The Justice Department on Tuesday issued an expanded settlement agreement with President Donald Trump that includes broad language stating that the IRS is “forever barred” from “examinations” of Trump, his family members and his businesses.
The one-page addendum, which appeared on the DOJ website Tuesday, was signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. It adds to the nine-page document issued by the Justice Department on Monday, which concluded Trump’s lawsuit over the leaking of his tax returns.
The new settlement document states that the IRS must drop “any matters currently pending” — including all matters related to “tax returns filed before the effective date” of the agreement, which was Monday. In a statement to NOTUS, a DOJ spokesperson said that the deal would only cover potential crimes committed before the settlement took effect, “not future” wrongdoing.
“As is customary in settlements, both sides have executed waivers of a variety of claims that were or could have been brought,” the spokesperson said. “There would be little point in settling several significant claims if either party could simply turn around and seek to initiative more adverse claims that could have been pursued previously.”
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Monday’s agreement also saw the creation of a controversial $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate people who were investigated by the federal government under the Biden administration.
This new fund allows people to apply for payouts if they believe they have been targeted by the government, including the DOJ under President Joe Biden.
In a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Blanche declined to comment on who will be eligible for payouts, including whether Jan. 6 rioters could qualify.
“Anyone can apply,” Blanche said.
Blanche said the payouts will be decided by a five-person commission whose members will be appointed by the attorney general.
“What I will commit to is making sure that the commissioners are effectively doing their jobs, and that includes setting guidelines as you’re describing,” Blanche said when asked whether the fund will be available to people convicted of violent acts against law enforcement.
At a press briefing Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance said anyone — Republican or Democrat — can apply for the fund, and that it is not geared toward a specific group of people.
“I mean, if Hunter Biden wants to apply for this particular fund, he is welcome to,” Vance told reporters. “The people that would get the money are people, some of whom have been prosecuted completely disproportionate to any crime they’ve ever committed.”
During his hearing, Blanche was not asked about the new document that bars the IRS from investigating Trump. However, some Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against it.
“Today, Blanche got very offended when I called him out for continuing to act like Trump’s personal attorney,” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen wrote on X. “Now, we learn he quietly signed a deal to bar the IRS from EVER reexamining Trump’s, his family’s, or his companies’ prior taxes. How does this serve the American people?”
“The President is now exempt from our tax laws while everyone else has to obey them. Got it,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy wrote on X. “It’s just mind blowing that is what’s happening in America.”
California Sen. Adam Schiff called it: “Pure. Unadulterated. Corruption.”
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