Politico reports:

The Trump administration will drop its $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that was widely criticized as a payout for the president’s allies, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a congressional hearing Tuesday.

“We’re not moving forward with the fund, period,” said Blanche in remarks before the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the Department of Justice.

Republican blowback from the announcement of the fund has stalled movement on an immigration enforcement bill in the Senate, where GOP leaders feared their members would vote on Democratic amendments to nix or put guardrails on the account. Separately, a judge late last week paused the administration’s ability to administer the fund, prompting DOJ to release a statement saying it would follow the court’s orders.

But Republican senators have been hopeful Blanche would make clear in his testimony that the administration would abandon this effort altogether, which could clear the way for Congress to vote on the party-line package with fewer political headaches.

Asked whether he believed Blanche’s comments would satisfy his members, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview, “I’m hoping they’re going to be [set] … We’ll see, it’s been an interesting week.”

If Blanche’s comments, coupled with additional outreach this week from the White House, are enough to smooth over concerns, Republicans could take up the immigration enforcement bill as soon as Wednesday.

But Thune said leaders were “still trying to figure out how to land the plane” — while noting Senate Republicans need to secure 50 votes not just on the bill itself but to defeat attempts to make changes to the bill. Democrats will use a marathon vote-a-rama to force Republicans to take politically difficult positions on any number of issues, too.

Several Republican senators indicated Tuesday they still had questions about the fate of the fund, created as part of the agreement that Trump should drop his lawsuit against the federal government for the leak of his tax returns. Blanche, at the hearing Tuesday, did not suggest the administration had any intention of withdrawing from that settlement, which included an addendum the IRS would stop pursuing activities against Trump, his family and affiliated businesses.

In other words, Blanche was effectively asking lawmakers to trust that the DOJ would not administer the fund in the event the court eventually allows it to proceed.

Blanche refused to put anything in writing promising the administration would abandon the effort.

“I’m not committing to putting anything in writing. I’ve said it today over and over again,” he told lawmakers. “I don’t know what the purpose of putting something in writing — I’m telling you what we’re doing.” [Continue reading…]

Forbes reports:

Donald Trump earned an estimated $1.4 billion from crypto and licensing ventures in 2025, as he turned his first year back in the White House into the most lucrative year of his life. If the president received an extension for his 2025 return, his preparers may be sorting through exactly how to present this year’s welter of income right now. Trump has never hidden the animating principle. When Hillary Clinton accused him of paying no taxes in the 2016 debates, he replied: “That makes me smart.” Also much richer. If Trump is able to conjure up theories to avoid taxes for his 2025 income, he could save more than a half-billion dollars, according to Forbes estimates.

The conflict-of-interest underpinning all of this is so obvious that even Trump has acknowledged it. “I’m the one that makes the decision, right?” he mused in the Oval Office in October. “You know, that decision would have to go across my desk. And it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.” Trump first suggested he would send whatever judgement he received to charity, before settling on a more creative approach. The government would not pay Trump. Instead, Trump would get a pass enabling him to pay less to the government. The move harkens the old cliché—a penny saved is a penny earned—with the same result: more money in Trump’s pocket. [Continue reading…]

The Wall Street Journal reports:

President Trump’s extraordinary no-audits promise from his acting attorney general operates far outside normal tax administration, with tax lawyers saying the deal likely exceeds the Justice Department’s authority to close tax cases.

The May 19 arrangement ends pending audits of Trump, his family and his businesses, and it blocks future audits of already filed returns. That creates a protective blanket that will be difficult—but not impossible—for Trump’s opponents or future tax authorities to pierce. The shield goes far beyond what other taxpayers typically get when resolving disputes with the Internal Revenue Service.

“When I think of all the people that I represented in my career who were being pursued, even the ones who deserved it…What are they supposed to think?” said Paula Junghans, a former senior Justice Department tax official. “It just completely reinforces the notion that the rules don’t apply to the rich and the powerful.” [Continue reading…]