MSNBC host Ari Melber says Donald Trump is “shaking down the government,” citing bombshell reporting from The New York Times that the president intends to seek roughly $230 million from the Department of Justice as compensation for its federal investigations of him.
On Tuesday’s “The Beat,” Melber blasted the possible settlement as a “blatant grift” and said it was an “ethics scandal” for Trump’s White House. “No president has ever tried to take money directly for himself from the DOJ like this,” he said. “Never.”
Melber said it’s clear that Trump “wants to destroy the traditional, credible independence of the Justice Department,” and questioned what the president may attempt next if a settlement were granted. “Why stop at $200 million? Why not billions? Why not tens of billions?” he asked.
One of the investigations Trump is reportedly seeking compensation for is the Justice Department’s investigation over his handling of classified documents. His lawyers have accused the FBI of violating the president’s privacy with its search of his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida in 2022.
Melber said Trump’s claim is “laughable,” considering classified documents were recovered from the president’s property. “Remember, he was in the wrong; they found the missing documents,” he said.
Although the MSNBC host noted the case did not ultimately go to trial, the validity of the search still stands. “The search was valid,” he said. “The search was authorized by an independent judge at the time in advance. It was later upheld.”
He added: “The idea that DOJ would be ordered to pay Trump for mishandling secret material that led to his search is a kind of a Trump MAGA autocratic-era equivalent of Gotham’s finest paying the Joker for investigating him.”
Melber said the report was further proof that, for Trump, “there are two different sets of rules,” and that the president “wants to make it very clear that he should be able to get away with anything and get paid for it,” while pursuing what some have argued are cases of “selective prosecution” against his political opponents.
“The Beat” host cited the case of Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey, who was arrested and charged with impeding and interfering with federal officers outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in May.
“Similar charges against the mayor of that same area already fell apart,” Melber said. “They were withdrawn. She, though, was back in court today in that case.” A federal judge is currently weighing whether McIver, who has pleaded not guilty, was illegally targeted by the administration.
“This is real life,” Melber said. “The Justice Department is one of the most powerful parts of the government, which is why the Constitution and our laws protect against abuse there, because the power to investigate, to search, to arrest, to try to imprison and sometimes to take human life, those are some of the greatest powers the government wields.”
“And now, it is the DOJ, this Justice Department, that is in the core, the fulcrum, of Donald Trump’s efforts to break the protections on that — to turn it into a weapon.”
You can watch Melber’s full analysis in the clip at the top of the page.
