Inside Trump DOJ’s push to reward MAGA 'grifters'

Under Donald Trump loyalist and Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, the post-Pam Bondi U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to target Trump's foes —including former FBI Director James Comey, who is facing a grand jury indictment for, Blanche alleges, threatening to kill the president by posting, on Instagram, a photo that showed seashells arranged in a way to read "8647." Many of the legal experts featured on MS NOW, including Lisa Rubin and former DOJ federal prosector Barbara McQuade, believe the Comey indictment has no merit.

Trump's critics in the legal world, from Rubin and McQuade to Democracy Docket's Marc Elias to The Bulwark's Kimberly Wehle, argue that he is using DOJ to take revenge against his opponents and reward his allies.

In an article published by The Contrarian on May 7, attorney Lauren Stiller Rikleen — executive director of Lawyers Defending American Democracy — laments that DOJ is now a resource for MAGA's "grifters."

"The Department of Justice's grift store for friends and supporters of the president, laying a solid foundation for settlement payouts, should be an affront to every taxpayer in America," Rikleen warns. "In the past few weeks, Michael Flynn, a 2016 Trump campaign adviser, seems to have benefited twice from DOJ largesse. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about discussions with the Russian ambassador during the 2016 transition — a case that was dismissed after President Trump pardoned him. Not satisfied with the good fortune of a pardon and dismissal, Flynn sued the government, alleging malicious prosecution and related claims. The DOJ, which had been successfully fighting the case, reversed course under the Trump Administration, paying a reported $1.25 million taxpayer-funded settlement to Flynn. And just days ago, the government submitted a court filing asserting it had reached yet another settlement in principle with Flynn on a different claim."

The attorney adds, "The DOJ also reportedly paid $1.25 million to former 2016 Trump campaign adviser Carter Page for his claims against the government relating to the Russia investigation, notwithstanding that lower courts had dismissed Page's lawsuit and an appeal was pending."

Trump, according to Rikleen, is even using DOJ to benefit rioters who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

"At the start of his second term," Rikleen explains, "Trump continued to upend history's retelling of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by issuing blanket clemency to more than 1600 January 6 riot defendants and absolving the attackers from owing restitution for the millions in damages they caused. Many of those pardoned have become repeat offenders. Now, in a display of jaw-dropping audacity, pardoned January 6 rioters have sued the federal government for tens of millions of dollars for alleged physical and emotional damages caused by the police seeking to repel the attacks."

Rikleen adds, "Another DOJ settlement seems more likely in light of the department's recent move to vacate the conspiracy and sedition convictions against Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders."

According to Rikleen, "loyalty and personal benefit" are "mutually reinforcing" with the second Trump administration.

"The settlements to Trump's cronies, however, may merely be practice for the ultimate payment to the president and his family that would result in one of the most brazen examples of public corruption in history," the Lawyers Defending American Democracy director laments. "The president, his two sons, and The Trump Organization have sued the Internal Revenue Service — an agency the president oversees — for $10 billion, alleging the IRS disclosed confidential tax information to the media. The president had previously filed claims before the DOJ seeking $230 million as compensation for grievances that included the search for classified documents at Trump’s Florida home and the Russia investigation."

Rikleen continues, "The president controls both sides of these cases. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general and Trump's former criminal defense lawyer, demonstrates the same slavish devotion to the president that his fired predecessor, Pam Bondi, exhibited…. If the DOJ resolves this case for even a fraction of the billions sought, it will validate its disdain toward the taxpaying public and its contempt for conflict-of-interest requirements."

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