This story appeared in The Logoff, a every day publication that helps you keep knowledgeable concerning the Trump administration with out letting political information take over your life. Subscribe right here.
Welcome to The Logoff: Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund is — perhaps — finished for.
What’s occurring? On Monday, Axios reported that the Trump administration deliberate to drop its “anti-weaponization” fund — almost $1.8 billion in taxpayer cash put aside for Trump to dole out to whoever he and the fund’s board select, freed from supervision — amid authorized challenges and rising Republican backlash.
The fund, introduced in mid-Might, was the product of a “settlement” between Trump and his personal authorities over a $10 billion lawsuit Trump had introduced towards the IRS. A protracted listing of Trump allies, together with January 6 rioters, may have stood to obtain hundreds of thousands from the fund.
What’s the context? On Friday, a federal district decide in Virginia briefly blocked Trump’s fund from disbursing any cash or taking some other actions till a minimum of late subsequent week, whereas one other in Florida ordered Trump’s private legal professionals to justify the settlement reached with the Justice Division, elevating the chance that it may have been fraudulent.
What’s the massive image? It’s just a little unclear what the fund’s actual standing is, as of this writing; as one supply advised Axios on Monday, “The president likes the fund. … So nothing is ultimate till it’s ultimate.” Different reporters have identified that the court docket ruling that the Justice Division has promised to abide by is barely momentary.
However the fund has additionally change into poisonous with a number of the Republican senators whose votes Trump must advance a second reconciliation invoice, sufficient in order that concern concerning the fund delayed votes initially deliberate for final month. As Punchbowl Information’s Jake Sherman factors out, when the invoice does transfer ahead, it may additionally embrace language explicitly blocking the fund.
In different phrases, there are nonetheless avenues Trump may pursue to attempt to deliver again the fund. However all issues thought-about, this appears like an effort by DOJ to save lots of face and again away from the problem completely.
And with that, it’s time to log out…
Hello readers, comfortable June! Right here’s a very cute canine to kick off the month. Have a fantastic night, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!
