A judge had a blistering response Monday for President Donald Trump's Department of Justice "slush fund," which a former Florida lawmaker described as a troubling pattern, CNN reported.
Former Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell responded to the ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in the Southern District of Florida, who had noted that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had signed a settlement document on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants — highlighting that only the Trump administration's interests were represented. CNN anchor Kasie Hunt referred to it as "one of many examples of where the president has tried to use our system to benefit himself in ways that then the legal system has had to scramble to catch up to."
Mucarsel-Powell called out why the pattern was so problematic.
"I think the point here — it's not just about the IRS. It's not just about this one case. It's the pattern that we've seen here, and it's that the executive branch, the president, is trying to use the power of his office to actually negotiate deals to benefit himself," Mucarsel-Powell said.
"And one of the things that the judge says in this case, which I think is very important to keep in mind, is that the court has to be bound by the Constitution," she added. "Congress is bound by the Constitution, the same as the executive [branch]. You can't have a president abuse the power of his office to try to benefit that office for himself. The judge says that as well. So Todd Blanche is going to be facing senators who are going to be questioning whether he's working for the American people or whether he's working for one person in the executive branch, President Donald Trump. That's not the way that these agencies should function. They should be independent, working for the American people, not for the president."
