Whitehouse Keeps Up Questions to Blanche on Cop-Beaters Slush Fund & Trump Family Tax Fraud Amnesty Deal

New letter comes during the two-day confirmation hearing for Todd Blanche, who greenlighted the purported settlement

Whitehouse's previous requests to DOJ have gone unanswered

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter this week to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche following up on the Senator's last two requests that the Department of Justice provide documents regarding President Trump and DOJ's attempted creation of a massive taxpayer-funded slush fund to reward the President's political allies. The letter also inquires about the related tax amnesty and legal immunity agreement for the Trump family and their business associates.

In May, DOJ announced that President Trump had agreed to drop a $10 billion lawsuit he initiated against his own Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax information in exchange for the creation of an unprecedented $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund." The commission overseeing the fund would have the authority to dole out nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer funds to settle claims brought by anyone who believed they were harmed by the purported "weaponization" of the justice system, including participants convicted of assaulting law enforcement and other crimes related to the January 6 insurrection.

One day after the purported settlement agreement was reached, DOJ announced an addendum that was signed by Acting Attorney General Blanche. The addendum would purportedly prohibit the IRS from pursuing audits against Trump, his family, and their business associates for any previous tax offenses, and shield them from any other "lawfare and/or weaponization" as part of a bizarre side deal to the DOJ's compensation fund agreement.

The federal judge in Florida overseeing the Trump v. IRS case opened an inquiry into whether DOJ and Trump's personal lawyers committed "fraud on the court," an allegation against senior DOJ officials unheard of in DOJ history. The judge invited a response, which DOJ failed to provide - a telling signal of the department's own consciousness of wrongdoing.

This week, the court ruled that the case was "brought for an improper purpose" because the case was a product of collusion, the parties were never actually adverse, and the case was filed solely to provide cover for a settlement. The court repeatedly called out DOJ's unusual and indefensible silence in the matter, including its decision not to make an appearance, nor file a single pleading, nor challenge any of the plaintiffs' claims, after being given multiple opportunities to do so, leading the court to conclude that DOJ "actively avoided" judicial review. The court ordered Rule 11 sanctions against Trump's personal lawyers and directed that the court's order be transmitted to the New York and D.C. bars where disciplinary actions against Acting Attorney General Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward are pending.

"In discussing DOJ's conduct, the court said, '[i]t is telling that the DOJ, which is tasked with enforcement of United States law, has remained conspicuously absent and silent when serious questions about this matter have been raised.' The court noted that 'Defendants never appeared, never challenged Plaintiffs' claims, and never filed a single pleading.' The court further said, '[i]n abdicating its responsibility to zealously defend the interests of the United States, the Government entered into a 'settlement' that deviated from its litigation posture in similar actions, disregarded DOJ policies, and accomplished objectives beyond those authorized, as well as those specifically prohibited, by law,'" wrote Whitehouse in the new letter.

During the first day of Acting AG Blanche's two-day confirmation hearing, Whitehouse demanded that Blanche provide documents and communications between DOJ and Trump plaintiffs in the matter as well as responses to 15 outstanding oversight requests and 12 outstanding FOIA requests. Blanche claimed that he was "not aware" of any communication in the Trump v. IRS case.

Whitehouse concluded in the letter, "Specifically, I want to be sure you provide all documents, including any correspondence with plaintiffs' counsel, related to DOJ's decision not to defend the IRS, nor challenge the plaintiffs' claims, nor make any appearance or file any pleading in the case; or related to any understandings reached with plaintiffs regarding their pleadings or posture in the case."

Senators Whitehouse and Dick Durbin, the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to Blanche in late May requesting that the Department of Justice preserve all records related to the proposed "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and the purported "Settlement Agreement" in Trump v. Internal Revenue Service. Whitehouse sent another letter earlier this month to Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano seeking answers to outstanding questions on the matters.

In the most recent letter, Whitehouse requested documents by July 22. Full text of the letter is available here.

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