Donald Trump just signaled he is trying to get away with something big, according to an ex-DOJ lawyer.
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance is raising alarms over what she calls a "pardon on steroids" — a one-page Justice Department settlement, signed quietly Monday by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, that shields Trump, his family, and his businesses from any federal prosecution or civil action for crimes "presently known or unknown."
And Vance says the most pressing question is what, exactly, Trump is trying to bury.
"The optics of this are so bad that it's hard to believe Trump would expose himself to their consequences unless he really needed this deal," Vance wrote in her Civil Discourse newsletter Tuesday. "The protection it offers must be essential in some way we are as of yet unaware of."
The Supreme Court's 2024 immunity ruling already shields Trump from prosecution for official acts. But Vance noted that personal business dealings, tax matters, and private transactions fall outside that umbrella — and those are exactly the areas the new settlement wipes clean.
A senior veteran FBI agent told Vance the sweep is staggering: "Fraud by Don Jr at Kalshi? Out. Fraud at Trump Media & Technology Group? Out. Fraud at whatever crypto/drone/AI/investment endeavor? Out — no DOJ, no SEC, no IRS, no CFTC — no federal entity."
Legal scholars have long argued a president cannot pardon himself. Vance says Trump just found the workaround.
"There is no hint in the document of what consequence Trump may be trying to avoid. But many legal commentators believe that while a president’s pardon power is broad, it’s not so broad that he can pardon himself," the ex-federal prosecutor wrote. "Here, Trump seems to have found a way around that limitation, obtaining a pardon equivalent and then some for himself and for his family."
