The US Justice Department quietly added a provision on Tuesday that permanently bars the Internal Revenue Service from auditing Donald Trump's past tax returns. The addendum was slipped into a widely criticized agreement that creates a secretive $1.776 billion fund to compensate allies of the former president.
Signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the addendum states that the government is "forever barred" and "precluded" from examining the tax returns of Trump, his family, his company, and related entities. The provision applies to all tax filings made before the agreement was reached. The document was posted on the Justice Department's website on Tuesday morning, a day after the department announced the creation of the compensation fund.
The inclusion of this clause has intensified scrutiny of the broader agreement, which was finalized on Monday. The arrangement came after Trump agreed to drop a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and other claims against the government in exchange for establishing the fund. According to the New York Times, IRS officials had recommended fighting Trump's lawsuit, but the agency opted to settle, raising questions about potential improper interference.
The fund will be managed by five individuals, all of whom can be fired at will by the president. It does not require public disclosure of who receives money or the reasons for awards. The Tuesday amendment was released shortly after Blanche testified in a Senate hearing where Democrats harshly criticized the deal. Senator Chris van Hollen of Maryland called it "an outrageous, unprecedented slush fund."
When pressed by Democrats on whether individuals convicted of assaulting police officers during the January 6 Capitol riot could receive money from the fund, Blanche said there were no limitations on who could file a claim. He also stated that neither Trump personally nor his sons would receive compensation, though the agreement does not explicitly prevent them from filing claims.
The text of the agreement released on Monday night says the fund will produce quarterly confidential reports to the attorney general on amounts paid out and recipients. Despite the confidentiality clause, Blanche asserted during the hearing that there would be accountability. "There's accountability that the commission has, a quarterly report that has to come to the attorney general, which will certainly be public," he said. "There's a process that you all will get information, and there's a FOIA process. So I very much anticipate that the claims that are awarded, the basis and the amount will for sure be made public along the way."
