After GOP Approves Todd Blanche As Attorney General, Trump Gets His Sweetheart IRS Deal Saving Him $100 Million
With Todd Blanche‘s confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate this weekend, President Donald Trump‘s sweetheart IRS deal is moving forward, likely saving him more than $100 million.
A settlement that once promised to pay out $1.8 billion to people claiming they were politically persecuted — including some January 6 defendants — has collapsed, but the deal’s quieter provision protecting Trump from IRS scrutiny survives.
The fund traced back to a settlement Blanche’s Justice Department reached to resolve Trump’s own $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. Announced in May, the deal established the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate people who claimed they were unjustly prosecuted for political reasons, while simultaneously halting IRS investigations into Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization for returns filed before May 19 — shielding him from a long-running audit tied to a disputed $72 million refund claim that could have cost him more than $100 million.
Trump denied involvement in the fund’s creation, telling reporters, “I released them from the lawsuit, and I guess they made a settlement of some kind. I wasn’t involved.” He described planned reimbursements as compensation for people “destroyed” by Obama- and Biden-era prosecutions.
The backlash was immediate and bipartisan. Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced the “No Taxpayer-Funded Settlement Slush Funds Act,” arguing only Congress can appropriate such spending. Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges sued in May to block the fund outright, naming Trump, Blanche, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as defendants, arguing it would “directly finance” the people who attacked them on January 6.
Some Republicans, including Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, said they’d pursue legislation to kill it. Meanwhile, January 6 defendants and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — who claims his company lost $400 million after promoting false 2020 election-fraud claims — publicly welcomed the prospect of payouts.
The pressure ultimately came from Blanche’s own confirmation fight. GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis withheld support for his attorney general nomination until the fund was scrapped. On August 3, Blanche formally rescinded the $1.8 billion fund, and the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced his nomination 12-10 days later.
What didn’t disappear: the IRS audit shield. Blanche’s rescission left intact the arrangement blocking further audits of Trump’s pre-2026 tax returns, a provision critics say still amounts to a personal financial win for the president even with the compensation fund gone.