An analyst stunned by a new detail in President Donald Trump's $230 million Department of Justice demand said Wednesday it is "hard to fathom how bad this is."
Greg Sargent, staff writer and podcast host at The New Republic, argues that Trump is turning the presidency into "a massive Bribe Delivery System" and that he's likely to get the payout from the DOJ.
"It’s hard to fathom how bad this is. Start with the claims themselves: In 2023, Trump sought damages from DOJ from the Russia investigation, which he’s called a 'hoax' for years. But while that probe had some serious problems, DOJ’s inspector general concluded it was legitimately predicated, and a GOP-led Senate committee, chaired by the fellow who’s now Trump’s secretary of state, confirmed in August 2020 that Russia did attempt to swing the election to Trump. Of course his campaign’s potential role in this had to be investigated," Sargent writes.
One of the people who will decide on Trump's payment demands is Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal attorney for Trump. Blanche, who is now second in command at the DOJ, also met with convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein's former partner Ghislaine Maxwell in July.
But that's not even the worst part — the payment can probably be completed without even being revealed publicly, Sargent explains.
"Regardless, for Trump to continue seeking these payments as president is even more wildly corrupt. The conflict-of-interest issues involved in Blanche making this decision are obvious. This is probably unconstitutional too," he writes.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, is investigating the demand and said that the payments can be made without immediate public disclosure.
“Our reading is that, even though this is a private settlement, it doesn’t have to be disclosed anywhere until there is an accounting of where all the money has gone at the end of the year,” Raskin told The New Republic.
“The domestic emoluments clause says the president may not receive any compensation at all from the U.S. government or the states beyond his official salary,” Raskin said. “This means he cannot be ordering government officials to write checks to the president.”