President Donald Trump is demanding approximately $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department, according to The New York Times. Trump claims the government owes him the money for what he calls years of unfair investigations into him.
The claims — filed before he returned to the White House — cover both the Russia investigation and the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
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The first seeks damages for what Trump calls violations of his rights, including the FBI and special counsel investigation into Russian election tampering. The second claim accuses the FBI of violating Trump’s privacy by searching Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
Trump’s Justice Department
Now, however, the same department that once investigated him is run by his own appointees.
The department includes Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former defense lawyer, who is one of the officials who may have to sign off on any settlement.
Legal experts tell The Times the ethical conflict is “bizarre and almost too outlandish to believe.”
While speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, the president seemed to confirm The Times’ reporting, but said he wasn’t aware of “what the numbers are.”
“I don’t know what the numbers are. I don’t even talk to them about it. All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money, but I’m not looking for money; I’d give it to charity,” Trump said. “With the country, it’s interesting because I’m the one that makes the decision, right? And that decision would have to go across my desk, and it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself. You ever have one of those cases where you have to decide how much you’re paying yourself in damages? But I was damaged very greatly and any money that I would get, I would give to charity.”
The Times reports that $230 million in taxpayer money could be at stake if the president’s own Justice Department agrees that he deserves it.
