The Daily Populous Tuesday May 19th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by esquire.com and submitted by ChiGuy6124

Because it is such an open sewer of an arrangement, this is the most soul-sucking, despicable, and scandalous transaction ever conducted by a head of state not named Borgia. It dwarfs all the scandals in this country’s history—Whiskey Ring, Crédit Mobilier, Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran–Contra. It puts in the shade all the grifting and double-dealing and outright theft that democracy is heir to. Boss Tweed was a piker compared to this guy, and John Mitchell was a Franciscan monk. Most of the crooks and bounders doing their crimes under the color of public office have had the decency to commit them sub rosa and to use (at most) one institution of government at a time. From Politico:

President Donald Trump and the Justice Department have reached a settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit he filed against the IRS over the leaking of his tax returns, ending a case that both perplexed and outraged critics as the president sought to sue the government he runs. Under the deal announced Monday, the Justice Department is setting up a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to pay claims to people acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called “victims of lawfare and weaponization.” Blanche did not elaborate on who will be eligible for the compensation, but some people who were convicted of crimes in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot have already sued the government. The fund, to be overseen by a five-person commission, will process claims through mid-December 2028—about a month before Trump’s term is set to end.

And, of course, the revisionism is ramped up as well.

Under the settlement, Trump also agreed to drop damages claims he filed against the federal government over investigations into his 2016 presidential campaign’s ties to Russia and the court-approved FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago in 2022 as part of a probe into the handling of classified documents, a DOJ statement said. Trump and his family members “will receive a formal apology but no monetary payment or damages of any kind,” the statement said.

The statement was silent about whether the IRS had agreed to waive any past or future claims or to end past or future audits of tax returns filed by Trump, his family or his companies. The department acknowledged that language it released Monday detailing the anti-weaponization fund was only “part of the settlement agreement” resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS.

I’m sure the other parts of the “settlement agreement” are as sodden as rancid sponges themselves. Sleaze with every squeeze. In addition to the completely corrupt financial elements of the deal, it also is the most lucrative, grift-ridden element of the constant revision of the 2020 election results and the insurrection of January 6, 2021. There will be more of that with the phony “investigations” of 2020 that are going on right now. I mean, my God, Sidney Powell is back in the news flow. I thought we left her about 15 looking glasses ago.

TurtlesBreakTheMeta on May 18th, 2026 at 22:40 UTC »

Throw it on the pile. This has been the headline for close to 10 years now. Unless he’s stopped he WILL do something more heinous in future: there has been no bottom to his wickedness all his life except when forced to stop.

suppleclaire on May 18th, 2026 at 21:40 UTC »

Yes, that’s where we are. He sued his administration for $10billion and then settled himself and his friends with $1.77Billion

ChiGuy6124 on May 18th, 2026 at 21:40 UTC »

"Because it is such an open sewer of an arrangement, this is the most soul-sucking, despicable, and scandalous transaction ever conducted by a head of state not named Borgia."

"It dwarfs all the scandals in this country’s history—Whiskey Ring, Crédit Mobilier, Teapot Dome, Watergate, Iran–Contra. It puts in the shade all the grifting and double-dealing and outright theft that democracy is heir to. Boss Tweed was a piker compared to this guy, and John Mitchell was a Franciscan monk."

" Most of the crooks and bounders doing their crimes under the color of public office have had the decency to commit them sub rosa and to use (at most) one institution of government at a time. From Politico:"

" Under the deal announced Monday, the Justice Department is setting up a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to pay claims to people acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called “victims of lawfare and weaponization.” Blanche did not elaborate on who will be eligible for the compensation, but some people who were convicted of crime s in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot have already sued the government. The fund, to be overseen by a five-person commission, will process claims through mid-December 2028—about a month before Trump’s term is set to end."

"And, of course, the revisionism is ramped up as well."

"Under the settlement, Trump also agreed to drop damages claims he filed against the federal government over investigations into his 2016 presidential campaign’s ties to Russia and the court-approved FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago in 2022 as part of a probe into the handling of classified documents, a DOJ statement said. Trump and his family members “will receive a formal apology but no monetary payment or damages of any kind,” the statement said."

"The statement was silent about whether the IRS had agreed to waive any past or future claims or to end past or future audits of tax returns filed by Trump, his family or his companies. The department acknowledged that language it released Monday detailing the anti-weaponization fund was only “part of the settlement agreement” resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS."

"I’m sure the other parts of the “settlement agreement” are as sodden as rancid sponges themselves."

" Sleaze with every squeeze."

"In addition to the completely corrupt financial elements of the deal, it also is the most lucrative, grift-ridden element of the constant revision of the 2020 election results and the insurrection of January 6, 2021."

" There will be more of that with the phony “investigations” of 2020 that are going on right now. I mean, my God, Sidney Powell is back in the news flow. I thought we left her about 15 looking glasses ago."