Dems to Trump: "Founders feared presidents like you might be tempted to use their powers to steal US taxpayer funds"
...I know writing letters doesn't do much, but sometimes you just have to get up in their grill and let them know you're coming for them.
Besides, this isn't just a letter from House Judiciary Dems, it's beatdown poetry.
Democratic Ranking Members Raskin, Garcia Launch Investigation Into Trump’s “Blatantly Illegal” Plan to Steal $230 Million from U.S. Taxpayers
October 23, 2025
Press Release
Top Committee Democrats Demand the President and the White House Turn Over Administrative Claims, Internal Communications, Documents, Legal Analysis on Taxpayer Shakedown
Washington, D.C. (October 23, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to President Donald Trump demanding he immediately abandon his illegal and unconstitutional plan to steal $230 million from U.S. taxpayers by ordering his former private attorneys—now serving as top Department of Justice (DOJ) officials—to abuse a confidential, behind-closed-doors administrative claim process to fulfill the President’s demand and cut him a personal check from the U.S. Treasury. The Ranking Members are also demanding that Trump turn over any documents, legal analysis, or communications between him and any White House or DOJ official regarding the scheme to rob American taxpayers.
“In remarks to the press this week, you described a blatantly illegal and unconstitutional effort to steal $230 million from the American people. Your plan to have your obedient underlings at the Department of Justice (DOJ) instruct the U.S. Treasury to pay you, personally, hundreds of millions of dollars—especially at a time when most Americans are struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, and afford health care—is an outrageous and shocking attempt to shake down the American people. The founders feared Presidents like you might one day be tempted to use their powers to steal U.S. taxpayer funds. That’s why they enshrined a very simple rule into the Constitution, which is called the Domestic Emoluments Clause. As President, you may not receive any payment from the federal government or any of the states, except for your salary, which is currently fixed by law at $400,000 per year,” wrote Ranking Members Raskin and Garcia.
On Tuesday, Trump described a flagrantly illegal scheme to have his political appointees in the DOJ—both attorneys who used to be on Trump’s and his co-defendant’s payroll—approve spurious administrative claims he filed before taking office and direct the U.S. Treasury to pay $230 million to the President. Trump could have gone to court if he believed these claims had merit and litigated them in full view of the public. Instead he waited until he was President and could secretly order his subordinates to approve this robbery of the American taxpayer.
This scheme would constitute a direct violation of the Constitution’s clear prohibition on presidents receiving any payment from the federal or state governments beyond their fixed salary.
“There is still time for you—and anyone in your Administration considering aiding and abetting these comically unconstitutional actions—to call off this outrageous conspiracy. We urge you to renounce your plan publicly and assure the American people that their President is not pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars at their expense,” concluded the Ranking Members.
...full letter:
In remarks to the press this week, you described a blatantly illegal and unconstitutional effort to steal $230 million from the American people. Your plan to have your obedient underlings at the Department of Justice (DOJ) instruct the U.S. Treasury to pay you, personally, hundreds of millions of dollars—especially at a time when most Americans are struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, and afford health care—is an outrageous and shocking attempt to shake down the American people.
The Founders feared presidents like you might one day be tempted to use their powers to steal U.S. taxpayer funds. That’s why they enshrined a very simple rule into the Constitution, which is called the Domestic Emoluments Clause. As President, you may not receive any payment from the federal government or any of the states, except for your salary, which is currently fixed by law at $400,000 per year.1 That is a categorical prohibition not even waivable by Congress, unlike the Foreign Emoluments Clause where Congress can approve an otherwise illegal receipt of a gift, like the $400 million airplane you want to accept from Qatar.
Your plan to have your former criminal defense attorneys, including the Deputy Attorney General and the Associate Attorney General, sign off on your demand for an astronomical $230 million payout from the U.S. Treasury clearly violates this ban on additional payments under the Domestic Emoluments Clause. One of your bogus demands—formally an administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA)—seeks $85 million in punitive damages from the federal government, damages which are expressly prohibited under the Act,2 and $15 million in compensatory damages for the cost of defending against the Special Counsel proceedings in court. Your other claim is not even public. If either of your claims had any merit, you could have taken them to court by now and litigated them publicly. You did not do that. Instead, you waited until you became President and installed your handpicked loyalists at DOJ, knowing that you could instruct them to co-sign your demand notes in secret behind closed doors, and then you could present the notes to the U.S. Treasury for cold hard cash courtesy of the American taxpayer. That isn’t justice, it is theft.
There is still time for you—and anyone in your Administration considering aiding and abetting these comically unconstitutional actions—to call off this outrageous conspiracy. We urge you to renounce your plan publicly and assure the American people that their President is not pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars at their expense.
Accordingly, we demand that you produce the following documents and information to the House Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform no later than 5:00 p.m., October 30, 2025.
1. All administrative claims filed by you or your legal representatives under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq., including all documentation, exhibits, affidavits, and evidence submitted with such claims;
2. All correspondence between you or your legal representatives and any DOJ official, including but not limited to the Deputy Attorney General and Associate Attorney General, over official or personal channels, regarding the submission, processing, evaluation, or adjudication of these claims, from the filing of such claims through the present;
3. All correspondence between any White House official and any DOJ official, including but not limited to the Deputy Attorney General and Associate Attorney General, over official or personal channels, regarding the submission, processing, evaluation, or adjudication of these claims, from the filing of such claims through the present;
4. All DOJ memoranda, legal analyses, or recommendations shared with you, your legal representative, or any White House official, from the filing of these claims through the present, concerning:
a. The legal merits of your administrative claims;
b. The applicability of the explicit prohibition on punitive damages under the FTCA, 28 U.S.C. § 2674, to any of your claims;
c. The constitutional implications of DOJ adjudicating claims filed by the sitting President under the Domestic Emoluments Clause or any other constitutional provision;
d. The ethical propriety of DOJ political appointees who previously served as your personal attorneys participating in decisions regarding claims filed by you;
e. Any conflicts of interest, recusal obligations, or ethics concerns related to the adjudication of your claims; or
f. Any other aspect of your administrative claims; and
5. All documents shared with you, your legal representative, or any White House official identifying which DOJ officials have been assigned to evaluate or render final decisions on your claims, including the names, titles, and positions of all such officials; any recusal determinations made by such officials; any ethics opinions, advice, or guidance provided to such officials; and the extent to which DOJ political appointees have been involved in the evaluation and adjudication process.
Very truly yours,
Jamie Raskin Robert Garcia Ranking Member Ranking Member House Committee on the Judiciary Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
= new reply since forum marked as read
What if he’s already received the $$ , and he’s just bringing it up just to flout it in everyone’s face ?
Can we get it back if so ?
✌🏻
