President Donald Trump's clearly corrupt settlement of his lawsuit against the IRS suffered two setbacks in federal court on Friday. In the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge Leonie Brinkema temporarily barred the Justice Department from allocating money to the $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" described in Trump's May 18 agreement with the IRS. And in the Southern District of Florida, Judge Kathleen Williams, who closed Trump's case on May 18 after he dropped his lawsuit, ordered briefing on the question of whether the settlement is "a product of collusion" and "a fraud on the Court."
Trump's settlement includes several striking features that amply justify this judicial scrutiny. The pretext for it was a lawsuit provoked by an IRS contractor's illegal leaking of Trump's tax returns. That case pitted Trump against agencies he oversees, represented by the Justice Department, which he also oversees. The Anti-Weaponization Fund, which is designed to compensate Trump supporters who claim they were targeted by the Biden administration for "unlawful political, personal, and/or ideological reasons," has nothing to do with Trump's claims against the IRS. Nor does another element of the agreement, which promises Trump sweeping immunity from civil or criminal liability for federal offenses, including penalties for past tax violations.
