Marble Falls       It’s so outrageous, that I find myself thinking, “not even Trump would pull off a scam like this.”  I could be wrong, though.

The New York Times reported, somewhat breathlessly, that Trump “…is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him…”  Going into detail, these “demands” seem to be “administrative complaints” that are not normally made public.  Specifically, in more sober terms, the Times reported that,

Trump submitted complaints through an administrative claim process that often is the precursor to lawsuits. The first claim, lodged in late 2023, seeks damages for a number of purported violations of his rights, including the F.B.I. and special counsel investigation into Russian election tampering and possible connections to the 2016 Trump campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the claim has not been made public.  The second complaint, filed in the summer of 2024, accuses the F.B.I. of violating Mr. Trump’s privacy by searching Mar-a-Lago, his club and residence in Florida, in 2022 for classified documents. It also accuses the Justice Department of malicious prosecution in charging him with mishandling sensitive records after he left office.

On the face of it, the claims seem unjustified.  One led to his impeachment, and the other on documents was only dismissed, essentially after he was being reelected.

In fairness to the Times, they are most excited perhaps by the fact that the whole thing would be ethically outrageous, since the people who would decide to authorize the payments from the Justice Department are not only all Trump appointees, but in many cases were actually his personal lawyers and involved in his defense.  It would almost look like he had deliberately appointed people in order to collect a couple of hundred million bucks.

In fact, in a bit more balanced story in the Washington Post, even Trump concedes its not a good look when asked about all of this in a press conference.  There he is quoted as saying,

“I don’t know, how do you settle the lawsuit, I’ll say ‘give me X dollars,’ and I don’t know what to do with the lawsuit. It sort of looks bad, I’m suing myself, right? So, I don’t know.

At the same time, he also said,

“All I know is they would owe me a lot of money, but I’m not looking for money,” Trump told reporters, adding that if he did get a payment, “any money that I would get, I would give to charity. It’s interesting because I’m the one that makes a decision. And, you know, that decision would have to go across my desk,” he said. “It’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.”

I’m not saying that he’s walking away from these claims, but I am saying Trump fully understands that this would be outrageous, and likely knows full well that it would ignite a firestorm among both friends and enemies.

The law seems to hold that if there is no action by the government for six months, then he can sue.  On the first claim, there was no action, and he still hasn’t sued.  On the second claim, about the same.  Once again, the Times says, “Two people familiar with the president’s legal claims said that he had not been paid by the federal government but that he expected to be.”  Maybe, yes, maybe, no?  They aren’t identified of course, and Trump’s own words, if he is given the benefit of the doubt, indicate he is undecided, rather than expectant.

Maybe that’s now, rather later at the end of his four years?  He also has the usual billionaire’s prejudice, despite being president, that he would do better than the government by naming the charity, rather than allowing them to keep the cash.

For now, it seems a tempest in a teapot.