to bar Trump from helping himself to $230 million in taxpayer funds from DOJ. Challenge Republicans to hold a vote on it. Push this so hard in the media that every GOP Senate and House candidate is pressed to comment on it," demanded New Republic columnist Greg Sargent.
National security analyst Marcy Wheeler replied, "Sure, fine. But let's focus on Todd Blanche's criminal liability and how if he does this it's bc he needs a pardon. There is literally zero reason to focus primarily on Dems here. It's fighting the wrong adversary."
'Might as well rob Fort Knox!' ‘Extortionist in chief’ slammed by ex-FBI attorney
President Donald Trump is demanding that the Justice Department give him $230 million to cover his legal fees for the investigations into him over the Russia probe, for stealing classified documents, and for the Jan. 6 attack and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
While the Times cited experts who say there's no ambiguity when it comes to the ethics of the matter, others fear the U.S. Supreme Court's decision giving Trump complete control over his branch of government could give him a pass here, too.
"A nice illustration that the unitary executive theory violates nemo iudex in causa sua, since it holds that he could just order this to be approved (which is de facto what he's going to do)," said Jacob T. Leavy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory at McGill University.
"This isn't complicated, he's just straight up extorting the Justice Department and looting taxpayers to put $230 million in his own pocket. Don't hold your breath waiting for any Republicans in the party to speak up about this either," complained the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project.
"Not taking a salary, but demanding 575x his salary as tribute from DOJ," commented Media Matters fellow Matthew Gertz.
"This would be the most corrupt act in presidential history. No complicated schemes, no outside actors, just a straight up looting of the taxpayers to put $230 million in Trump's pocket," said former State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Political scientist David Leheny posited that the DOJ might kick in an extra $50 million "to thank him for the opportunity to serve."
"Looking forward to the roar of silence from elected Republicans about this truly shocking, unprecedented display of corruption, and of course the MAGA ditto heads breaking their backs trying to come up with some whatabout comparison to a Democrat," said senior political science lecturer Damon Linker.
"Democrats should be drawing up legislation right now, this very minute, to bar Trump from helping himself to $230 million in taxpayer funds from DOJ. Challenge Republicans to hold a vote on it. Push this so hard in the media that every GOP Senate and House candidate is pressed to comment on it," demanded New Republic columnist Greg Sargent.
National security analyst Marcy Wheeler replied, "Sure, fine. But let's focus on Todd Blanche's criminal liability and how if he does this it's bc he needs a pardon. There is literally zero reason to focus primarily on Dems here. It's fighting the wrong adversary."
'Might as well rob Fort Knox!' ‘Extortionist in chief’ slammed by ex-FBI attorney
Sarah K. Burris
October 21, 2025
RAW STORY
Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann slammed President Donald Trump for the proposal that the Justice Department give him $230 million to make up for the investigations into the 2016 Russia matter, the classified documents case, and the investigation into Trump's role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday after the story broke from the New York Times, Weissmann said, "essentially the president of the United States is now the extortionist in chief. We saw it with ABC. We saw it with CBS. We saw it with the law firms. And now, he might as well just go ahead and rob Fort Knox and take the gold out."
He explained that in a "normal time," Justice Department leaders would identify a conflict because the people overseeing whether Trump would get $230 million in taxpayer dollars are Trump's former personal lawyers in that matter. Typically, those individuals would step aside and appoint an independent counsel.
"And you know what would happen? There would be a hearing. The last thing that Donald Trump wants," said Weissmann.
Trump has spent years attacking Weissmann because he also served on Robert Mueller's special counsel team. So, Weissmann suggested that all of it be part of a larger public conversation.
"Let's have a hearing on the Russia case. Let's have a hearing on Mar-a-Lago. All of the things that he has tried to avoid," continued Weissmann. "Remember, he always said in the Russia case, Oh, I'm happy to testify. Yeah, no. He wasn't. Never happened. The Mar-a-Lago case? He tried to put that off. Let's have a hearing so he can have his day in court to show why he actually has the 'right side' of this and let the independent people at the department show why he's wrong."
That, however, is the last thing that Trump wants, Weissmann added.
He noted that Trump pardoned former Rep. George Santos (R-NY), realizing, "Who's going to stop me here?"
"And there really does need to be a sort of political cost to him when this is coming at the expense of our taxpayer money, as you noted at the outset. This is not something that is free," he told Wallace.
Nicole Charky-Chami
October 21, 2025
RAW STORY
A House Judiciary Committee member accused President Donald Trump on Tuesday of "shaking down" his own government and called on GOP lawmakers to stand up.
Trump reportedly demanded that his Justice Department pay him $230 million in taxpayer dollars as compensation for past actions that he disagreed with. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) shared his reaction to Trump's latest move with CNN anchor Kasie Hunt.
"We are combining the weaponization of the Department of Justice by him putting his political lackeys there — with his grift and corruption — to make money off of the presidency. It is completely absurd. Donald Trump would have been convicted at trial in both of those cases. The only reason they went away is because he won the election, and a president cannot be tried," Goldman said.
"And the notion that there was anything wrong with those investigations is preposterous," he added. "But even more so, to then demand of his own Justice Department and his own appointees that they pay him $200 million — for who knows what — is a shakedown... of his own government, where he is literally just digging into the coffers of his own government and saying, let's just put $230 million into my own pocket. When are the Republicans going to stand up for anything?"
A House Judiciary Committee member accused President Donald Trump on Tuesday of "shaking down" his own government and called on GOP lawmakers to stand up.
Trump reportedly demanded that his Justice Department pay him $230 million in taxpayer dollars as compensation for past actions that he disagreed with. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) shared his reaction to Trump's latest move with CNN anchor Kasie Hunt.
"We are combining the weaponization of the Department of Justice by him putting his political lackeys there — with his grift and corruption — to make money off of the presidency. It is completely absurd. Donald Trump would have been convicted at trial in both of those cases. The only reason they went away is because he won the election, and a president cannot be tried," Goldman said.
"And the notion that there was anything wrong with those investigations is preposterous," he added. "But even more so, to then demand of his own Justice Department and his own appointees that they pay him $200 million — for who knows what — is a shakedown... of his own government, where he is literally just digging into the coffers of his own government and saying, let's just put $230 million into my own pocket. When are the Republicans going to stand up for anything?"
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