Attorney General nominee rescinds $1.8 billion fund but retains Trump tax audit immunity
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche withdrew a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund for Trump allies while keeping a limited audit-immunity agreement for the former president, his sons and the Trump Organization.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche sent a document to Republican senators on Sunday cancelling a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that had been intended to compensate political allies of President Donald Trump. The same filing left in place a narrowed audit-immunity arrangement that shields Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Jr., and the Trump Organization from future IRS examinations of tax filings that were already under review at the time of a settlement ending Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the agency.
Blanche wrote that the immunity applies only retroactively to claims open when the lawsuit was settled and does not protect the president from audits of future returns. The clarification is expected to satisfy holdout GOP senators and clear the path for Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general.
The original settlement, signed by Blanche, had barred the government from probing any current tax filings of the plaintiffs and related parties, a provision that drew criticism from lawmakers across the aisle. Legal analysts note that the immunity could eliminate more than $100 million in back-tax liabilities, though the exact amount owed by Trump remains unknown.
Critics argue the agreement may conflict with statutes that prohibit executive interference in tax audits, a rule enacted after the Watergate era. Dan Greenberg, a senior legal fellow at the Cato Institute, called the immunity “the product of an illegal settlement.”
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams previously ruled that Trump’s lawsuit was filed for an improper purpose but did not overturn the immunity deal, and Trump has appealed that decision. White House, IRS, Treasury and Trump-side attorneys have not responded to requests for comment.
While Blanche affirmed under oath that the administration is no longer pursuing the compensation fund, President Trump posted on his social platform that he would push to reinstate it if Blanche is not confirmed. Tax policy experts say congressional action would be needed to permanently bar any revival of the fund.