Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has fought tooth and nail to keep his tax returns hidden from the public, despite the post-Watergate norm embraced by presidential candidates from both parties. Toward the end of his first term, however, some of the Republican’s private data reached Americans anyway — not because he came around on transparency, but because of a leak.
A former IRS contractor named Charles Littlejohn gained access to the relevant documents and shared them with The New York Times. His efforts were plainly illegal, and he ended up in prison.
More than five years later, Trump has decided that the criminal penalty wasn’t enough: The disclosure of the truth means he’s also entitled to a $10 billion payout from the federal tax agency, which the incumbent president sued in federal court on Thursday, claiming that the IRS should have done more to limit Littlejohn’s access.
During a brief Q-and-A with reporters on Air Force One on Saturday night, Trump publicly commented on the civil litigation for the first time.
“It’s very interesting,” he said. “I have another one where I, you know, I’ve virtually won the Mar-a-Lago break-in suit. And, you know, I have to work out some kind of a settlement. I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself.”
For the record, the FBI didn’t “break in” to Mar-a-Lago; it executed a court-approved search warrant after Trump allegedly committed a variety of felonies by storing classified documents in his glorified country club for reasons he still hasn’t explained.
What’s more, he also hasn’t “virtually won” any lawsuits stemming from the scandal.
But another part of his answer also stood out: Trump sees himself as both the plaintiff and defendant in the case, since he’s filed suit against his own administration.
On the IRS case, the president added that he and his team are “thinking about doing something for charity,” adding that he assumes that “nobody would care” if he receives a multibillion-dollar payout as part of his latest frivolous litigation.
As Trump apparently sees it, Americans won’t be outraged if he agrees to pay himself billions of taxpayer dollars, so long as he doesn’t keep billions of taxpayer dollars.
If only it were that simple. For one thing, there are no guarantees that he’d direct all of the money to charitable causes. For another, Trump’s track record of following through on vows to give to charity isn’t exactly sterling, which makes it difficult to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Just as notable is the simple fact that the president filed an absurd $10 billion lawsuit, seeking a payoff he neither needs nor deserves. Vague assurances about where some or all of that money might go at some future date don’t turn a baseless case into a good one.
Writing for MS NOW, political columnist Paul Waldman explained that the president’s litigation is “so brazen, so shameless, so stunning … that it will stand out in history even in a presidential term drowning in self-dealing.” Waldman added, “This latest act deploys Trump’s favorite financial weapon — the bogus lawsuit — but in a way no one even contemplated before.”
On ABC News’ “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about the obvious conflict of interest, as Trump seeks money from his own administration. Blanche, a former Trump defense attorney, replied, “We’re looking at how to handle that.”
That wasn’t altogether reassuring.
