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All the ink spilled and lies spewed about the corrupt refurbishing of the Reflecting Pool, the court-ordered removal of Donald Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center, the taxpayer bill of $307 million for the “privately funded” ballroom are distractions.
Each is a worthy outrage for citizens who continue to watch the bar on this presidency fall to new lows. But for those who closely monitor Trump, including some members of Congress, these distractions may be part of a much bigger and perhaps more menacing plot.
Regular readers of this Substack know that Steady has long been reluctant to write about the many stories regarding plots that swirl around the internet and various podcasts. But there is a current one that may be worth attention.
Jamie Raskin, a high-ranking Democratic congressman from Maryland, knows Trump well. He was one of the House managers who led Trump’s second impeachment for inciting a violent insurrection against the Constitution. That impeachment failed in the Republican-dominated Senate.
Raskin is currently the ranking minority member on the House Judiciary Committee. He also served on the January 6 Select Committee. Though Democrats are in the minority and have had negligible power to stop Trump, Raskin has remained a vocal critic. And as cracks in the MAGA coalition widen, more people are listening to him and taking him seriously.
Last month, Raskin introduced legislation to block the $1.8 billion slush fund created to pay Trump’s allies and to nix the immunity deal shielding the president and his family from any past or future criminal, civil, or tax prosecution.
The fund was the eyebrow-raising “settlement” in the frivolous $10 billion suit Trump brought against the IRS. You’ll recall the stories about the president suing himself, and, no surprise, he won! $1.8 billion.
In a recent, wide-ranging interview with Puck, Raskin explained the need for the legislation, even though acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a congressional hearing that the fund was “not going forward, period.”
Here’s the most important part. The congressman believes Trump “wants a political slush fund for his movement to turn that January 6 army into a permanent private militia for future political entanglements.” Once the former insurrectionists are paid, they will be beholden to Trump.
He could call them up to “monitor” midterm voting or intimidate his perceived rivals. We’ve already heard Trump talk about using ICE or other federal law enforcement to ensure election integrity for the midterms. Many of the now-pardoned insurrectionists would be ready to go again for their guy.
On the pro-democracy website Fulcrum, ethics lawyer James Kobak writes, “Controlling sources of compensation, whether through the slush fund settlement or some other means, gives Trump a new tool from the autocrat’s playbook: rewards for the insurrectionists and encouragement for them to do it again. This time, they would be primed in advance and would have other administration-appointed allies. This time, compensation from the slush fund would allow them to be well-resourced and well-armed. This time, they might succeed.”
“Everybody can see what’s going on here,” Raskin told Puck. He clarified that the fund is not only sinister but illegal. “The vast majority of Americans and members of Congress say no, the president cannot act as the legislature and appropriate $1.776 billion to give away to his political foot soldiers in MAGA, and the Proud Boys, and Oath Keepers, and Three Percenters, to pay them for their service working for insurrection against the government.”
When the slush fund was announced last month, Republicans got to Trump and convinced him what a terrible idea it was, especially so close to the midterms. He uncharacteristically heeded their advice and dropped it. Or did he? Is funding for the slush fund just on pause?
Last week, a federal judge requested that the Department of Justice provide the court with a written declaration confirming that “they will not take any action to create or operate the Anti-Weaponization Fund, and that the Anti-Weaponization Fund will not proceed in any manner, or under any name.”
Blanche, Trump’s former personal defense attorney, refused to put anything in writing, pointing to his congressional testimony, promising the fund was dead.
That may not be enough for senators who must vote on Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general next month. He is making the rounds on Capitol Hill to assuage any concerns lawmakers might have. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who is up for reelection, described her meeting with Blanche as “very good.”
“We had an extensive discussion on the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which he has assured me with no equivocation at all that he is not for it, will not pursue it, that it will not exist,” she told Politico.
Collins was famously assured by Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings that Roe v. Wade was “settled law,” and he would not touch it. As we know, Justice Kavanaugh did in fact join five other justices in overturning Roe. Earlier this month, Collins said she did not regret her vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
Trump’s corruption-laden vanity projects, including the slush fund, are diverting our attention from Trump’s bigger failures and grifts: losing his war against Iran, his multifaceted criminal enterprise operating with impunity, and the president’s most recent executive order about voter identification that could disenfranchise tens of thousands of Americans.
The throughline for all of these things is Trump’s mounting rage as he is backed further into corners. Anyone who has been following his presidency knows Trump is an angry man. Angry men often become violent men.
Trump goaded an angry mob of his supporters to storm the Capitol when he lost the 2020 election. He ordered the destruction of unarmed boats in the Caribbean Sea, killing dozens. He promised to end all foreign wars and then started an unnecessary and unprovoked one. He seems to relish the role of an angry, dangerous man. Just look at his increasingly vitriolic and sometimes downright unhinged rhetoric toward Iran.
Five weeks into the war, he posted on social media, “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F****in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
A few weeks later, he threatened to send Iran “back to the stone age where they belong,” and posted an AI-generated image of himself carrying an assault rifle with the caption, “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
On Sunday, effectively derailing the negotiations, he said, “We may take over the Strait if we have to. I’ll blow the s--t out of them,” he told Fox (News).
When not blowing up at the Iranians, Trump turned his ire on Raskin. “Jamie Raskin, a Loser in Life, who worked endlessly during my First Term to impeach me, will guaranteed be [SIC] trying to do it again despite one of the most successful Presidencies in history.”
Raskin says that if the Democrats reclaim the majority, nothing is off the table, including impeachment. But this time, it is about so much more than that. It is about accountability. It is about corruption and graft. As Raskin added, “We have a number of different mechanisms for checking the corruption and lawlessness that have overtaken our country.”
