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Trump's IRS settlement is his most brazen attempt to co-opt the U.S. legal system - Leah Litman, Melissa Murray, Kate Sh
SFCArchive: https://archive.ph/knzth
On Monday morning, the Justice Department announced a settlement agreement between President Donald Trump and his own federal government that would create a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” — by all appearances, a slush fund — to make payments to Trump allies who claim the federal government mistreated them. This proposed “settlement” stems from a lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS, seeking $10 billion in damages over the 2017 leak about his personal income taxes.
The lawsuit and proposed settlement represent Trump’s most brazen attempt to date to co-opt the legal system for his own ends. They are also emblematic of an underappreciated dimension of Trump’s efforts to consolidate power during his second term. Trump has sought to exploit legal processes by using the courts to extort legal settlements and expand his own powers. Unlike previous settlements between Trump and private corporations, in this one, Trump’s allies will be enriched while taxpayers will foot the bill, which could be in the billions.
To be sure, Trump’s many lawsuits against media entities, ostensibly brought in his personal capacity to redress personal injuries, are part of a pattern. Most of the lawsuits have asserted claims that are unlikely to be availing under extant law. Nevertheless, some of the lawsuits have resulted in eye-popping settlements. The costs of these settlements are not simply monetary — they ratify the president’s unsupported account of the law, chill dissent and give the president substantial control over accountability institutions that might check his administration’s worst excesses. Indeed, some of the settlements have the stench of quid pro quo corruption, in which media entities fork over money in exchange for presidential access and the administration’s favor.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump insisted that a lawsuit he filed against Facebook for suspending his account “be resolved before” Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, could be “brought into the tent.” Referring to a similar settlement brokered between Trump and Twitter/X, the New York Times reported that the agreement “further cements the relationship between Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump.”
The lawsuit and proposed settlement represent Trump’s most brazen attempt to date to co-opt the legal system for his own ends. They are also emblematic of an underappreciated dimension of Trump’s efforts to consolidate power during his second term. Trump has sought to exploit legal processes by using the courts to extort legal settlements and expand his own powers. Unlike previous settlements between Trump and private corporations, in this one, Trump’s allies will be enriched while taxpayers will foot the bill, which could be in the billions.
To be sure, Trump’s many lawsuits against media entities, ostensibly brought in his personal capacity to redress personal injuries, are part of a pattern. Most of the lawsuits have asserted claims that are unlikely to be availing under extant law. Nevertheless, some of the lawsuits have resulted in eye-popping settlements. The costs of these settlements are not simply monetary — they ratify the president’s unsupported account of the law, chill dissent and give the president substantial control over accountability institutions that might check his administration’s worst excesses. Indeed, some of the settlements have the stench of quid pro quo corruption, in which media entities fork over money in exchange for presidential access and the administration’s favor.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump insisted that a lawsuit he filed against Facebook for suspending his account “be resolved before” Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, could be “brought into the tent.” Referring to a similar settlement brokered between Trump and Twitter/X, the New York Times reported that the agreement “further cements the relationship between Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump.”
Kate, Melissa, & I have an article in the SF Chronicle that is about the abomination I am calling the slushbag sleazefund DOJ Deal-do @kateshaw.bsky.social @profmmurray.bsky.social @strictscrutiny.bsky.social:
— Leah Litman (@leahlitman.bsky.social) 2026-05-19T20:14:48.979Z
www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...