00:02New details are emerging about President Trump's settlement with the IRS, and they're drawing new questions about a deal that
00:09already created a nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund.
00:14Newly released language would also bar the IRS from pursuing claims or examinations involving Trump, his family, or related businesses.
00:23Investigators discovered the new terms Tuesday in an addendum linked to the Justice Department's settlement announcement.
00:30Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote that the federal government is, quote,
00:34forever barred and precluded from prosecuting or pursuing any and all claims asserted by the IRS against Trump, his family,
00:43or his business.
00:44The language covers tax matters, including Trump, family members, trusts, companies, and other related entities.
00:51The addendum expands on Monday's agreement that created the roughly $1.8 billion fund for people who claimed they were
00:58targeted by government weaponization during the Biden presidency.
01:02The administration is pushing back against criticism that the fund or the agreement benefits the president personally.
01:09Here is Vice President J.D. Vance on Tuesday.
01:12The question is, is a dollar of this money going to the Trump administration? No.
01:16Is a dollar of this money going to Donald Trump personally? No.
01:20Is a dollar of this money going to Donald Trump's family? No.
01:23The people that would get the money are people, some of whom have been prosecuted completely disproportionate to any crime
01:30they've ever committed.
01:31Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the agreement during congressional testimony.
01:36It is true that this is unusual. That is true.
01:40But it is not unprecedented.
01:42And it was done to address something that had never happened again either.
01:46So there is an unprecedented nature of what we did yesterday in response to years and years of weaponization.
01:53Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said it's too soon to pass judgment on the new fund.
01:59I think that it's way, way, way too early for us to rush to judgment on whether this was a
02:06good or a bad idea,
02:07to describe it as a slush fund, or really even to criticize it.
02:11You know why? Because there's not been a single claim filed. There's not been a single payment made.
02:16Critics see it very differently.
02:18Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told reporters the judge in the case even called it corrupt because Trump was essentially suing
02:25himself.
02:25We've never, ever seen anything like this before.
02:29I get it that people, you know, don't know what a big number is anymore, but $1.7 billion, that's
02:34a lot of money.
02:35That's your taxpayer money. You worked hard for that money.
02:38And that money is now going into a political slush fund for the president to give to January 6th rioters
02:46to hand out to his political allies around the country.
02:51That's outrageous.
02:53Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal accused Trump of turning the federal government into, quote,
02:59his personal protection racket, writing on X, this corruption marks a dark day for democracy.
Comments