This New York Times piece is worth your time. Here’s what is happening, as simply as I can put it.
Back in January, Trump sued the IRS, an agency he controls, demanding $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns a number of years ago.
IRS lawyers did their jobs. They wrote a memo laying out the defenses that could beat the suit, including the fact that Trump filed too late. His own lawyer was in court when the leaker pleaded guilty in October 2023, more than two years before Trump sued.
The Justice Department never showed up to court. Never argued back. Never used the defenses sitting on their desk.
The judge got suspicious and ordered both sides to explain whether they were actually opposing each other or just colluding. The day before that brief was due, Trump dropped the suit.
Same day, his Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded “anti-weaponization fund.”
Trump gets a formal apology. The IRS agrees to drop any audits of him and his family, even though a 2024 Times report found a loss in an ongoing audit could cost him over $100 million.
The acting Attorney General, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, picks the five commissioners who decide who gets paid. Trump can fire any of them. Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are not ruled out.
This is the most corrupt thing I’ve ever seen from an American president.
Where in the hell are my Republican colleagues?
https://t.co/La0nlLuz1r
Bwaaahahaha! NBA playoffs promo just featured a clip of @KevinGarnett5KG screaming “nothing is impossible “. Some of us remember that it was a screw up. He was an ADIDAS pitchman and that year’s slogan was “Impossible Is Nothing,” which is what he was supposed to say. 😂
I hosted @cspanwj this morning and had a three-time Donald Trump voter who called in to share this:
"It's hard for me to say this, but I think, if i can open up about it in public that it might help others, I wanted to believe Trump was the real deal for a long time, even though I had doubts because I knew enough about his business history to think otherwise. But now I regret my support for him and I should've known better."
"He's the worst president we've ever had and he's the most corrupt president we've ever had. I know it's hard, it took me a while to be able to say that. Very difficult when you commit yourself to believing in somebody."
https://t.co/q9Rq5b0QrW
President Obama on Iran: “We pulled it off without firing a missile. We got 97% of their enriched uranium out. There’s no dispute that it worked and we didn’t have to kill a whole bunch of people or shut down the Strait of Hormuz”
There’s only one thing I like about Donald Trump: His routine ability to make absolute fools out of his supporters by suddenly forcing them to defend something they’ve spent years loudly being against.