Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

question everything

(51,226 posts)
Tue Oct 21, 2025, 07:18 PM Tuesday

Trump wants DOJ to pay him $230 million for previous investigations: Sources

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: ABC/Yahoo

President Donald Trump is pressing for his Justice Department to pay roughly $230 million as a settlement for investigations he faced during the Biden administration and his first term in office, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News Tuesday.

The extraordinary arrangement, as first reported by The New York Times, would likely first need sign-off from top officials in the department who previously served as Trump's defense attorneys or otherwise represented his allies.

The settlement negotiations stem from two separate administrative claims that were submitted by attorneys for Trump while he was out of office in 2023 and 2024. One sought damages over the investigation he and those in his orbit faced surrounding ties his 2016 campaign had to the Russian government.

The second claim, which was previously reported publicly last year, related to accusations that he was prosecuted maliciously by then-special counsel Jack Smith and that his privacy rights were violated when the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago estate for classified documents in August of 2022.


Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-wants-doj-pay-him-215655987.html

7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Trump wants DOJ to pay him $230 million for previous investigations: Sources (Original Post) question everything Tuesday OP
MaddowBlog-Trump eyes $230 million payout from Justice Dept. as repayment for earlier investigations LetMyPeopleVote Tuesday #1
I want Trump to pay $$$$ for the damage he has caused to this country. Irish_Dem Tuesday #2
hem AllaN01Bear Tuesday #3
Embezzlement, plain and simple. unblock Tuesday #4
Make it $230 trillion you lard ass Autumn Tuesday #5
I thought you couldn't sue the Federal government? Beartracks Tuesday #6
AFTER a review by forun hosts LOCKING Omaha Steve Tuesday #7

LetMyPeopleVote

(171,853 posts)
1. MaddowBlog-Trump eyes $230 million payout from Justice Dept. as repayment for earlier investigations
Tue Oct 21, 2025, 07:22 PM
Tuesday

“What a travesty,” one ethics lawyer said. “The ethical conflict is just so basic and fundamental, you don’t need a law professor to explain it.”

Mike Johnson won't swear in Adelita Grijalva. So we're suing. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb... GOOD! Mike Johnson is a weak little man who thinks he works for the Disease in the White House. He is paid by & works for the American People.

Liberty & Justice (@stand4truth.bsky.social) 2025-10-21T22:11:10.455Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-eyes-230-million-payout-justice-dept-repayment-earlier-investiga-rcna238987

After whining about the FBI’s court-approved search of Mar-a-Lago and peddling a variety of false and familiar claims about his classified documents scandal, the Republican said, “I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president, I said I’m sort of suing myself.”

He quickly added, “I don’t know, how do you settle the lawsuit? I’ll say, ‘Give me X dollars,’ right?”

The comments went largely unremarked, although they’re suddenly relevant anew. The New York Times reported:

President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him, according to people familiar with the matter, who added that any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit.


......Will such a gambit succeed? The Times’ report added, “According to the Justice Department manual, settlements of claims against the department for more than $4 million ‘must be approved by the deputy attorney general or associate attorney general,’ meaning the person who oversees the agency’s civil division.”

The deputy attorney general, it just so happens, led Trump’s criminal defense team before he was tapped to lead the DOJ. What’s more, the chief of the department’s civil division, Stanley Woodward Jr., also represented people in Trump’s orbit, including a Trump co-defendant and Patel (before the latter was confirmed to lead the FBI).

Bennett Gershman, an ethics professor at Pace University, told the Times, “What a travesty. The ethical conflict is just so basic and fundamental, you don’t need a law professor to explain it.”

He added, “And then to have people in the Justice Department decide whether his claim should be successful or not, and these are the people who serve him deciding whether he wins or loses. It’s bizarre and almost too outlandish to believe.”

Irish_Dem

(76,650 posts)
2. I want Trump to pay $$$$ for the damage he has caused to this country.
Tue Oct 21, 2025, 07:23 PM
Tuesday

AllaN01Bear

(27,760 posts)
3. hem
Tue Oct 21, 2025, 07:25 PM
Tuesday

unblock

(55,726 posts)
4. Embezzlement, plain and simple.
Tue Oct 21, 2025, 07:26 PM
Tuesday

Make one Republican who would be fine with Biden, Obama, bill Clinton, or a president Hillary Clinton doing this.

Staggeringly massive conflict of interest at best, and it's a matter of a quarter of a billion dollars.

Never mind that the investigations were totally justified and the doj doesn't normally compensate those it investigates.

Beyond absurd.

Autumn

(48,498 posts)
5. Make it $230 trillion you lard ass
Tue Oct 21, 2025, 07:36 PM
Tuesday

What the fuck her Gnome name is will be happy to sign off on it. Toss in a few trillion for her nasty ass too.

God damn I loathe those fuckers

Beartracks

(14,168 posts)
6. I thought you couldn't sue the Federal government?
Tue Oct 21, 2025, 07:42 PM
Tuesday


=========

Omaha Steve

(107,465 posts)
7. AFTER a review by forun hosts LOCKING
Tue Oct 21, 2025, 07:50 PM
Tuesday

DUPE of https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143551185

Statement of Purpose
Post the latest news from reputable mainstream news websites and blogs. Important news of national interest only. No analysis or opinion pieces. No duplicates. News stories must have been published within the last 12 hours. Use the published title of the story as the title of the discussion thread.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Trump wants DOJ to pay hi...