Newsmax Legal Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano Tees Off on $1.8B Trump Fund: Major Constitutional Issues'

The Justice Department announced a $1.8 billion fund intended to pay settlements without congressional approval to people claiming politically motivated investigations or prosecutions. The fund is tied to a legal settlement involving President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax information during his first term. The IRS is within the Treasury Department’s jurisdiction, and Treasury will deposit about $1.776 billion into an account overseen by a group selected by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. A legal analyst warned that the arrangement presents constitutional issues, including the absence of a genuine case or controversy and the ethical problem of a government official signing an agreement while working for the plaintiff. Additional concerns were raised about the source of the money and the lack of congressional authorization.

"There's two major constitutional issues here. The first, you raised. This is not a real lawsuit. There's no case or controversy. The president can, no person can be on both sides. In my view, Todd Blanche has very serious ethical issues because he signed this agreement knowing he works for the plaintiff. That's issue number one. Issue number two is to one Senator [John] Fetterman (D-PA) raised, where's the money coming from? Congress didn't authorize this."

"The Justice Department formally announced the creation of the fund on Monday, which will be used to pay settlements without congressional approval to people who argue they were subjected to politically motivated investigations or prosecutions. The new initiative is linked to a legal settlement in Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leak of his tax information during his first term in office."

"The IRS sits within the Treasury Department's jurisdiction, and under the arrangement, the Treasury Department will deposit roughly $1.776 billion into an account overseen by a group selected by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. On Newsmax's Wake Up America on Wednesday, host Marc Lotter admitted that he had issues with the lawsuit that gave rise to the fund."

"I'm just not sure how you can be the defendant and [prosecutor] on both sides of this lawsuit, he said. It's Trump against Trump. Napolitano, a retired jurist, then warned of problems with the suit and the fund: There's two major constitutional issues here. The Constitution says, no money shall be spent from the public treasury, but that which has been appropriated by Congress."

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