Politics
Trump DOJ creates $1.7-billion fund for victims of legal ‘weaponization,’ prompting outrage
WASHINGTON — Shortly after attorneys for President Trump moved Monday to dismiss his $10-billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over claims it had leaked his personal tax returns, the Justice Department announced that a settlement in the case would be used to create a $1.776-billion fund for other victims of “weaponization and lawfare.”
“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” Acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche said in a statement.
Trump has long claimed that the federal government under President Biden went after him and his political allies without justification and in violation of the law.
He has pardoned all of his supporters charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, along with other political allies, while pressuring the Justice Department to bring cases against his political opponents.
His lawsuit against the IRS had been challenged by Democratic lawmakers, former IRS and Justice Department officials and outside progressive organizations as a blatantly unlawful move by a deeply conflicted president.
It raised questions from the federal judge overseeing it — who had demanded answers this week on whether Trump and his own government were essentially colluding to reach a mutually beneficial agreement in a case in which Trump stood on both sides.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called the potential deal “a stunning act of corruption. … If he follows through, it will be the most brazen theft and abuse of taxpayer dollars by any president in American history.”
Blanche defended the settlement Monday as similar to one reached during the Obama administration to address claims that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had systematically discriminated against Native American ranchers and farmers for decades.
However, experts said the creation of a fund for Trump’s political allies, as part of a deal to settle a lawsuit he had personally brought against his own government, was completely unprecedented — and concerning.
“Essentially the president is on both sides of the ‘vs.’ [in the lawsuit], and has control over the very agency that is responsible for offering the funds, in settlement of a lawsuit that he has brought in his own personal capacity, along with members of this family,” said Bhattacharyya, legal director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law. “That has never, ever, ever happened before. No former president of the United States would have been so brazen.”
The lawsuit is one of numerous legal attacks by Trump and his administration against a wide range of the president’s perceived enemies, including universities, media outlets and law firms. A number of those cases were settled with promised payments to a future Trump presidential library, funds sent to the federal government, cash for workforce development programs and free legal work.
The Justice Department said the new “weaponization” fund will be paid for out of the federal Judgment Fund, which is a permanent appropriation by Congress and administered by the U.S. Treasury. It was created to ensure that settlements by and judgments against the government could be paid out without individual appropriations being made each time.
The Justice Department said the fund will cease processing claims no later than Dec. 1, 2028 — shortly before Trump is set to leave office — and that the fund will consist of five members appointed by the attorney general, with the president having removal power.
In a separate court filing Monday in the case, 93 Democrat House members also blasted the potential IRS deal.
“Should this lawsuit achieve Plaintiffs’ desired ends, it would result in the improper and unconstitutional transfer of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of the President, his family, and his allies,” the filing reads.
The initial complaint, brought by Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, focused on leaks by a former IRS contractor, Charles Littlejohn, to the New York Times and ProPublica of tax information for Trump and other wealthy individuals.
Littlejohn pleaded guilty to the unauthorized disclosure of tax information and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024.
Progressive legal organizations and former IRS and Justice Department officials have also spoken out against the president’s lawsuit and the looming settlement.
The progressive legal organization Democracy Forward had previously filed a brief in court challenging Trump’s lawsuit as raising serious legal concerns. The February brief was filed on behalf of two other groups — Common Cause and the Project on Government Oversight — as well as four former federal officials, including former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.
The brief argued that the lawsuit was significantly flawed and barred by a statute of limitation, but also raised “serious concerns about collusive litigation tactics,” and that the court “should exercise its inherent authority to proactively manage” it.
“This case is extraordinary because the President controls both sides of the litigation, which raises the prospect of collusive litigation tactics. Collusive litigation threatens the integrity of the judicial process by risking the Court’s entanglement in an illegitimate proceeding,” the filing said.
The complaint “was filed too late, against the wrong party, and for an unsupported and excessive sum of damages,” the filing said.
Last week, Brandon DeBot, a senior attorney advisor and policy director at the Tax Law Center at New York University Law, and Dave Hubbert, a senior fellow at the center, wrote that the lawsuit was “absurd,” and that a settlement — particularly one in which the IRS would agree to drop any audits of Trump, his family and their businesses — would be “deeply concerning.”
They wrote that the Justice Department has no authority to negotiate any such terms, and that “negotiations involving the President and White House officials to end audits of the President, his family, and his businesses risk violating laws protecting against political interference in tax administration.”
They noted that Congress had “strengthened the tax code’s protections against political interference on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis following public revelation of President Nixon’s failed attempts to use the IRS to target political enemies,” and that any moves by anyone in the White House to “directly or indirectly” request an audit of the president be suspended would violate the law.
Bhattacharyya, who previously oversaw complex settlement cases at the Justice Department, said the “mechanism” by which any such settlement could be used to facilitate payments directly to Trump’s allies would seem to “deviate” from guidelines for the disbursement of settlements to third parties not part of the initial litigation.
Bhattacharyya said such third-party disbursements were banned under Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions during Trump’s first term, allowed under very narrow circumstances in environmental and pollution cases under Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland during the Biden administration, and then barred again by Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi in Trump’s second term, before her recent ouster.
A settlement in Trump’s IRS case being distributed to his supporters “would seem to deviate from all of those guidelines,” she said. “It would violate all of them.”
Trump’s legal maneuverings against the IRS come amid wider concerns about mismanagement at the agency and a wider battle over its providing the sensitive data of other taxpayers to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at the Trump administration’s direction.
Trump removed IRS Commissioner Billy Long in August 2025, allowed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to serve as acting commissioner for a time and then created the new position of IRS “CEO,” which congressional Democrats have railed against as a “fake” position designed to avoid congressional oversight while the agency falls into “chaos.”
Congressional Democrats have also demanded answers about the release of taxpayer data to ICE, ostensibly for the purposes of deporting taxpayers who lack proper documentation to be in the country as part of Trump’s massive deportation campaign.
“The IRS now admits that this system led to exactly the kinds of grave mistakes our taxpayer privacy laws were designed to prevent,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and several other senators wrote in February.
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Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., cursed out a Fox News Digital reporter after he began asking about allegations of a sexual relationship between her and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that were recently raised by a woman identifying herself as Massie’s ex-girlfriend.
“F – – – you, first of all!’ Boebert said to a Fox News Digital reporter when bringing up claims from Massie’s alleged ex-girlfriend.
“If you’re gonna bring me into this, like, the sexist stuff is like out of control,” she continued. “So there’s your clickbait that you were looking for.”
FIVE TIMES NANCY PELOSI LOST HER COOL WITH THE MEDIA
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., reacts to a Fox News Digital reporter’s question about allegations involving Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., before ending the interview and walking away. (Nicholas Ballasy/Fox News Digital)
Boebert then declined to discuss the allegations further.
The exchange came after Boebert had been discussing President Donald Trump’s efforts to unseat Republican incumbents and Massie’s political future.
The former congressional staffer Cynthia West, who previously worked for Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., accused Massie of bragging to her about an alleged sexual encounter with Boebert within weeks of his wife’s death.
West also accused Massie of offering her $5,000 to drop a wrongful termination lawsuit she was pursuing against Spartz, an ally of Massie. The allegations surfaced just a week before Massie lost his House seat in the May 19 Republican primary.
“I don’t want to talk about anybody’s exes and their crazy s– – – that they do,” Boebert said to the reporter.
Before the exchange turned contentious, Boebert was answering questions about whether Trump’s strategy of backing primary challengers against Republican incumbents is backfiring on the GOP agenda.
MTG SAYS GOP’S FUTURE ‘DESTROYED’ AFTER TRUMP-BACKED PRIMARY CHALLENGER DEFEATS THOMAS MASSIE IN PRIMARY
Rep. Lauren Boebert defended her support for Rep. Thomas Massie after criticism from President Donald Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I think most of the folks that have lost their primaries, they were backfiring on the GOP agenda — Cassidy, Cornyn,” Boebert replied.
“I mean, obviously Thomas Massie is the only one that I’m a little sad about,” she said.
Boebert was also asked about Massie’s recent announcement that he is filing for re-election in 2028. Many are speculating that Massie could make a 2028 presidential run as he said he is unsure which position he will be seeking re-election for.
“I haven’t made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run,” he wrote in a post on X announcing his re-election filing with the Federal Election Commission.
TRUMP CALLS OUT REP THOMAS MASSIE: ‘KENTUCKY, GET THIS LOSER OUT OF POLITICS’ TUESDAY
Rep. Thomas Massie speaks with supporters after his concession speech in Hebron, Ky., on May 19, 2026. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Boebert shared that she was unsure of Massie’s next move, before she reprimanded the reporter for shifting the conversation to allegations raised by West.
“He filed for something,” she said. “He didn’t specify what and I don’t know if he’s going to move forward with that or not. I don’t know.” “Hopefully he leaves here and makes some money,” Boebert added.
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Moments later, the reporter began asking about the allegations from Massie’s alleged ex-girlfriend, prompting Boebert’s expletive-laced response.
Boebert declined to discuss the allegations further and walked away from the interview.
Politics
Becerra advances to November, moves closer to becoming California’s first elected Latino governor
Veteran Democratic politician Xavier Becerra won one of the top two spots in California’s primary for governor, according to the Associated Press, a finish that puts him in a prime position to win the November general election and make history as California’s first elected Latino governor.
“The people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on earth, have spoken — loudly and proudly,” Xavier Becerra said in a statement Friday. “We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down. November, here we come.”
Former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican, remains in a close second and appears on the cusp of securing the right to face off with Becerra in the November general election.
“Steve is already focused on November, traveling the state, meeting with voters, and continuing to build a coalition of Californians who want change after 16 years of one-party rule,” said Hector Barajas, a Hilton spokesman.
Democrat Tom Steyer, a hedge fund founder turned climate change activist, appears likely to finish in third place — a disappointing end to a campaign that saturated California’s television screens, social media scrolls and mailboxes thanks to the billionaire spending $216 million of his own wealth.
Becerra’s victory was declared by the Associated Press on Friday evening, three days after the June 2 election — an indication of the competitive race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom and California’s lengthy process of counting ballots. After polls closed on Tuesday, Hilton was in the lead. He and Becerra were within a percentage point of each other by Friday, though that could change as the vote tally continues.
While his fate is not sealed, Steyer faces long odds to finish in the top two.
“Nothing changes for us. We’re waiting to see if there are enough votes left to be counted to put Tom into the runoff,” said Steyer spokesman Anthony York. “We knew since Tuesday that this was a matter of overtaking Hilton. Today’s call does nothing to change that.”
Under California’s primary system, only the two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary advance to the November general election, regardless of their party affiliation.
Becerra would enter the general election campaign with a significant edge over Hilton since Democratic voters in California outnumber Republicans by an almost 2-to-1 margin, a telltale reason why no GOP candidate has won a statewide race since 2006.
President Trump’s endorsement of Hilton helped consolidate support from Republican voters, which was pivotal to his success in the primary, but would likely hurt him in a face-off against Becerra. Nearly two-thirds of voters in the state want a governor who will fight Trump’s policies, according to the survey by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies that was co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times.
Becerra could make history by becoming the first Latino to be elected governor — and the first to lead the state in more than 150 years. The last time a Latino held the office was in 1875, when then-Lt. Gov. Romualdo Pacheco was elevated to fill a vacancy and served for 10 months.
“California has made history. Xavier Becerra’s advancement to the general election is a defining moment both for the state, and for the millions of Latino families who have been instrumental in shaping the state’s future,” said Voto Latino Executive Director Beatriz Lopez. “As home to the nation’s largest Latino population, California will once again demonstrate the decisive power of Latino voters.”
Though Latinos make up about 40% of the state’s population and are California’s largest ethnic group, they historically have lower turnout in elections and are underrepresented in government. While Becerra often cites his upbringing as a child of working-class Mexican immigrants, he must demonstrate that he can deliver for these communities, said Christian Arana, vice president of civic power and policy at the California-based Latino Community Foundation.
“There’s a lot of excitement about the representation side,” Arana said. “You can have Latino representation, but whether or not that will actually lead to tangible outcomes for Latino communities, that’s what people want to know.”
Once in the single-digits in public polls with a handful of other Democratic candidates, Becerra rose quickly and unexpectedly following the political demise of former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin).
Becerra’s ascent began days after Swalwell dropped out of the race in April in the midst of allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that he denies. Becerra quickly consolidated support from Democratic leaders and allies, including Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and influential groups such as Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Medical Assn.
But both supporters and critics of Becerra struggle to explain exactly how or why he became the main beneficiary of Swalwell’s downfall.
Becerra’s campaign credits the timing of a major television and digital advertising push. The political ads began running just before the allegations against Swalwell came out and depicted Becerra as a calm, experienced leader with a record pushing back against Trump and support from Young Democrat groups.
Steyer’s campaign hired an intelligence firm to look into the online surge favoring Becerra and found thousands of bot accounts had amplified Becerra on various social media platforms. Becerra’s campaign denied any involvement and dismissed the influence of the fake accounts.
Political experts describe it as the stars aligning for Becerra. In the aftermath of the Swalwell scandal, voters were apparently drawn to Becerra’s long resume and stoic, thoughtful demeanor.
“He just never overreacted. Even when attacked [during debates], he was calm,” said Fernando Guerra, professor of Chicano Studies at Loyola Marymount University. That “gave the sense of being a moderate, while he’s really a liberal, so he was able to appeal not only to Latinos, but to liberals and to moderates.”
After Swalwell’s campaign crumbled, members of the political brain trust — many with ties to Newsom — that had been advising the former congressman began working for Becerra, including veteran consultants Lindsey Cobia and Courtni Pugh and digital strategist Alf LaMont.
“There was nothing going for him for a long, long time,” said Jason McDaniel, associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University. “I do think it was just people looking for someone who had a lot of experience who could win.”
Becerra’s first election victory was to win a seat in the state Assembly in 1990. He served one term before successfully running for a Los Angeles congressional seat, which he held for 24 years.
Then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Becerra as state attorney general in 2017, a post he used to challenge Trump administration policies in the courts more than a 100 times — with great success. Becerra, who helped craft the Affordable Care Act in Congress, defended it as attorney general, and President Biden nominated him to serve as his secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The 68-year-old faced criticism about his record leading the massive federal agency, particularly over a New York Times investigation that found thousands of unaccompanied migrant children ended up working in dangerous jobs after they were released to sponsors.
Some former Biden administration officials, many of them anonymous, have also criticized Becerra’s leadership of the agency.
Still, Becerra’s supporters said the candidate’s experience, particularly when it comes to fighting the Trump administration, qualifies him for California’s top job.
“He’s had some very important positions in government,” labor leader Dolores Huerta said at Becerra’s election night party in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. “He is qualified. He doesn’t have to go into a learning mode.”
“He’s a legal scholar,” added David Dixon, a political science professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills and brother of a longtime Becerra aide. “When our Constitution is threatened, we need people like him to be in positions of power to reclaim things we are losing now.”
Times staff writers Dakota Smith and Andrew Khouri contributed to this report.
Politics
Steve Hilton launches ad mocking Xavier Becerra’s ’36 years’ as a career politician in California gov race
Steve Hilton vows to repair California’s election system as primary results remain undecided
California primary election results for governor and Los Angeles mayor are still delayed days after the vote, as officials continue counting mail-in ballots. Meanwhile, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner faces a new wave of troubling allegations from ex-girlfriends, which he labels politically motivated. Congressman Ro Khanna defends Platner, despite warnings from other Democrats.
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California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton launched a new campaign ad Saturday targeting former Biden administration official Xavier Becerra, signaling the general election fight may already be underway even as primary ballots continue to be counted.
The 55-second ad mocks Becerra’s lengthy political career and record in government, portraying the Democrat as a continuation of California’s political status quo.
The ad features silent clips of Becerra appearing on an old-fashioned TV screen while captions flash across the screen, including: “I’ve been a career politician for 36 years. Vote for me.”
Other captions reference issues likely to become central themes in the governor’s race, including homelessness, California’s high-speed rail project and Becerra’s tenure as secretary of Health and Human Services in former President Joe Biden’s administration.
HILTON, BECERRA, IN THE LEAD WITH VOTES STILL BEING COUNTED IN BATTLE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR
The ad also attempts to tie Becerra to Gov. Gavin Newsom, ending with the message: “I’ll change nothing about how California is governed,” followed by the tagline, “Don’t watch another rerun.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Becerra and the Hilton campaigns for comment.
The ad comes less than 24 hours after The Associated Press projected Becerra would advance to California’s November gubernatorial election to succeed the term-limited Newsom.
CALIFORNIA ELECTION LIMBO FUELED BY 4 PRESSURE POINTS DRAGGING OUT VOTE COUNT, EXPERT SAYS
Republican governor candidate Steve Hilton speaks during a news conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. (Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, File)
As vote counting continued Saturday, Becerra led the field with 26.8% of the vote, according to AP totals. Hilton received 26.4%, while Democrat Tom Steyer had 21.1%.
Roughly 68% of ballots had been counted as of Saturday afternoon.
In a statement after the AP race call, Becerra celebrated the result and framed his campaign as a fight for California voters.
XAVIER BECERRA PRESSED ON ‘RUMORS’ HE KNEW ABOUT ERIC SWALWELL’S ALLEGED MISCONDUCT DURING CA GOVERNOR DEBATE
California gubernatorial hopefuls Xavier Becerra, left, and Steve Hilton participate in a candidate debate in San Francisco. (Laure Andrillon/AP Photo, File)
“The people of the great state of California, in the greatest nation on earth, have spoken — loudly and proudly,” Becerra said. “We will not be bought. We will not be bullied. And we are never backing down. November, here we come.”
Becerra’s campaign also said the result makes him the first Latino candidate to advance from a California gubernatorial primary to a general election, calling it a historic milestone for the state.
If elected in November, Becerra would become California’s first Latino governor since Romualdo Pacheco, who briefly served as governor in 1875.
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Becerra, a former California attorney general, served as Health and Human Services secretary during the Biden administration before launching his gubernatorial campaign.
Hilton, a former Fox News host and political commentator, has campaigned as a political outsider and agent of change, arguing California is headed in the wrong direction under Democratic leadership.
Results from Tuesday’s primary have not yet been certified.
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