The president's Justice Department announced the move after the president dropped his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS

The Justice Department confirmed on Monday that it is creating a $1.776 billion fund to send taxpayer money to “victims of lawfare and weaponization.”

According to a statement from the DOJ to MeidasTouch, the fund would “consist of a Commission of five members appointed by the Attorney General. One Member will be chosen in consultation with congressional leadership” and “the President can remove any member.”

Hours before the announcement, President Donald Trump withdrew a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, paving the way for the creation of the fund in an attempt to skirt concerns about the president’s attempts to use taxpayer funds to compensate himself. Last week, ABC News and CNN reported on internal White House discussions regarding the president’s desire to drop the lawsuit in exchange for the massive fund to compensate allies and other individuals he feels have been wronged by past administrations — particularly former President Joe Biden. According to CNN, the settlement would also kill any existing IRS audits on Trump, members of his family, or associated businesses. 

ABC News reported that the fund could potentially respond to claims made by individuals who believe they were the victim of overreach or “weaponization” by the Biden administration. This could include the roughly 1,600 Jan. 6 defendants, whom Trump pardoned soon after taking office last year. While sources claim the agreement might include a provision barring Trump from directly pocketing the money, his businesses or other enterprises and associations may not be placed under such a restriction. 

Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS was originally filed in January. The lawsuit sought $10 billion in damages over the 2019 leak of Trump’s tax filings to The New York Times. In recent weeks, the lawsuit gained renewed scrutiny after administration officials confirmed that the settlement — should it be granted to Trump — would come entirely from taxpayer funds. The suit essentially amounted to Trump suing his own government, where his former personal attorney is currently serving as acting head of the DOJ, in order to ask for a direct deposit from taxpayers. 

Trump has repeatedly claimed that any money he would get would go to charity. The claim is dubious on its face given the amount of grift and self-enrichment being undertaken by the president and his family. Given recent reporting, it’s becoming clear that the “charity” Trump envisions is not necessarily helping the poor, hungry, or orphaned, but helping his cronies and allies bleed taxpayers just a little more.