This Week in Democracy – Week 70: Trump Loses His National Intelligence Chief, Wins Immunity From Tax Probes
Zeteo's weekly round-up, documenting the growth of authoritarianism in Trump's second term.
The sheer amount of news coming out of the Trump administration is hard to keep up with every week, but it was especially true this week: Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation, a grand jury indicted 94-year-old former Cuban President Raúl Castro, and we witnessed what some have called the single “most brazen act of presidential corruption this century.”
On the last point, Donald Trump’s cronies at the Justice Department announced the so-called settlement of the president’s bogus lawsuit (effectively against himself), which includes the creation of a $1.776 billion slush fund to benefit his allies and immunity for Trump and his family for pending tax audits.
Trump doesn’t even rely on distraction anymore; he’s doing everything right out in the open.
From Trump’s slush fund to Republicans canceling a vote on the War Powers Resolution to shield the president from a likely humiliating result to a Democrat commuting an election denier’s prison sentence, here’s just a taste of how Trump and his allies hurt democracy, undermined the U.S. Constitution, and harmed societies worldwide:
Saturday, May 16 – Commuting Tina Peters’s Sentence Sets ‘Dangerous Precedent’
On MS NOW, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold slammed Democratic Governor Jared Polis for commuting the prison sentence of Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk who was convicted of tampering with voting machines following the 2020 presidential election.
Griswold called the move, which Trump had repeatedly called for, a “gross injustice” and “demoralizing” to election officials, and warned that it sets a “dangerous precedent” for future elections. (Polis was later censured by Colorado Democrats for his decision.)
Sunday, May 17 – Acting AG Says DOJ Is Hard At Work Investigating 2020 Election
On Fox, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke about the Justice Department’s investigation into the 2020 presidential election, ridiculously claiming that “there’s a ton of evidence that the election was rigged,” and adding that the DOJ is “very focused on finding out whether the right people voted.”
He also claimed that the “incredibly troubling things” the DOJ is supposedly uncovering will be made public “at some point, at the right time.”
Monday, May 18 – DOJ Approves Trump’s Very Own Slush Fund
Trump’s Justice Department officially announced the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of the DOJ’s so-called “settlement” with Trump in his lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS over the leaking of his tax returns.
The fund will be overseen by a commission appointed by Blanche, whose members Trump can fire “without cause,” and will be made available, in secret, to those who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the government– potentially even those Trump pardoned over their involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Tuesday, May 19 – Trump Gets Immunity From Tax Probes
Acting AG Blanche signed off on a new provision as part of Trump’s “settlement” that “FOREVER” prohibits the IRS from investigating or prosecuting the president, his family, or his businesses for pending tax claims, including a current audit that could have reportedly cost Trump more than $100 million.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that longtime Trump ally and former administration official Michael Caputo filed the first known “Anti-Weaponization Fund” claim, seeking $2.7 million and claiming the “machinery of government was clearly politically weaponized against my family.”
Wednesday, May 20 – Trump’s Pay-to-Play Extends to the Tobacco Industry
The New York Times reported that Trump’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new guidance opening the door to the sale of flavored vapes after a tobacco company donated $5 million to the Trump-backed super PAC, MAGA Inc.
Two days after the donation, Trump had lunch with tobacco industry representatives, during which he interrupted the conversation to complain to his administration officials about the FDA’s e-cigarette regulations. The new guidance was issued just days later.
Thursday, May 21 – House GOP Leaders Cancel Vote To Limit Trump’s War Powers in Iran
House Republican leaders abruptly canceled a vote on an Iran War Powers Resolution, which was likely to be approved due to the absences of Republican members of Congress and others who signaled their support for the measure.
The cancellation comes after the Senate advanced a similar resolution earlier this week to limit Trump’s military action against Iran without congressional approval.
Friday, May 22 – Tulsi Gabbard Resigns as Director of National Intelligence
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard notified Trump that she’s resigning from her position, effective June 30, noting her husband was recently diagnosed with “an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”
During her time on Trump’s Cabinet, Gabbard, whose job is to oversee the country’s intelligence agencies and advise the president on national security matters, spent months investigating Trump’s long-debunked claims of the 2020 presidential election being stolen, and even appeared at an FBI raid of an election center in Fulton County, Georgia, back in January. You can read Zeteo’s Swin Suebsaeng’s take here.
NOTE: If you subscribe to Zeteo’s U.S. Politics’ morning newsletter, First Draft, a reminder that there will not be a newsletter on Monday 25 due to it being a federal holiday in the U.S.
Did you miss previous weeks of ‘This Week in Democracy’? Catch up here. And check out more of Zeteo’s reporting from this week below:
Since this "settlement" never went through any kind of legal process, Can't it be treated as a huge embezzlement?