WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday announced an agreement stating that the federal government will not investigate President Donald Trump, his family members, or companies regarding pending tax claims as part of Trump’s settlement with the IRS.
A one-page addendum to Monday’s settlement agreement states that, in establishing a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, Blanche agreed that the U.S. is “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting or pursuing, all claims,” including “monetary relief,” that “have been or could have been” asserted by the IRS against Trump, his family, or his businesses.
The addendum prevents the U.S. from pursuing damages that could have been claimed against the plaintiffs, including Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and their company, as well as other family members and their companies, in any matters currently pending or that may be pending against Defendants or other agencies or departments.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said the agreement is “only with respect to existing audits, not future.”
“As is customary in settlements, both sides have executed waivers of a variety of claims that were or could have been brought,” the Justice Department said in a statement. “There would be little point in settling several significant claims if either party could simply turn around and seek to initiative more adverse claims that could have been pursued previously.”
Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that Trump has “turned the federal government into his personal protection racket.”
“This settlement is corruption in the plainest sight: forcing IRS to abandon every audit, past and present, into Trump, his family, and their businesses while steering $1.8 billion in taxpayer dollars toward his friends, cronies, and Trump-affiliated companies is self-dealing at its most grotesque,” the statement said.
