'Lutnick Family Angling To Make Astronomical Sums Off Court Nixing Tariffs'

[sop]

(TPM) "This is not new. But I at least hadn’t heard any of these dots connected. I wasn’t even aware of the dots. A friend mentioned to me over the weekend that he’d heard about Wall Streeters buying up the rights to tariff refunds from big corporate importers. So the idea is that a Wall Street firm goes to an importer and says, you’ve now paid $10 million in tariffs. I’ll pay you $2 million right now for the right to collect the refund if courts ever end up deciding the tariffs were illegal. My friend had also heard that one most aggressive buyers was Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm until recently headed by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and now run by Lutnick’s sons."

"Damn, I thought: That’s a hot story, crooked as the day is long. But I’m not sure how I or we would track it down without better finance world sources. Still, it was worth some quick googling. It turns out this is happening and Cantor’s role has already been reported. Wired and others reported this more than a month ago."

"In mid-July, according to WIRED, Cantor was buying up the rights to your potential tariff refund at between 20 and 30 cents per dollar. Needless to say, I bet that price has gone up a lot since last Friday’s federal appellate court upheld the lower court ruling that almost all of Trump’s tariffs are illegal. So in paper terms Cantor has probably already made a ton of money on this."

Continued at link:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/lutnick-family-angling-to-make-astronomical-sums-off-court-nixing-tariffs

[Scruffy1]

1. It sounds like a plot from a trashy organized crime fiction novel by Scott Turow or some such hack.

I don't believe that the Idiot in Charge is smart enough to have come up with it, but his enablers know how to turn a quick buck.

[madinmaryland]

2. You would have thought Cantor would have learned after 9/11.

I would expect this kind of shit from the Nutlick family.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Family of top Trump official stands to make fortune from tariff ruling: 'Pure criminality'

The SCOTUS decision not too hard to predict. Legally, there was no basis for trump to declare these tariffs. Family members of the trump administration knew that trump's tariffs were illegal and bought up tariff refund claims. These family members will profit off their inside information as to the legality of the trump tariffs.

Firm of Trump official's family denies report it stands to make fortune from tariff ruling

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-20T23:20:08.951Z

https://www.rawstory.com/howard-lutnick-2675289149/

While President Donald Trump may very well be having his “worst day” in office after the Supreme Court ruled against his tariff policy on Friday, the family of one top Trump official stands to profit handsomely from the court’s decision — a potential payout that ignited a wave of outrage from critics, according to a report.

That top Trump official is Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who for 30 years led the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald as its CEO, handing off control of the firm to his sons after joining the Trump administration last year. Lutnick has championed Trump’s tariffs in public, but behind the scenes, his family-run firm has bet millions of dollars against them, Wired reported.

Cantor denied involvement in the government's tariffs. “As stated previously, Cantor can confirm that it is not in the business of positioning any risk, taking views, or facilitating trades in litigation claims involving the legality of US tariffs," a spokesperson said.

But, according to documents obtained by Wired, Cantor Fitzgerald had purchased the rights to tariff refunds from affected companies, paying 20% to 30% of what companies had paid out in tariffs. In effect, the firm now led by Lutnick’s sons wagered that Trump’s tariffs would be struck down in court, and now stands to reap returns of roughly three to five times its initial investments.

“If you're keeping track, this is the 53rd scheme by a Trump official to profit from government policy or stealing from the American tax payer,” wrote journalist Adam Cochran in a social media post on X Friday.

“For every $100 invested, Lutnick's sons just made 3-5x,” wrote another, Kevin Paffrath, a real-estate broker and political commentator, to his nearly 400,000 followers on X. “Welcome to Crony Corrupt America.”

[sop]

4. I recall posting this last year. Seemed a bit far-fetched then.