ABC is reporting that President Donald Trump is going to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, as well as his other lawsuits. In exchange, the US government will create a $1.7 billion fund to "compensate allies who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration."

In January, Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization sued the IRS for improperly disclosing some of his tax information during his first term as president. A former IRS contractor pled guilty in 2023 for stealing and disclosing the information, as well similar information about others.

ABC further explained the coming settlement between Trump and the IRS,

The commission overseeing the compensation fund would have the total authority to hand out approximately $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds to settle claims brought by anyone who alleges they were harmed by the Biden administration's "weaponization" of the legal system, including the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as well as potentially entities associated with President Trump himself.

ABC further explained,

The settlement terms are expected to prohibit Trump from directly receiving payments related to those three legal claims; however, entities associated with Trump are not explicitly barred from filing additional claims, sources said.

This would be perhaps those most costly and brazen act of corruption in American history.

Trump is the president. He chooses who runs the IRS. He oversees the Department of Justice, which acts as the lawyers for the US when it is sued in court and can settle lawsuits against the country. These entities, directly overseen by Trump, are agreeing to shell out $1.7 billion to settle lawsuits filed by Trump, his family, and his organization.

It is impossible to believe that the individuals responsible for deciding to settle the lawsuit, whose careers are ultimately in Trump's hands, made this decision independently and in good faith. The $1.7 billion will likely just be a slush fund for Trump and his allies to use to unjustly enrich whomever they want for whatever reason they want. It is corruption, cronyism, and nepotism in their purest forms, all at the expense of the American taxpayer. And it is right out in the open, with barely any pretenses about it.

Assuming ABC has it correct, many people who were convicted by a jury of their peers of various crimes related to the January 26, 2020, insurrection will be financially rewarded for it. Trump has already rewarded them for their conduct by giving them pardons and clemency, but now they will literally receive tax-payer money for their transgressions against their fellow Americans because they supported Trump.

Who will be part of this "commission" that will decide who was a victim of "weaponization" of the legal system and based on what criteria? According to ABC,

President Trump would have the authority to remove members of the commission running the fund without cause, and the commission would be under no obligation to disclose its procedures or decision-making process for awarding more than a billion dollars. . . .

The President of the United States has essentially agreed to settle a lawsuit with himself for which he will decide which allies, supporters, and entities associated with him will receive $1.7 billion of tax payer money ostensibly for what he perceives as unjust treatment by his political opponent. This should be shocking, but it is not.

As has become clear, it is not the law by which matters will be blindly judged, but your loyalty to and support for Trump. This settlement will further erode faith in the rule of law, assuming there is anything left of it.