Because it is such an open sewer of an arrangement, this is the most soul-sucking, despicable, and scandalous transaction ever conducted by a head of state not named Borgia. It dwarfs all the scandals in this country’s history—Whiskey Ring, Crédit Mobilier, Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran–Contra. It puts in the shade all the grifting and double-dealing and outright theft that democracy is heir to. Boss Tweed was a piker compared to this guy, and John Mitchell was a Franciscan monk. Most of the crooks and bounders doing their crimes under the color of public office have had the decency to commit them sub rosa and to use (at most) one institution of government at a time. From Politico:

President Donald Trump and the Justice Department have reached a settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit he filed against the IRS over the leaking of his tax returns, ending a case that both perplexed and outraged critics as the president sought to sue the government he runs. Under the deal announced Monday, the Justice Department is setting up a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to pay claims to people acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called “victims of lawfare and weaponization.” Blanche did not elaborate on who will be eligible for the compensation, but some people who were convicted of crimes in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot have already sued the government. The fund, to be overseen by a five-person commission, will process claims through mid-December 2028—about a month before Trump’s term is set to end.

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