hat was fast! It’s already signed and sealed, and waiting expectantly for the first lawsuit to show up. Yesterday, in a completely neutral and totally unbiased article, the New York Times reported, “Justice Dept. Sets Up $1.8 Billion Fund That Could Funnel Money to Trump Allies.” They’re upset because the DOJ executed it brilliantly.
image 7.png
The settlement was teased over the weekend, but now we have the actual document, and yesterday we saw how skillfully it was deployed. In short, President Trump settled three of his lawsuits for an apology and a reparations fund with no money going to him personally. The three resolved cases were the one against the IRS for leaking his tax returns, the second over the Russia-collusion hoax during Trump 1.0, and the third over the 2022 Mar-a-Lago raid.
The best part is the restitution fund —not $1.8 billion as the Times headline reported, but a much pleasanter $1.776 billion— which becomes a patriotically numbered DOJ compensation fund for any person “who suffered weaponization and lawfare.” The money comes from a special DOJ general fund available to resolve lawsuits against the government, which “gives the department authority to make monetary settlements without needing approval from Congress.”
The DOJ hasn’t said, but virtually everybody commenting on the deal assumes the money will be available to January 6th lawfare victims. All J6’ers should apply. Maybe everyone canceled during the pandemic should apply, too. I’ll be applying on behalf of my Disinformation Dozen clients.
When details emerge, I will make sure everyone knows exactly how to apply.
? The left’s reaction was a wild explosion of hyperbolic fury. “This is one of the single most corrupt acts in American history,” said Donald K. Sherman, an anti-Trump activist and NGO president. Chuck Schumer called the settlement the “most depraved and corrupt” thing Trump has ever done, and claimed it would “fund an insurrectionist army to the tune of billions.”
image 4.png
What really got into their underpants is how Trump’s lawyers ran rings around them and boomeranged their own tactics back against them. No fewer than 93 Democrat lawmakers filed a hysterical motion “just minutes after Trump’s lawyers informed Judge Williams” of the deal. But Trump’s lawyers didn’t ask the court to bless the deal; instead, they just dismissed his lawsuit, which under the rules did not require court permission since the DOJ had not yet formally responded.
“The president’s lawyers essentially beat the lawmakers to the draw by dismissing the case on their own,” the Times explained, “hamstringing the lawmakers’ ability to stop a settlement from going through.” Booya.
And then the DOJ published the one-page settlement in an online announcement. According to DOJ, the settlement fund “provides a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”
In a second, equally brilliant maneuver, both the settlement itself and all the DOJ communications cited an obscure Obama-era lawsuit that the DOJ settled in 2010, in virtually the same way. Just wait till you get this.
image 8.png
? Keepseagle v. Vilsack was a nationwide class action filed by riled-up Native American farmers who claimed the racist USDA had discriminated against them in farm loan programs since 1981. They sued in 1999 (presumably not partying like it was 1999). When Obama took office in 2009, his Attorney General, Eric Holder, immediately began negotiating a settlement, which was approved by the court in 2010.
The Keepseagle settlement required the DOJ to deposit $680 million into a compensation fund (plus pay another $80 million for loan debt forgiveness and for the lawyers). Indian farmers could submit claims under an expedited process that didn’t require any proof of injury at all and get around $62,500 (in 2010 dollars). Or they could provide evidence of actual harm and get up to $250,000 plus an amount to cover income taxes and their attorney’s fees, if any.
At the time, corporate media thought it was wonderful; they framed it as long overdue justice provided to right historic wrongs and make everything fair. NPR, October 2010:
image 5.png
Eventually, only about $300 million was paid to the farmers. So, guess what Eric Holder did with the leftover $380 million? He paid it all out to progressive NGOs, that’s what. There is no public list of the organizations and officials that ultimately received settlement money, because it was laundered through large initial block grants to Native American groups, which in turn made undisclosed sub-grants to others, and so on down the line.
Anyway, guess who sued? Not Republicans. The farmers sued. They argued the money was supposed to be used to compensate them for their racial discrimination loan injuries. But they lost at the district court. They lost at the Circuit Court of Appeals. They appealed to the Supreme Court, which refused to take the case.
In other words, courts upheld the settlement structure.
image 9.png
The whole time, everybody knew perfectly well that the money was really sloshing to the Obama Administration’s allies. A Wall Street Journal Editorial Board op-ed called the Keepseagle fund (and other similar ones Obama arranged) his “slush funds:”
image 6.png
That is why the Democrats are so furious. They are projecting again. They think Todd Blanche is copying Eric Holder’s successful slush fund strategy— a terrifying prospect. There’s one huge difference, though. The Trump Settlement says that any money left over goes back to the DOJ’s general fund. Unlike when Democrats do it, it won’t tumble into the political laundromat.
Of course, that didn’t stop the Times from claiming it will “funnel money to Trump’s allies.” The Times article, and I am not making this up, never even mentioned the Keepseagle case, even though it is right there in the one-page settlement. Nor did the Times even link to the settlement form itself, in case a reader might stumble upon Keepseagle accidentally.
The Times wants so badly for the Trump Settlement’s structure to be somehow illegitimate. That argument will fail. It’s not just that Obama’s DOJ did the same thing (or even worse, if you include the NGO firehose). No, not only that, but Obama’s DOJ did the same thing and the courts upheld it. It’s already been judicially blessed in the far-left DC Circuit.
Not only were Democrats and the media taken completely by surprise, their last-ditch lawfare failed spectacularly, since Trump’s team knew exactly what they would do. Too predictable.
The settlement fund is a done deal. They can fight it, and I’m sure they will, but Obama paved the way.
hat was fast! It’s already signed and sealed, and waiting expectantly for the first lawsuit to show up. Yesterday, in a completely neutral and totally unbiased article, the New York Times reported, “Justice Dept. Sets Up $1.8 Billion Fund That Could Funnel Money to Trump Allies.” They’re upset because the DOJ executed it brilliantly.
image 7.png
The settlement was teased over the weekend, but now we have the actual document, and yesterday we saw how skillfully it was deployed. In short, President Trump settled three of his lawsuits for an apology and a reparations fund with no money going to him personally. The three resolved cases were the one against the IRS for leaking his tax returns, the second over the Russia-collusion hoax during Trump 1.0, and the third over the 2022 Mar-a-Lago raid.
The best part is the restitution fund —not $1.8 billion as the Times headline reported, but a much pleasanter $1.776 billion— which becomes a patriotically numbered DOJ compensation fund for any person “who suffered weaponization and lawfare.” The money comes from a special DOJ general fund available to resolve lawsuits against the government, which “gives the department authority to make monetary settlements without needing approval from Congress.”
The DOJ hasn’t said, but virtually everybody commenting on the deal assumes the money will be available to January 6th lawfare victims. All J6’ers should apply. Maybe everyone canceled during the pandemic should apply, too. I’ll be applying on behalf of my Disinformation Dozen clients.
When details emerge, I will make sure everyone knows exactly how to apply.
? The left’s reaction was a wild explosion of hyperbolic fury. “This is one of the single most corrupt acts in American history,” said Donald K. Sherman, an anti-Trump activist and NGO president. Chuck Schumer called the settlement the “most depraved and corrupt” thing Trump has ever done, and claimed it would “fund an insurrectionist army to the tune of billions.”
image 4.png
What really got into their underpants is how Trump’s lawyers ran rings around them and boomeranged their own tactics back against them. No fewer than 93 Democrat lawmakers filed a hysterical motion “just minutes after Trump’s lawyers informed Judge Williams” of the deal. But Trump’s lawyers didn’t ask the court to bless the deal; instead, they just dismissed his lawsuit, which under the rules did not require court permission since the DOJ had not yet formally responded.
“The president’s lawyers essentially beat the lawmakers to the draw by dismissing the case on their own,” the Times explained, “hamstringing the lawmakers’ ability to stop a settlement from going through.” Booya.
And then the DOJ published the one-page settlement in an online announcement. According to DOJ, the settlement fund “provides a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”
In a second, equally brilliant maneuver, both the settlement itself and all the DOJ communications cited an obscure Obama-era lawsuit that the DOJ settled in 2010, in virtually the same way. Just wait till you get this.
image 8.png
? Keepseagle v. Vilsack was a nationwide class action filed by riled-up Native American farmers who claimed the racist USDA had discriminated against them in farm loan programs since 1981. They sued in 1999 (presumably not partying like it was 1999). When Obama took office in 2009, his Attorney General, Eric Holder, immediately began negotiating a settlement, which was approved by the court in 2010.
The Keepseagle settlement required the DOJ to deposit $680 million into a compensation fund (plus pay another $80 million for loan debt forgiveness and for the lawyers). Indian farmers could submit claims under an expedited process that didn’t require any proof of injury at all and get around $62,500 (in 2010 dollars). Or they could provide evidence of actual harm and get up to $250,000 plus an amount to cover income taxes and their attorney’s fees, if any.
At the time, corporate media thought it was wonderful; they framed it as long overdue justice provided to right historic wrongs and make everything fair. NPR, October 2010:
image 5.png
Eventually, only about $300 million was paid to the farmers. So, guess what Eric Holder did with the leftover $380 million? He paid it all out to progressive NGOs, that’s what. There is no public list of the organizations and officials that ultimately received settlement money, because it was laundered through large initial block grants to Native American groups, which in turn made undisclosed sub-grants to others, and so on down the line.
Anyway, guess who sued? Not Republicans. The farmers sued. They argued the money was supposed to be used to compensate them for their racial discrimination loan injuries. But they lost at the district court. They lost at the Circuit Court of Appeals. They appealed to the Supreme Court, which refused to take the case.
In other words, courts upheld the settlement structure.
image 9.png
The whole time, everybody knew perfectly well that the money was really sloshing to the Obama Administration’s allies. A Wall Street Journal Editorial Board op-ed called the Keepseagle fund (and other similar ones Obama arranged) his “slush funds:”
image 6.png
That is why the Democrats are so furious. They are projecting again. They think Todd Blanche is copying Eric Holder’s successful slush fund strategy— a terrifying prospect. There’s one huge difference, though. The Trump Settlement says that any money left over goes back to the DOJ’s general fund. Unlike when Democrats do it, it won’t tumble into the political laundromat.
Of course, that didn’t stop the Times from claiming it will “funnel money to Trump’s allies.” The Times article, and I am not making this up, never even mentioned the Keepseagle case, even though it is right there in the one-page settlement. Nor did the Times even link to the settlement form itself, in case a reader might stumble upon Keepseagle accidentally.
The Times wants so badly for the Trump Settlement’s structure to be somehow illegitimate. That argument will fail. It’s not just that Obama’s DOJ did the same thing (or even worse, if you include the NGO firehose). No, not only that, but Obama’s DOJ did the same thing and the courts upheld it. It’s already been judicially blessed in the far-left DC Circuit.
Not only were Democrats and the media taken completely by surprise, their last-ditch lawfare failed spectacularly, since Trump’s team knew exactly what they would do. Too predictable.
The settlement fund is a done deal. They can fight it, and I’m sure they will, but Obama paved the way.
I liked the 1776 ($1,776,000,000)– a masterclass in trolling!
1776 marks the birth of the United States, highlighted by the Declaration of Independence and pivotal Revolutionary War events.