Blanche is scrapping $1.8B slush fund but will keep tax audit immunity for Trump family

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/blanche-fund-justice-department-january-6-c06a4aa4a1052055bc67c4a0a54984e3

Blanche says Trump administration is scrapping $1.8B fund meant to compensate president’s allies
By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
Updated 4:02 PM CDT, June 2, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that the Trump administration was scrapping plans to create a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate allies of the Republican president after widespread political backlash and setbacks in the courts.

“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said in response to questions at a House hearing on the Justice Department budget.

"“Not moving forward, ever?” asked Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat.

The blunt declaration marked an extraordinary turnabout for a Trump Justice Department that just two weeks ago had pronounced the fund as essential to make up for what officials insist was weaponized law enforcement during President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration. Since then, though, the idea has faced mounting pressure from Republicans who demanded reassurances that plans for the fund were off the table before they would move forward with legislation funding President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies.

Blanche said the Justice Department was not abandoning an element of a settlement with the IRS that gave Trump and his family immunity from tax audits.

...

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Taxing is a power of the Congress, not the DOJ.

[Lovie777]

2. No he can not, only congress....................

[pat_k]

3. He will when forced to.

[spooky3]

4. Exactly. The judge is still investigating this, and there are multiple

Other lawsuits.

Meanwhile will the Rs defeated in the primary but still in Congress make good on their promise to oppose him?

[pat_k]

15. In re: push back from Trumpublicans.

I think there are three primary drivers of events in the coming months:

1. The felon is incapable of ending the war. He is incapable of sucking up the loss.

2. As the war/stalemate continues, domestic and international harms will escalate, ultimately becoming utterly unsustainable.

3. Sooner or later, a growing number of trumpublicans in the House and Senate will "get" 1 and 2, and recognize that the only "way out" is to push trump out.

If enough wake up to reality to vote to remove, the threat will be "Save face and resign for whatever reason you want, or you will be removed. There are enough of us now."

If that were to come to pass, I'd bet he would continue to delude himself that "they'd never do that" and force their hand.

And if I were a betting person, I would bet that after a rout in the mid-terms, as we come up on the one-year anniversary of his criminal war it will be clear the situation cannot be allowed to continue -- that he must go, one way or another.

[spooky3]

17. I hope you are right. Nt

[pat_k]

19. If you like that, you'll love this...

So, after they push him out, J.D. makes the humiliating deal the felon refused to. That is, recommitting to Obama's treaty, shoveling 10x the amount of money at Iran that Obama did, and an "environmental fee" (i.e., toll).

J.D. could be so pissed that the felon put him in that inevitable position that he releases all the Epstein files with Trump redactions removed.

Who the hell knows?

I sure don't, but these are strange times. And strange times breed unexpected turns of events.

[canetoad]

5. Is this immunity

Intended to be in perpetuity? Will his children and his childrens children all have inherited tax exemption? Acting AG Blanche has not thought this through.

[underpants]

11. I read today it's for charges or audits prior to this BS settlement

That was the first I’d seen that. I thought it was for him, his family, and any business entity related to either.

So I’m not sure.

[SeattleVet]

18. The way it reads, the immunity was for anything filed with the IRS before the date of the 'settlement'.

And yes, it was for him, his family, and his businesses.

So they're trying to keep them all off th hook for things that may have not even been examined. It's some sort of bizarre pre-pardon for things he knows he, his family, and his businesses did, but that haven't been discovered yet.

A preemptive 'stay out of jail' card.

[underpants]

20. Thanks. It had been portrayed as forever.

It still stinks. The whole thing blew up in his face.

[beaglelover]

6. any audit immunity can be taken away by a future administration.

[senseandsensibility]

7. Not acceptable

I don't think even some Rs are going to be okay with this.

[malaise]

8. Good luck with that - NOT

Rec

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. "There it is: The AG just confirmed that Trump's IRS immunity scam is still movoing forward."

Greg Sargent
‪@gregsargent.bsky.social‬

There it is: The AG just confirmed that Trump's IRS immunity scam is still movoing forward. Dems must now force Republicans to vote on this (see thread below on how).



‪Greg Sargent‬
‪@gregsargent.bsky.social‬
· 3h
This is good: Dems are moving to force Rs to vote on Trump's corrupt IRS immunity deal, now that the slush fund is in doubt. The exemption from IRS audits is getting overlooked, but it shouldn't. Dems tell me they're pushing for votes to kill it.

New piece from me:
https://newrepublic.com/article/211245/trump-irs-slush-fund-backfires-republicans

Trump's Corrupt IRS Shakedown Backfires Badly as GOPers Turn On Him
The slush fund may be on life support, but this IRS immunityTrump’s thing Trump wants is outrageous—and Democrats need to make Republicans own it.
newrepublic.com
5:11 PM · Jun 2, 2026

There it is: The AG just confirmed that Trump's IRS immunity scam is still movoing forward. Dems must now force Republicans to vote on this (see thread below on how).

— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) 2026-06-02T21:11:12.655Z

Greg Sargent
‪@gregsargent.bsky.social‬

This is good: Dems are moving to force Rs to vote on Trump's corrupt IRS immunity deal, now that the slush fund is in doubt. The exemption from IRS audits is getting overlooked, but it shouldn't. Dems tell me they're pushing for votes to kill it.

New piece from me:
https://newrepublic.com/article/211245/trump-irs-slush-fund-backfires-republicans

Trump’s Corrupt IRS Shakedown Backfires Badly as GOPers Turn On Him
The slush fund may be on life support, but this IRS immunity thing Trump wants is outrageous—and Democrats need to make Republicans own it.
newrepublic.com
2:03 PM · Jun 2, 2026

This is good: Dems are moving to force Rs to vote on Trump's corrupt IRS immunity deal, now that the slush fund is in doubt. The exemption from IRS audits is getting overlooked, but it shouldn't. Dems tell me they're pushing for votes to kill it.

New piece from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2112...

— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) 2026-06-02T18:03:11.512Z

[senseandsensibility]

10. That picture of trump!

OMG!

[dalton99a]

12. Trump and family could refile any past return and claim a $100 billion non-auditable refund

[Boo1]

13. Lol, unenforceable

The next admin will toss that immunity in the garbage.

[OGBuzz]

14. Blanche is a total disgrace. Trump and his family get a free pass forever.

And there is nobody to investigate or prosecute in Epstein World, and there are no more files to release. But they are investigating the shit out of ANTIFA and every person they've arrested protesting outside of Delaney Hall.

[miyazaki]

16. That Blanche prick thinks he's in charge of the IRS too.

Better fuck off down to Argentina asshole.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

21. MS NOW- Even if Trump kills his $1.8 billion slush fund, his IRS lawsuit headache isn't over

The controversial settlement included both a fund that has sparked a political backlash and IRS immunity for the president, his relatives and Trump businesses.

Link to tweet

https://www.ms.now/opinion/trump-billion-fund-irs-settlement-legal-jeopardy

A lawsuit is valid only when there is “a case or controversy” between adverse parties. Since Trump controls the executive branch, there was an obvious lack of adversity between a sitting president and entities whose decisions were subject to his direction. From the outset, Williams, who presides over the case in the Southern District of Florida, expressed skepticism of the lawsuit’s legitimacy. She asked the parties to submit briefs addressing whether the lawsuit was, in fact, a legitimate adverse proceeding....

Last week, 35 former federal judges filed a motion asking Williams to reopen the case. They argued that “the purported ‘settlement’ that the parties never placed before this Court raises profound questions about the parties’ candor toward the Court and manipulation of the judicial system, which threatens to undermine confidence in the administration of justice.” The settlement is “a fraud on the Court,” they wrote.

Two days after the 35 former judges filed their motion, Judge Williams issued an order in response. The court, she wrote, “is empowered to investigate serious misconduct as a collateral issue” and to determine whether the suit was filed for an “improper purpose.”

Among the key points in her order:

the grant of IRS immunity did not relate “to the immediate subject matter of the claim,” which was the leak of Trump’s tax information;

the IRS and the U.S. Treasury “did not ‘even try to defend against” Trump’s claims, despite actively opposing “nearly identical claims in other litigation”;

and, as the former judges had argued, Trump’s claims were “clearly untimely” and barred by the expired statute of limitations.

Williams ordered Trump, the IRS and the U.S. Treasury to respond by June 12 on: “(1) the charges of collusion and whether the Parties are truly adverse; (2) the assertion that the dismissal in this case was premised on deception by the Parties; and (3) the question of whether the case should be reopened because the Court was the ‘victim of a fraud.’”

So here is Trump’s quandary: He must answer Williams’ questions with facts. He cannot simply submit a memorandum filled with platitudes denying collusion or dismissing the matter as a witch hunt. The court will likely expect sworn affidavits setting out facts to support any defense that there was no collusion and no deception.

The judge will almost certainly expect Trump, the named plaintiff, to submit an affidavit himself responding to all three of Williams’ inquiries.

Whatever is filed in response to the court’s order could raise additional issues, which could lead to an evidentiary hearing with witnesses. Matters not fully addressed in the affidavits or that otherwise remain ambiguous would need to be explored, with Williams empowered to assess credibility firsthand.....

Because we have an independent judiciary and judges committed to the rule of law, Trump could remain accountable for fraud or other misdeeds he may have committed in pursuing his lawsuit against the IRS or the settlement. Jettisoning the controversial fund doesn’t automatically end Judge Williams’ inquiry.

Even if trump drops the slush fund part of the case, Judge Williams will need to still hold a hearing on the IRS immunity issue and trump may have to testify by either affidavit or in person. This hearing will be fun to watch

[LetMyPeopleVote]

22. MaddowBlog-Being Trump's attorney general is an awful job. Todd Blanche apparently doesn't care.

Blanche has made it clear that he doesn’t want to be the American people’s attorney general; he wants to be Trump’s attorney general.

Trump has clashed with so many AGs (Bondi, Barr, Sessions, Yates). Why is Blanche different? They agree on what an AG should be: part puppet, part weapon, and part cheerleader.

Blanche doesn’t want to be our attorney general; he wants to be Trump’s attorney general. Those are 2 very different jobs.

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-06-09T17:40:46.759Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-attorney-general-awful-job-blanche

Trump likely believes he’ll have better luck with his latest choice. MS NOW reported:

President Donald Trump on Monday formally nominated his longtime loyalist and former personal defense lawyer Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general permanently.

Blanche has been serving as the nation’s top prosecutor in an acting capacity after Pam Bondi was fired by Trump in April. Blanche was Bondi’s deputy at the time. The nomination has been sent to the Senate.

Since becoming the acting attorney general, Blanche went to almost cartoonish lengths to use his office in ways designed to please the White House, up to and including indicting people the president doesn’t like. Trump, not surprisingly, was delighted. Whether senators are equally impressed remains to be seen, though there’s no reason to assume that his confirmation will be easy.

Stepping back, however, there’s the related question of why Blanche actually wants this job.....

The president, in other words, expects an attorney general who’s part puppet, part weapon and part cheerleader. Those serious about the rule of law and apolitical ethical limits need not apply.

I’ve seen some analyses that have described the office under Trump as “an impossible job,” largely because no one can be quite pathetic enough to satiate all of the president’s whims and demands. It’s a fair point, to be sure, but that’s what makes Blanche’s nomination inherently interesting: He, unlike guys such as Sessions and Barr, doesn’t actually want to lead the DOJ or oversee federal law enforcement; Blanche simply wants to serve Trump.

In other words, Blanche might very well be the first and only attorney general Trump actually gets along with because he and the president share a common view of the office. By tradition, those in this role strive to be “the people’s lawyer.” The president’s new nominee has no such ambitions: His goal is to serve one American, not 340 million Americans.

Blanche has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want to be the American people’s attorney general; he wants to be Trump’s attorney general. Is it any wonder why the president is optimistic about his choice?

I believe that Blanche will be disbarred. Blanche and the DOJ want to strip State Bar Associations of jurisdiction of trump stooges. That is not going to work

[lame54]

23. It's pretend...

No action will be taken while they are in charge
Once they are not the first court that sees it will toss it out